Lima
| Lima | |||
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| Nickname: City of the Kings | |||
| Motto: Hoc signum vere regum est | |||
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| Coordinates: 12°02.6′S 77°1.7′W | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Peru
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| Region | Lima Region | ||
| Province | Lima Province | ||
| Settled | January 18, 1535 | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | Luis Castañeda Lossio | ||
| Area | |||
| - City | 804.3 km² (310.5 sq mi) | ||
| - Water | 75.7 km² (29.2 sq mi) 5.8% | ||
| - Urban | 4,319.9 km² (1,667.9 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 0 - 1,548 m (0 - 5,079 ft) | ||
| Population (2006)[1][2] | |||
| - City | 7,819,436 | ||
| - Density | 8,544/km² (22,128.9/sq mi) | ||
| - Urban | 7,629,407 | ||
| - Metro | 9,241,961 | ||
| Time zone | PET (UTC-5) | ||
| Website: www.munlima.gob.pe | |||
Lima, the capital and largest city of Peru, is the country’s commercial and industrial centre. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, on a coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It forms a contiguous urban area with the seaport of Callao, which is about eight miles (13km) away on the Pacific coast.
Lima was founded by Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro on January 18, 1535, as La Ciudad de los Reyes, or "The City of Kings." It became the most important city in the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru and, after the Peruvian War of Independence, was made the capital of the Republic of Peru. Today around one-third of the Peruvian population lives in the metropolitan area.
Geography
The name Lima may derive from the Quechuan word Rimac ("talker"), which is the name of the river that feeds Lima. Some speculate that the Spanish created the word Lima in trying to say Rimac, which they heard from local inhabitants. On the oldest Spanish maps of Peru, both Lima and Ciudad de los Reyes can be seen together as names for the city.
The urban area of Lima covers about 800 km². It is located on mostly flat terrain in the Peruvian coastal plain, within the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers. The city slopes gently from the shores of the Pacific Ocean into valleys and mountain slopes located as high as 1640 feet (500 meters) above mean sea level. Within the city exist isolated hills which are not connected to the surrounding hill chains, such as El Agustino, San Cosme, El Pino, La Milla, Muleria and Pro hills. The San Cristobal hill in the Rimac district, which faces directly north of the downtown area, is the local extreme of an Andean hill outgrowth.
Lima is an oasis in a barren, unvegetated desert of grayish-yellow sands.
Although Lima is located in the tropics, the cool offshore Humboldt Current creates a temperate climate with high humidity. The temperatures vary from mild to warm (neither very cold or hot). The average maximum daytime temperature in January is 82.4°F (28°C), dropping to an average maximum of around 66.2°F (19°C) in June. Relative humidity is very high, and produces brief morning fog from June to December and persistent low clouds from May to November. The peak of the "rainy season" occurs during winter when late-night/morning drizzle events (locally called 'garúa','llovizna' or 'camanchacas') become frequent, leaving a light coating of dampness on the ground. Mean annual precipitation is 1.69 inches (43mm).
Rapid population growth has brought problems of air pollution, resulting from too many buses and cars. In July 2001, the amount of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) was of 236.66 mg/m³, the maximum allowable quantity being 100 mg/m³ The high humidity means rust is a common sight.
Lima has had a water problem. Potable water was obtained from the Rímac and from wells. Now water is piped in from lakes and diverted rivers in the Andes.
Metropolitan Lima has an area of 1031.77 square miles (2672.28 square kilometers), of which 318.87 square miles (825.88 square kilometers), or 31 percent, comprises the actual city and 712.8 square miles (1846.40 square kilometers), 69 percent, the city outskirts. The urban area extends around 60km from north to south and around 30km from west to east.
The city center is located 15 km inland at the shore of the Rimac river, a vital resource for the city, since it carries what will become drinking water for its inhabitants and fuels the hydroelectrical dams that provide electricity to the area.
The city's historic centre, laid out by Spanish colonists in the 16th century, is bordered on the north by the Rímac, and it is home to most of the vestiges of Lima's colonial past, the Presidential Palace, the metropolitan municipal council, the cathedral, the Archbishop’s Palace, and dozens of hotels. Rímac, an old colonial suburb north of the Rimac River, has narrow streets with single-story houses. The historic centre of Lima was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988.
The upscale San Isidro district is the city's financial center, and has many parks, including Parque El Olivar. Miraflores has luxury hotels, shops, restaurants, as well as Larcomar, a popular shopping mall and entertainment center built on cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. La Molina and Santiago de Surco, home to the American Embassy and the exclusive Club Polo Lima respectively, are the other two wealthy districts of Lima, with wealth being concentrated in small pockets of the city's other districts.
The most densely-populated districts of Lima lie in the northern and southern ends of the city (Spanish: Cono Norte and Cono Sur, respectively), and they are mostly composed of Andean immigrants who arrived during the mid and late 20th century looking for better living standards and economic opportunities, or as refugees of the country's internal conflict with the Shining Path during the late 80s and early 90s.
Barranco, which borders Miraflores by the Pacific Ocean, is known as the city's bohemian district, and has numerous restaurants, music venues called "peñas" featuring the traditional folk music of coastal Peru (in Spanish, "música criolla"), and beautiful Victorian-style chalets.
History
The earliest evidence of human presence in Peruvian territory has been dated to approximately 11,000 years B.C.E.[3] The oldest known complex society in Peru, the Norte Chico civilization, flourished along the coast of the Pacific Ocean between 3000 and 1800 B.C.E.[4] These early developments were followed by archaeological cultures such as Chavin, Paracas, Mochica, Nazca, Wari, and Chimu.
In the 15th century, the Incas emerged as a powerful state which, in the span of a century, formed the largest empire in pre-Columbian America.[5] During the early 16th century, the location of what became the city of Lima was inhabited by several amerindian groups under the domination of the Inca Empire.
The temple of Pachacamac, located 40km southeast of Lima, in the Valley of the Lurín River, which dates from 200 C.E., was an important administrative center under Inca rule.
Spanish conquest
The Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro (c. 1471 or 1476 – 1541) and his brothers, who were attracted by the news of a rich and fabulous kingdom, arrived in the country which they called Peru in 1532. At that time, the Inca Empire was preoccupied by a five-year civil war between two princes, Huáscar and Atahualpa. On November 16, 1532, while the natives were celebrating in Cajamarca, the Spanish captured the Inca Atahualpa by surprise during the Battle of Cajamarca.
Despite fulfilling his promise of filling one room (22 feet (7 m) by 17 feet (5 m) [6]) with gold and two with silver, Atahualpa was convicted of killing his brother and plotting against Pizarro and his forces, and was executed by garrote on July 26, 1533. Much of the ransom demanded for Atahuallpa (Atahualpa) was obtained from Pachacamac.
Pizarro initially chose the city of Jauja as his capital but found a better site in the valley of the Rímac River. There he founded his new capital on January 18, 1535, as Ciudad de los Reyes, at a bridgeable point on the Rímac River. In August 1536, the new city was besieged by the troops of Manco Inca, the leader of an Inca rebellion against Spanish rule. The Spaniards and their native allies, headed by Pizarro himself, defeated the rebels after heavy fighting in the city streets and its surroundings.[7] On November 3, 1536, the Spanish Crown confirmed the founding and, on December 7, 1537, emperor Charles V granted a coat of arms to the city.
The city gained prestige as it was designated capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru and site of a Real Audiencia (an appellate court) in 1543. The Western Hemisphere's first university, San Marcos University was established in 1551 and its first printing press in 1584. It also became an important religious center, a Roman Catholic diocese was established in 1541 and converted to an archdiocese five years later.
The city flourished during the 17th century as the center of an extensive trade network which extended as far as Europe and the Philippines.[8] However, it also suffered considerable damage from two earthquakes in 1630 and 1687. A constant danger to the city's commerce was the presence of pirates and privateers in the Pacific Ocean. To protect the city against them, Viceroy Melchor de Navarra y Rocafull (1626-1691) built a wall around it between 1684 and 1687. An earthquake struck on October 28, 1746, devastating the city. Lima was rebuilt in a granhdiose style.
Independence
However, mining and textile production declined, and an economic crisis favored an indigenous rebellion that erupted from 1780 to 1781, led by Tupac Amaru II. A Creole rebellion of the city of Huánuco arose in 1812. The Viceroyalty of Peru succumbed to campaigns of Simón Bolivar (1783-1830) and Jose de San Martin (1778-1850), who proclaimed the independence of Peru in Lima on July 28, 1821.
After the war of independence, Lima became the capital of the Republic of Peru but economic stagnation and political turmoil brought its urban development to a halt. This hiatus ended in the 1850s, when increased public and private revenues from guano exports led to a rapid expansion of the city. In the next two decades, the State funded the construction of the Central Market, the General Slaughterhouse, the Mental Asylum, the Penitentiary, and the Dos de Mayo Hospital. A railroad line between Lima and Callao was completed in 1850 and an iron bridge across the Rímac River, the Balta Bridge, was opened in 1870. The city walls were torn down in 1872.
Lima occupied
During the 1879–1883 War of the Pacific, with Bolivia against Chile, Chilean troops occupied Lima after defeating Peruvian resistance in the battles of San Juan and Miraflores destroying and burning some parts of the city. The city went through a process of urban renewal and expansion from the 1890s up to the 1920s. As downtown Lima had become overcrowded, the La Victoria residential area was established in 1896 as a working class neighborhood. During the early 20th century, thousands of French, Italians and Germans migrated to Lima.
Earthquake
On May 24, 1940, an earthquake destroyed most of the city, which at that time was mostly built out of adobe and quincha. In the 1940s, the city started a period of rapid growth spurred by immigration from the Andean regions of Peru. During World War II, Peru was the first South American nation to align with the United States and its allies against Germany and Japan.
Rapid population growth
The population of Lima was estimated at 600,000 in 1940. The political and economic instability in Peru during the latter half of the 20th century created unprecedented poverty and violence in the countryside or Andean highlands, forcing hundreds of thousands of peasants of Amerindian descent to migrate to Lima, bringing an exponential increase in Lima's population.[9] Growth far outstripped public services development, giving rise to large shanty towns, known as pueblos jóvenes. These areas often lack electricity and running water.
Government
Peru is a constitutional republic. The president is both the chief of state and head of government, and is elected by popular vote for a five-year term, being eligible for a nonconsecutive reelection. The unicameral Congress of the Republic of Peru has 120 members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms.
The province of Lima is divided into 43 districts which are administered by the Metropolitan Lima Municipal Council[10] The city proper (urban area) of Lima is generally considered to be formed by 30 of these districts. The remaining 13 districts consist of mostly rural and sparsely populated desert and mountainous areas.
Each district is headed by a local mayor. The Mayor of Lima has authority over these and the 13 outer districts of the Lima province. The historic Cercado de Lima district is the core of the Lima Metropolitan Area, one of the 10 largest metropolitan areas in the Americas.
Each province and district is administratively autonomous, creating an obstacle to citywide planning and development. Since most municipalities have only enough money to run basic services, lack of money has hindered inner-city renewal and suburban expansion.
Economy
Abundant mineral resources are found in Peru's mountainous areas, and coastal waters provide excellent fishing grounds. However, overdependence on minerals and metals subjects the economy to fluctuations in world prices, and a lack of infrastructure deters trade and investment. The Peruvian economy grew by more than four percent each year during the period 2002-06, with a stable exchange rate and low inflation. Even so, underemployment and poverty have stayed persistently high. Peru's per capita GDP was estimated at $7800 in 2007.
Lima is the industrial and financial center of Peru. It contains more than two thirds of its industrial production and most of its tertiary sector, and is home to many national companies. Most foreign companies operating in Peru are located in Lima. The size of Lima’s population makes it Peru's main market.
In 2004, Lima's GDP represented 45 percent of Peru's GDP (five percent more than the previous year). The GDP per capita was also higher in Lima ($3525) than in the rest of the country ($2625 dollars).
The Metropolitan area, with around 7000 factories, spearheads the industrial development of the country, thanks to the quantity and quality of the available workforce, cheap infrastructure and the mostly developed routes and highways in the city.
Textiles, clothing and food are Lima's most important industries. Chemicals, fish, leather and oil derivatives are also manufactured and/or processed in Lima. Much of the industrial activity takes place in the area stretching west of Downtown Lima to the airport in Callao.
However, the presence of thousands of street vendors is evidence of the uncertainty of paid employment in Lima.
The Pan-American Highway and the Central Highway connect Lima to the rest of Peru, and there are three expressways in the city. Lima had a rapid transit rail system, called the Lima Metro, under development in 2008. Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima is Peru's main hub for both national and international air traffic.[11] The Callao seaport is one of the main fishing and commerce ports in South America, with 75 percent of the country's imports and exports using it as their entry/departure point. The main export goods leaving the country through Callao are oil, steel, silver, zinc, cotton, sugar and coffee.
Demographics
Lima ranks as the nineteenth most populous city in the world with an estimated population of 7.6 million for the urban area, 7.8 million for the entire province, and 9.2 million for the metropolitan area as of 2005.[12]
Traditionally, Mestizos of mixed European (mostly Spanish) and Amerindian descent are the largest contingent of Lima's ethnic groups. The second group has its origins in Europe, mostly of Spanish descent, but there are significant numbers of Italians, Germans, Jews, and Middle Easterners. Afro-Peruvians, whose African ancestors were brought to the region as slaves, are yet another part of the city's ethnic quilt, and Asians, an even smaller one.
Spanish and Quechua are the official languages of Peru, while Aymara, and a large number of minor Amazonian languages are also spoken. Most of the peasant population that has migrated to Lima speaks primarily Quechua or Aymara, rather than Spanish.
Religion
Colleges and universities
Education
The city has the largest concentration of higher-education institutions in the country (28 universities) and schools with world-wide recognition. The National University of San Marcos, founded on May 12 1551 during Spanish colonial regime, is the oldest continuously functioning university in the Americas. Other public universities also play key roles in teaching and research, such as the Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina where ex-president Alberto Fujimori once taught, Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería, among others. The Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, established in 1917, is the oldest private university. Other private institutions that are located in the city are Universidad de Lima, Universidad Científica del Sur, Universidad San Martín de Porres, Universidad del Pacifico, Universidad Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas and Universidad Ricardo Palma.
Of interest
The Historic centre of Lima was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988 due to its large number of historical buildings dating from the Spanish colonial era. In particular, the Plaza Mayor, with the 16th century Cathedral and the Presidential Palace, and the catacombs of the Convento de San Francisco are popular tourist attractions. Like many other world capitals, Lima is home to the most prestigious national museums, including the National Museum of Anthropology, Archeology, and History and the Rafael Larco Herrera Archaeological Museum, both in the Pueblo Libre district, the Museum of the Nation, the Museum of Art, the Museum of Italian Art, the Museum of the Inquisition, and many others.
Many small beaches, which are heavily visited during the summer months, are located along 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. Lima's wealthy families usually go during summer to the highly exclusive beaches of Asia 97 kilometers south of Lima. 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. Lima residents also flock to the beaches in the Miraflores district.
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.
Lima has a world renowned cuisine, which fuses Andean and Spanish culinary traditions, as well as some African, Asian (mainly Chinese and Japanese), French, Italian and Muslim cuisine. The city is rapidly becoming world-famous for its seafood and unique vegetables, Creole, Peruvian–Chinese (called chifa) and fusion cuisine.
Notes
- ↑ Citypopulation.de Lima related information
- ↑ www.emporis.com population charts
- ↑ Tom Dillehay et al, "The first settlers", p. 20.
- ↑ Jonathan Haas et al, "Dating the Late Archaic occupation of the Norte Chico region in Peru", p. 1021.
- ↑ Terence D'Altroy, The Incas, pp. 2–3.
- ↑ Francisco Pizarro, Catholic Encyclopedia.
- ↑ Hemming, The conquest, p. 203–206.
- ↑ Margarita Suárez, Desafíos transatlánticos, pp. 252–253.
- ↑ Instituto Nacional de Estadistica e Informatica
- ↑ Municipalidad Lima. Municipalidad Lima. Retrieved March 24 2008.
- ↑ Lima Airport Partners, Annual Report. Retrieved on July 8, 2007
- ↑ INEI - Por AÑOS ESTIMACIONES Y PROYECCIONES (2005)
Further reading
- Dietz, Henry A. 1998. Urban poverty, political participation, and the state: Lima, 1970-1990. Pitt Latin American series. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 9780822956679
- Higgins, James. 2005. Lima: a cultural history. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195178906
- Hunefeldt, Christine. 2004. A Brief History of Peru. New York: Checkmark Books. ISBN 081605794X
- Osorio, Alejandra B. 2008. Inventing Lima: Baroque modernity in Peru's south sea metropolis. The Americas in the early modern Atlantic world. New York, N.Y.: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781403976048
- Van Deusen, Nancy E. 2001. Between the sacred and the worldly: the institutional and cultural practice of recogimiento in Colonial Lima. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804743198
External links
- Encyclopaedia Britannica Lima Retrieved September 6, 2008.
- World Fact Book 2008 Peru Retrieved September 6, 2008.
- Introduction to Lima Retrieved September 8, 2008.
- Lima stock exchange Bolsa de Valores de Lima Retrieved September 8, 2008.
- Travel guide to Lima from Wikitravel
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