Peru is South America's third-largest country, with an area of 1,285,220 sq km (496,226 sq mi), extending about 1,287 km (800 mi) SE–NW and 563 km (350 mi) NE–SW. Comparatively, the area occupied by Peru is slightly smaller than the state of Alaska. It is bounded on the N by Ecuador and Colombia, on the E by Brazil and Bolivia, on the S by Chile, and on the W by the Pacific Ocean, with a total land boundary length of 5,536 km (3,440 mi) and a coastline of 2,414 km (1,500 mi).
Various offshore islands, chiefly the Chincha Islands off Pisco in southern Peru, are uninhabited, but at least 21 of these are important to the Peruvian economy and are protected by the government's guano monopoly.
Peru's capital city, Lima, is located on the Pacific coast.