Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ (1:1).

Probably around A.D. 69, after Paul's martyrdom (cf. 3:15-16) and before the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, as indicated by the allusions to the decline of the church; close to the time of Peter's martyrdom (1:14).

Perhaps Rome, where the tradition in church history places Peter's martyrdom.

The Jewish believers in dispersion in the Gentile world (see 1:1 and note 3).