Peru's guano boom, made possible by the…

Peru's guano boom, made possible by the droppings from millions of birds on the Chincha Islands, proves to be a veritable bonanza for the country, beginning in the 1840s.

By the time that this natural resource is depleted three decades later, Peru will have exported some twelve million tons of the fertilizer to Europe and North America, where it stimulates the commercial agricultural revolution.

On the basis of a truly enormous flow of revenue to the state (nearly US$500 million), Peru is presented in the middle decades of the nineteenth century with a historic opportunity for development.

Why this does not materialize, but rather becomes a classic case of boom-bust export dependence, will continue to be the subject of intense discussion and debate.

Most analysts, however, will concur with historian Magnus Morner that "guano wealth was, on the whole, a developmental opportunity missed."