An Overview of Peruvian American in the U.S. The soft drink
giant Coca-Cola owns the Inca Kola trademark in almost every
country–but Peru chooses to keep its own. Created in 1935, the
bubblegum flavored, almost golden drink is one of Peru’s
national icons. And besides colorful tapestries and the
ingenuity of Machu Picchu that wowed the world, Peruvians are
also known for their strong sense of family and religion. Today,
there are 567,153 (0.18 percent of the population) Peruvian
Americans in the U.S. according to the 2010 American Community
Survey. The largest wave or Peruvian immigrants arrived after
World War II mainly because of Peru’s economic and political
instability back then. Strong family ties allowed waves of
Peruvian immigrants to continue to move and settle with
established families in the U.S. for the search of a better
economic life. Most have settled in metropolitan cities
including Paterson, New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Houston,
Chicago and Washington, D.C. Besides their strong family ties (7