Lima
Lima (/ˈliːmə/ LEE-mə; locally [ˈlima]), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (locally [sjuˈðað ðe los ˈreʝes], Spanish for "City of Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of the country, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The city is considered the political, cultural, financial and commercial center of Peru. Due to its geostrategic importance, the Globalization and World Cities Research Network has categorized it as a "beta" tier city. Jurisdictionally, the metropolis extends mainly within the province of Lima and in a smaller portion, to the west, within the Constitutional Province of Callao, where the seaport and the Jorge Chávez Airport are located. Both provinces have regional autonomy since 2002.
This article is about the capital of Peru. For other uses, see Lima (disambiguation).
Lima
Ciudad de Los Reyes
The 2023 census projection indicates that the city of Lima has an estimated population of 10,092,000 inhabitants, making it the most populated city in the country, and the second most populous in the Americas after São Paulo.[6][7] Together with the seaside city of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima Metropolitan Area, which encompasses a total of 10,151,200 inhabitants.[8][note 1] When considering the constitutional province of Callao, the total agglomeration reaches a population of 11,342,100 inhabitants, one of the thirty most populated urban agglomerations in the world.
Lima was named by natives in the agricultural region known by native Peruvians as Limaq. It became the capital and most important city in the Viceroyalty of Peru. Following the Peruvian War of Independence, it became the capital of the Republic of Peru (República del Perú). Around one-third of the national population now lives in its metropolitan area.
In October 2013, Lima was chosen to host the 2019 Pan American Games; these games were held at venues in and around Lima, and were the largest sporting event ever hosted by the country. It also hosted the APEC Meetings of 2008 and 2016, the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in October 2015, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in December 2014, and the Miss Universe 1982 contest.
Etymology[edit]
According to early Spanish articles, the Lima area was once called Itchyma, after its original inhabitants. However, even before the Inca occupation of the area in the 15th century, a famous oracle in the Rímac Valley had come to be known by visitors as Limaq (Limaq, pronounced [ˈli.mɑq], which means "talker" or "speaker" in the coastal Quechua that was the area's primary language before the Spanish arrival). This oracle was eventually destroyed by the Spanish and replaced with a church, but the name persisted: the chronicles show "Límac" replacing "Ychma" as the common name for the area.[9]
Modern scholars speculate that the word "Lima" originated as the Spanish pronunciation of the native name Limaq. Linguistic evidence seems to support this theory, as spoken Spanish consistently rejects stop consonants in word-final position.
The city was founded in 1535 under the name City of Kings (Spanish: Ciudad de los Reyes), because its foundation was decided on January
6, date of the feast of the Epiphany. This name quickly fell into disuse, and Lima became the city's name of choice; on the oldest Spanish maps of Peru, both Lima and Ciudad de los Reyes can be seen together.
The river that feeds Lima is called Rímac, and many people erroneously assume that this is because its original Inca name is "Talking River" (the Incas spoke a highland variety of Quechua, in which the word for "talker" was pronounced [ˈrimɑq]).[10] However, the original inhabitants of the valley were not Incas. This name is an innovation arising from an effort by the Cuzco nobility in colonial times to standardize the toponym so that it would conform to the phonology of Cuzco Quechua.
Later, as the original inhabitants died out and the local Quechua became extinct, the Cuzco pronunciation prevailed. Nowadays, Spanish-speaking locals do not see the connection between the name of their city and the name of the river that runs through it. They often assume that the valley is named after the river; however, Spanish documents from the colonial period show the opposite to be true.[9]
"The City of the Kings of Lima, royal high court, principal city of the kingdom of the Indies, residence of the viceroy[...]", painting of 1615 by the Inca painter Guamán Poma. Royal Library, Denmark.[25]
!["The City of the Kings of Lima, royal high court, principal city of the kingdom of the Indies, residence of the viceroy[...]", painting of 1615 by the Inca painter Guamán Poma. Royal Library, Denmark.[25]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Lima_POMA1039v.jpg/173px-Lima_POMA1039v.jpg)
The unfinished cathedral of Lima in the Plaza Mayor, painting of 1680. Museo de América (Madrid).[26]
![The unfinished cathedral of Lima in the Plaza Mayor, painting of 1680. Museo de América (Madrid).[26]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a3/Plaza_Mayor_de_Lima.jpg/388px-Plaza_Mayor_de_Lima.jpg)
View of Lima and the Tapada limeña (a colonial women fashion) in a painting of 1842 by d'Orbigny and Benoît. Museum of the Americas, Spain.[27]
![View of Lima and the Tapada limeña (a colonial women fashion) in a painting of 1842 by d'Orbigny and Benoît. Museum of the Americas, Spain.[27]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/18/Bridge_of_Lima%2C_Ladies_of_Lima_1842_Boilly_and_Eyri%C3%A8s_%28cropped%29.jpg/187px-Bridge_of_Lima%2C_Ladies_of_Lima_1842_Boilly_and_Eyri%C3%A8s_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Colonial Calle de los Judíos (Jewish quarter) (Lima) in 1866 by Manuel A. Fuentes and Firmin Didot, Brothers, Sons & Co. University of Chicago Library.[29]
![Colonial Calle de los Judíos (Jewish quarter) (Lima) in 1866 by Manuel A. Fuentes and Firmin Didot, Brothers, Sons & Co. University of Chicago Library.[29]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Calle_de_los_Jud%C3%ADos_%28Lima%29_1866.jpg/353px-Calle_de_los_Jud%C3%ADos_%28Lima%29_1866.jpg)
Colonial Calles de la Oca and de Bodegones (Lima) in 1866 by Manuel A. Fuentes and Firmin Didot, Brothers, Sons & Co. University of Chicago Library.[29]
![Colonial Calles de la Oca and de Bodegones (Lima) in 1866 by Manuel A. Fuentes and Firmin Didot, Brothers, Sons & Co. University of Chicago Library.[29]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Calles_de_la_Coca_and_de_Badegones_%28Lima%29_1866.jpg/317px-Calles_de_la_Coca_and_de_Badegones_%28Lima%29_1866.jpg)
Puente de Piedra Bridge, the former Arco del Puente Gate and the Walls of Lima in 1878 by El Viajero Ilustrado. Old Fund of the University of Seville.[30]
![Puente de Piedra Bridge, the former Arco del Puente Gate and the Walls of Lima in 1878 by El Viajero Ilustrado. Old Fund of the University of Seville.[30]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/El_viajero_ilustrado%2C_1878_602092_%283810558891%29.jpg/352px-El_viajero_ilustrado%2C_1878_602092_%283810558891%29.jpg)
The Museo de la Nación houses thousands of artifacts spanning the entire span of human occupation in Peru.
The Museo Pedro de Osma houses artistic objects dating from the 16th to 18th centuries, including paintings, sculptures, altarpieces, silverware, Huamanga stone carvings, furniture and other objects from regions with an ancient Andean artistic tradition.
Larco Museum is a privately owned museum of pre-Columbian art that is housed in an 18th-century vice-royal building built over a 7th-century pre-Columbian pyramid.
National Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology and History of Peru is the largest and oldest museum in Peru.
Challenges[edit]
‘Wall of Shame’[edit]
In the 1980s, the internal conflict in Peru led part of the rural population (between 600,000 and 1 million people) to take refuge in Lima. The new arrivals, often very poor, erected hastily-built shacks. Some residents of these shantytown neighborhoods have acquired property titles, but urban planning remains largely non-existent. The wealthy neighborhoods, in response, built their own walls (up to 3 meters high), complete with barbed wire at the top, to isolate themselves from these poorer populaces. The walls are now the subject of tension between those who support a security discourse and those who defend their perceived discriminatory behaviors, especially as many inhabitants of the poorer area cross the wall everyday to work in the neighbouring affluent areas, usually as gardeners or domestic workers.[136]
