Department of Ayacucho

The department was created by the Reglamento Provisional de Elecciones, published on April 26, 1822, which established the department of Huamanga alongside those of Arequipa, Cuzco, Huancavelica and Puno. A referendum was held on 30 October 2005, in order to decide whether the department would merge with the departments of Ica and Huancavelica to form the new Ica-Ayacucho-Huancavelica Region, as part of the decentralization process in Peru. The proposal failed and no merger was carried out. ==Political division==

. The department is divided into 11 provinces (, singular: provincia), which are composed of 111 districts (distritos, singular: distrito). Provinces The provinces, with their capitals in parentheses, are: • Cangallo (Cangallo) • Huamanga (Ayacucho) • Huanca Sancos (Huanca Sancos) • Huanta (Huanta) • La Mar (San Miguel) • Lucanas (Puquio) • Parinacochas (Coracora) • Paucar del Sara Sara (Pausa) • Sucre (Querobamba) • Víctor Fajardo (Huancapi) • Vilcas Huamán (Vilcas Huamán) == Demographics ==

Languages According to the 2007 Peru Census, the language learnt first by most of the residents was Quechua (63.05%) followed by Spanish (36.57%). The Quechua variety spoken in Ayacucho is Chanka Quechua. The following table shows the results concerning the language learnt first in the department by province: == Gallery ==

Image:Peru - Apurímac River Altiplano1.jpg|The Andes go across the Ayacucho Region Image:Obelisk Battle of Ayacucho and Sucre MC.jpg|Statue of Antonio José de Sucre and obelisk near Kinwa, commemorating the Battle of Ayacucho. Image:Peru - HotSprings.jpg|Hot springs in the region of Ayacucho. Image:Obelisk Battle of Ayacucho1 MC.jpg|Obelisk near Kinwa, commemorating the Battle of Ayacucho. Image:Ayacucho church by night.jpg|Church of Ayacucho == References ==