Editing Peru (section)

== Etymology ==
The name of the country may be derived from ''Birú'', the name of a local ruler who lived near the [[Bay of San Miguel]], Panama City, in the early 16th century.<ref>Porras Barrenechea, Raúl. ''El nombre del Perú''. Lima: Talleres Gráficos P.L. Villanueva, 1968, p. 83.</ref> Spanish [[conquistador]]s, who arrived in 1522, believed this was the southernmost part of the [[New World]].<ref>Raúl Porras Barrenechea, ''El nombre del Perú'', p. 84.</ref> When [[Francisco Pizarro]] invaded the regions farther south, they came to be designated ''Birú'' or ''Perú''.<ref>Raúl Porras Barrenechea, ''El nombre del Perú'', p. 86.</ref>

An alternative history is provided by the contemporary writer [[Inca Garcilaso de la Vega]], son of an Inca princess and a conquistador. He said the name ''Birú'' was that of a common Amerindian who was happened upon by the crew of a ship on an exploratory mission for governor [[Pedro Arias Dávila]] and went on to relate more instances of misunderstandings due to the lack of a common language.<ref>Vega, Garcilasco, ''Commentarios Reales de los Incas'', Editorial Mantaro, Lima, ed. 1998. pp. 14–15. First published in Lisbon in 1609.</ref>

The [[Spanish empire|Spanish crown]] gave the name legal status with the 1529 ''[[Francisco Pizarro#Capitulación de Toledo|Capitulación de Toledo]]'', which designated the newly encountered [[Inca Empire]] as the province of Peru.<ref>Raúl Porras Barrenechea, ''El nombre del Perú'', p. 87.</ref> In 1561, the rebel [[Lope de Aguirre]] declared himself the "Prince" of an independent Peru, which was cut short by his arrest and execution. Under Spanish rule, the country adopted the denomination ''[[Viceroyalty of Peru]]'', which became the ''Peruvian Republic'' from its [[Peruvian War of Independence|independence]] until [[Constitution of Peru#1979 Constitution|1979]], when it adopted its current name of ''Republic of Peru''.<ref>{{Cite constitution|article=I|polity=Peru|date=1979}}</ref>