Piura is a coastal region in northwestern Peru. "Piura" is derived from the Quechua word pirhua, whose approximate meaning is "supply base", as the area was used by the Incas as a stop to get provisions during their conquest of the area's original inhabitants. The region's capital is Piura and its largest port cities, Paita and Talara, are also among the most important in Peru. The area is known for its warm tropical and dry or semi-tropical beaches, exquisite food and hospitable people.

The country's latest decentralization program is in hiatus after the proposal to merge departments was defeated in the national referendum in October 2005. [1] The referendum held on October 30, 2005, as part of the ongoing decentralization process in Peru, to decide whether the region would merge with the current regions of Lambayeque and Tumbes to create a new Región Norte was defeated.

The Piura Region is bordered to the north by the Tumbes Region, by southern Ecuador, to the east by Cajamarca Region, to the south by the Lambayeque Region, and to the west by the Pacific Ocean. "Punta Pariñas" in Piura is South America's most western point.

The territory of the Piura Region has many climate variations due to its geographical location. It is just 4 degrees south of the equator, yet receives two ocean currents at the same time: the cold Humboldt Current (13-20 °C) and the warm El Niño Current (20-27 °C). This makes the Piura Region a land that is both tropical and arid at the same time, The Land where the Tropics meets The Desert

The coast is divided by the Peruvian subtropical desert of Sechura on the south and savanna-like scrub tropical-dry forests to the center and north of the region. There are also small valleys of tropical climate, where rice and coconut fields are common, especially around the Piura and Sullana rivers.

There is a high Amazon climate (selva alta) as one goes away from the coast onto the sierra; Paramo climates and cooler temperatures appear as one climbs the sierra.

Topography is smooth in the coast and rough in the Sierra. There are many arid plains in the southern region. The Sechura Desert, located south of the Piura River, is Peru's largest desert and one of the world's few examples of a tropical desert; it borders a tropical terrain to the north. The Bayóvar depression, which is the lowest point in the country, is located in this desert.

The morphological forms most common in the coast are the dry ravine that suddenly become copious when there are heavy rains, forming tropical dry forests all over. Other features are half-moon shaped dunes, the marine terraces such as those of Máncora, Talara and Lobitos. Valleys have been formed by fluvial terraces of the Chira River and Piura Rivers.

To the east, valleys are more or less deep and have been eroded by rivers forming equatorial tropical-dry-forests. The major peak surpasses 3000 m. The Paso de Porculla, in the southwest of the territory is only 2,138 meters high and is the lowest pass of the Peruvian Andes.

The rivers crossing its territory belong both to the Pacific watershed and to the Amazon Basin. The Chira River is the most important and flows into the Pacific Ocean. The intermittent Piura River, only flows into the sea during the summer rainy season.

The climate is semi tropical and tropical savanna in the center and north coast, Semi-arid in the southern coast near Lambayeque Region. Piura has a tropical-dry or tropical savanna climate monsoon weather that averages 26 °C throughout the whole year. Pleasant warm winters (May to October) that average between 25°C and 28°C during the daytime and lows around 16 °C during the night.

Piura is covered by deserts, tropical valleys, dry equatorial forests, high amazon climates as you reach between 1000-1500 meters, and a humid subtropical sierra climate if you reach over 2,000 meters. The Paramo climate is found in the higher regions of the Sierra.

Rain is scarce from May to November: it rains only from December to April at discontinuous rates due to the influence of the Niño Current, but every so often, when the El Niño phenomenon arrives, rain is copious and makes the dry ravines become alive, giving rise not only to the impressive forests but to many floods and great landslides. El Niño occurs when ocean waters reach 27 °C. When ocean water temperatures elevate 1 or 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than 26 °C, the consequence could be catastrophical rains.

Although ocean waters can drop to 19 °C during the dry winter months (May to October), they can also rise to 27 °C during the humid summer months (December to April); this calls for pleasant rains; yet if temperatures rise 1 or 1.5 °C degrees above that, El Niño is assured.

During summer (December to April) temperatures can reach over the 40 °C inland. During night time, high 20s or even 30s may seem unpleasant, which urge people to go to beach resorts such as Mancora or Colan.

The rest of the months have pleasant summer temperatures in the low 30s and mid 20s °C.