Lima

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This article is about Lima, Peru. For other places, people and things named "Lima", see Lima (disambiguation).
Lima
Image:Lima coat of arms.png
City coat of arms
Also called: "La Ciudad de los Reyes"
("The City of Kings")
Image:Location of the city of Lima in Peru.png
Founded January 18, 1535
Subdivisions 43 districts
Mayor Luis Castañeda Lossio
Area 2,672.28 km²
Population
 - Total
 - Density
7,363,069 (2005)<ref name="population">INEI – Por AÑOS ESTIMACIONES Y PROYECCIONES (2005)</ref>
2,755.4/km²
Time zone UTC/GMT-5
Latitude
Longitude 		Template:Coor dm
Official website: www.munlima.gob.pe

Lima is the capital and largest city in Peru, as well as the capital of the Lima Province. It is the cultural, industrial, financial, and transport hub of the country. The city is located in an area encompassing the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers. It lies on a desertic coast adjacent to the bay in the Pacific Ocean where its port was built and named Callao.

Founded by Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro, Lima is also known as the City of Kings. For more than three centuries, Lima was the most important city and the greatest metropolis in South America. More than four centuries have passed since its founding as a Spanish city, and Lima has become an expression of Peru's heritage, with nearly one-third of the nation's population living in its metropolitan area.

The city covers most of the Lima and Callao Metropolitan Area.

Contents

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History

Image:SanFranciscoDeAsis view1.jpg See Also Historical Center of Lima
The city was founded by conquistador Francisco Pizarro on January 18, 1535, naming it Ciudad de los Reyes as the location was decided at Epiphany, the January 6. Lima, its original name, however persisted. It is uncertain where the name originated, but it is thought that it derives from the Aymara word lima-limaq, (yellow flower) or from Quechuan rimaq (talking). In the oldest Spanish maps of Peru, both Lima and Ciudad de los Reyes can be seen together as the names of the city.

Lima became the most important city in the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru, which encompassed nearly all of Spain's possessions in South America during the colonial era (mid 1500s to early 1800s).

In 1746, many important and monumental buildings were damaged and or destroyed (later repaired) in an earthquake. The City of Kings' cultural patrimony and incomparable, beautiful architecture remained prevalent. Its architectural and political importance in Latin America were equalled only by Mexico City.

In 1996, the Japanese embassy hostage crisis took place in Lima, an affair which received global media attention. It ended on April 22, 1997 when Peruvian Armed Forces commandos stormed the building by carrying out a frontal daytime attack after tunneling underground into the embassy to rescue the seventy-two hostages. One hostage died of medical complications, two soldiers and all fourteen kidnappers were killed in action.

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Demographics

Image:Situationsplan von Lima.jpg The Lima Metropolis ranks among Latin America's largest urban concentrations, with a population of 7,363,069 (2005) in the city and 8,187,398 (2005) in the official metropolitan area<ref name="population">INEI – Por AÑOS ESTIMACIONES Y PROYECCIONES (2005)</ref>, which features a very complex mix of racial and ethnic groups. Traditionally, Mestizos, Peruvians of mixed Spanish and Amerindian descent, have been the largest contingent, making up much of the middle class. However, political and economic instability during the latter half of the twentieth century created unprecedented poverty and violence in the Andean highlands, forcing hundreds of thousands of campesinos of full-blooded Amerindian descent to migrate to Lima, thus greatly augmenting the Lima's population. Unlike other ethnic groups, many of them speak primarily Quechua or Aymara, rather than Spanish. While a number of Amerindians eventually attain middle class status, others still live in shantytowns, locally known as pueblos jóvenes. These areas often lack such basic services as electricity and running water.

Europeans, the economically dominant segment of the population, are mostly of Spanish descent, but there are significant numbers of Italians, German and others. Afro-Peruvians, initially brought to the region as slaves, are yet another important part of the city's ethnic quilt. Finally, during the 20th century, Lima also gained signicant Asian communities, particularly of Japanese and Chinese ancestry. The former constitute the largest Japanese concentration in South America after São Paulo.

Image:Lima peru.jpg


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Geography

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Physical setting

Lima (province) has a land area of 2,672.28 km². It is located on mostly flat terrain in the Peruvian coastal plain, within the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers. As in the rest of the region, the extreme dryness of the climate means that away from the river valleys and irrigated areas the local terrain is absolute barren of vegetation.

The urban area is about 500 km².

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Climate

Lima's climate can be said to be quite peculiar, as besides the aforementioned dryness, it surprises for its mildness: despite being located in the Tropics and at a near sea-level elevation, temperatures are far from torrid, with maxima ranging from 26°C in February to 19°C in August, with an all-time record high temperature of 32°C (90°F). Corresponding minima are 15°C (59°F) in August and 20°C (68°F) in February, with 8°C (46°F) being the lowest ever recorded. On the other hand, relative humidity is very high, and the fog associated with it shrouds the city from May to November. Rainfall is all but unknown, usually occurring only in El Niño years, the yearly average of 0.7cm (0.03in) being the lowest of any large metropolitan area in the world. All these climatic phenomena have a common cause, which is the presence of the cold Humboldt Current just offshore.

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Districts and neighborhoods

Image:Limanight.jpg Template:Main The Lima city proper is comprised of thirty districts in the Lima Province. Each of them is headed by a mayor, although the Metropolitan Lima Municipal Council (Municipalidad Metropolitana de Lima), led by the mayor of Lima, also has authority in these districts.

The historical downtown of the city is located in the Lima District, which is locally known as Cercado de Lima. This is where most vestiges of Lima's colonial heyday remain, as well as the Presidential Palace and the Metropolitan Lima Municipal Council.

The neighborhoods of Miraflores and San Isidro are among the best (in a very poor surrounding) in the city, and most of the better hotels and other tourist destinations are located in them. The latter district is also an important financial center that is nowadays far more important in Lima's daily business life than the Cercado. The districts of La Molina and Santiago de Surco offer quieter, residential areas.

Barranco, south of Miraflores, is known as a bohemian neighborhood and has earned recognition for its population of writers and intellectuals.

The most populous districts of Lima lie in the north and south ends of the city. Their population is comprised principally of immigrants from other regions of Peru. Many of them are poor people of indigenous origin who arrived during the mid and late twentieth century after being displaced by terrorism, agrarian crises, and general economic frustration. These peasants invaded the vast desert areas and hillsides in the districts of the Cono Norte and Cono Sur areas, populating new slums known as pueblos jóvenes. The majority of the people are poor and live in slums with no electricity and running water.

In recent years, however, these populous districts and the people living in there are becoming wealthier at a slow pace, and the amount of business operations being performed in there has steadily increased. It is common knowledge that if anybody wants to make money, the northern districts are the place to do it.

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Education

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Universities

Template:Main The city has the largest concentration of higher-education institutions in the country. The National University of San Marcos, founded on May 12 1551 during Spanish colonial regime is the oldest continuously functioning university in the Americas and considered by many peruvians "La decana" in the sense of "dean of universities" across Peru.

The Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú is the oldest private university (established on 1917). Other notable private institutions that are located in the city are Universidad del Pacífico, Universidad San Martin de Porras, Universidad de Lima, Cayetano Heredia University and Universidad Ricardo Palma.

Other state owned universities also play key roles in teaching and research, such as the Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal and Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina.

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Libraries

Founded by José de San Martín, Peru's oldest and most important library, the National Library of Peru is located in downtown Lima. As it has suffered wars and earthquakes throughout history, a new location for the library has been built in the San Borja district, with transfer of the library's holdings beginning in March of 2006. This modernization program aspires to turn the library into one of Latin America's most modern libraries.

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Commerce and industry

Image:Viaexpressa.jpg Lima has substantial textile, paper, paint, and food products industries.

In recent decades, Lima has rapidly expanded and the city has seen much unregulated development. In the last decade, air pollution has risen to alarming levels, as no restrictions are allowed on the age or efficiency of motor vehicles. Leaded petrol is still widely used.

The "Estadio Monumental "U"", located in Lima, is Peru's largest and most modern stadium; it seats eighty-thousand spectators.

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Transport

Template:Main Image:Tren Urbano Lima.jpg Lima has an extensive bus system, which connects all of Lima's main streets and avenues. These buses are commonly known as micros or combis. Although very cheap and convenient (they stop virtually everywhere), they are often poorly mantained and the smaller buses run at excessive speeds.

Taxis vary in quality of service and price. They can be stopped at any street, or private taxi companies can be called to pick up passengers at a certain address.

Numerous inter-urban bus companies offer transportation to other cities in Peru. Quality varies depending on the price, from luxury express buses to uncomfortable and crowded micros.

Nowadays Lima's mayor is working on a new bus system called Metropolitano where all busses will have exclusive lines; it has been told that new busses must be acquired by the companies working in the metropolitan area, this busses will be bought from a Chinese company, the same company that sells busses to Italy. The mayor's hope is to see a new massive transport system in the next few years.

To improve the quality of taxis running in Lima, a new law has been released where its forbidden to import used cars; thanks to this law, the city of Lima ensure to always have new cars all over the city, reducing smog.

An agreement signed by Mayor Luis Castañeda and President Alejandro Toledo on February 17, 2005, provided funding for finishing the Lima Metro, an above-ground mass-transit system which will link the downtown area with the financial district, San Isidro. The project was launched in the late 1980s but left unfinished by former president Alan García.

Lima's main passenger gateway for national and international air travelers is Jorge Chávez International Airport.

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Tourist attractions

Image:Palace of Government.jpg

The Historic centre of Lima, located in downtown Lima and the Rímac District, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988 due to the large number of historical buildings dating from the Spanish colonial era, a small number of which have now been restored. In particular, the monumental Plaza Mayor, with the 16th century Cathedral and the Presidential Palace, and the catacombs of the Convento de San Francisco are popular with visitors.

Several sections of the Lima City Walls can still be seen. These fine examples of Spanish medieval fortification were used to defend Lima from attacks from pirates and corsairs.

The city also has a number of fine museums, notably the National Museum of Anthropology, Archaeology, and History and the Rafael Larco Herrera Archaeological Museum, both in the Pueblo Libre district.

Many small beaches, which are heavily visited during the summer months, are located by the southern Pan-American Highway. The most well-known ones are located in the districts of Santa María del Mar, Punta Hermosa, Punta Negra, San Bartolo and Pucusana. Also, the district of Ancón, located north of the city, has a very popular beach resort.

Numerous restaurants, clubs and hotels have been opened in these places to serve the many beachgoers. The beaches in Lima itself are not suitable for swimming because the city's sewage is dumped raw into the ocean. Image:Torre Tagle Lima.jpg The suburban district of Cieneguilla and the town of Chosica (in the Lurigancho District) provide attractive green landscapes at a short distance from the city. Because of their elevation (over 500 meters), the sun shines in these areas even during winter and hence they are visited by residents of Lima to escape from the winter fog.

Recently, the Palomino Islands near the port of Callao have attracted visitors due to a population of sea lions.

Situated in Monterrico, the Gold Museum, together with the even more interesting textile museum. Here can be seen almost perfectly preserved thousand year old garments and feathered capes recovered from the waterless deserts of Western Peru. Also in the same building, an arms museum with a huge range of antique Spanish firearms, among muskets and arquebuses.

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Sites of interest

  • Museums
  • Colonial Buildings
    • Justice Palace
    • Rimac Building
    • Governor's House
    • Lima's Cathedral
    • Saint Lorenzo Church
    • Saint Rose of Lima Church
    • Congress of the Republic
    • Lima's Mayor House
    • Segura Theater
    • Italian Arts Museum
    • Lima's Art Center
    • Lima's City Walls Park
    • Torre Tagle Building
    • Acho Plaza
    • Saint Martin Plaza
    • National Culture Institute
    • University Park
    • Desamparados Train Station
    • Rosa Nautica Restaurant
    • Perez Aranibar Children House
    • Naval Heroes Park
  • Islands
    • San Lorenzo Island
  • Amusement Parks
    • Lima's Zoo, San Miguel
    • Huachipa's Zoo, Huachipa
    • Kart Circuit, Magdalena del Mar
    • Daytona Park, Surco
    • Sports Center, Miraflores, Costa Verde (Green Coast)
    • Apolo (Ice-Skating Park), San Isidro
    • Lima's Hippodrome, Surco
    • Parapente & Ala Delta, Miraflores
    • Play Land Park (From June to August)
    • La Granja Villa, Chorrillos
    • Sports Center, Barranco
  • Zoos
    • Parque de las Leyendas
    • Centro Ecologico Recreacional de Huachipa
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Notable people born in Lima

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Statesman

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Scientists

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Artists

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Historical

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Politicians

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Sportspeople

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Writers

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Contemporary Musicians

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References

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External links

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