This section sets out the socio-economic context of the Peruvian health care system and it explores the health care needs that the health system must address. The country is divided into 25 departments, bordering Ecuador and Colombia to the north, Brazil in the east and Bolivia and Chile in the south, with the Pacific Ocean to the west (Figure 1.1). The Andes mountain chain passes through Peru which, together with the Amazonas jungle in the north-east, creates a geographically complex setting.