Lima, Peru

Lima is the capital of Peru, and the country's largest city. Its name comes from the Quechua word for "talker," although the city is often known by its nickname, El Pulpo ("The Octopus"), so called because of its sprawling landscape and cultural influence. One of the city's less positive nicknames is "Lima la Horrible," used by people upset with Lima's modernization efforts. They claim that the process of modernization has favored the wealthiest citizens, leaving poorer Limeños in conditions that are as bad as or worse than they were prior to the city's expansion.

Landscape

Lima has an area of about 70 square kilometers (27 square miles). The city is located west of the Andes, on the southern bank of the Rímac River, 13 kilometers (8 miles) inland from the Pacific Ocean. It is surrounded by the Peruvian coastal desert, which has almost no native plant or animal life. Lima's landscape, like most of Peru's coast, was formed through glacial erosion, in a process that continues to this day, and is a constant threat to the city, in the form of earthquakes and cliff deterioration.

The city has an average annual rainfall of 0.7 centimeters (0.3 inches), which is among the lowest of any large city in the world. Lima is typically overcast, with a low cloud cover blanketing the city for most of the year. January and February are Lima's sunniest months, but the city sees very little sun and has very little greenery. When the sun does peek through the fog, Lima experiences extremely hot and humid weather. Most of the year, the Humboldt Current keeps this tropical city temperate. Average monthly temperatures in the winter (May to November) range from 16 degrees to 19 degrees Celsius (60 degrees to 66 degrees Fahrenheit), and temperatures can rise as high as 27 degrees Celsius (80 degrees Fahrenheit) in the summer (December to April).

The ubiquitous fog, also called garúa, also has the effect of trapping air pollutants, which negatively impacts air quality in Lima.

Lima has been affected by climate change, which has caused an increase in temperature and sea level. Since Peru is on the coast in a desert ecosystem, it is particulary vulnerable to water scarcity.

People

As of 2022 census, the population of Lima proper was 11.045 million. The city accounts for almost one-third of Peru's total population. In 2017, two-thirds of adults in Lima Province were Mestizo, meaning they are of mixed European and Amerindian descent; about one-sixth were Quechua. Just over 7 percent of Limeños were of European descent, and most of these had Spanish ancestors. Fewer than 3 percent identified as of African descent, and Aymara and Amazonian indigenous peoples made up fewer than 1 percent combined. Nevertheless, class, much more so than ethnicity, is the characteristic by which Limeños are categorized.

Many wealthy Limeños maintain winter homes on the outskirts of the city, where the climate is more hospitable, and free of the garúa. Only the wealthiest citizens have easy access to utilities like indoor plumbing and sufficient food.

Many Limeños live in squatter settlements or shantytowns. Inner-city neighborhoods, known variously as tugurios, corralones, and callejones, once hosted mansions that housed the city's wealthiest residents, but have since been converted into crowded tenements. These poor neighborhoods are home to the majority of the city's immigrants. Numerous attempts have been made to revitalize a formerly enclosed portion of the city called El Cercado.

As of 2017, nearly two-thirds of the population of greater Lima was affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, while about 750,000 considered themselves evangelical Protestants. Fewer than a half million belonged to other faiths, and a similar number were unaffiliated.

Economy

Lima is a major port city, as well as a major business center. It is Peru's financial and industrial hub, accounting for about three-quarters of the growth in the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2018 alone. Most of Lima's industry has historically centered in the Callao-Lima-Vitarte corridor, and includes food processing, manufacturing, construction, vehicle maintenance and repair, and retail sales. The city's major products are processed fish, cement, meat, furniture, and metal products.

Lima's job market struggled in the 1990s, when many of the traditionally state-run companies were sold to private entrepreneurs. A devastating recession that lasted from 1997 to 1999 left half the population living below the poverty line. Most of Peru's manufacturers are located in Lima, due to the abundance of available laborers, but they are unable to employ all the Limeños seeking work. According to Peru's national statistical agency INEI, by early 2019 metropolitan Lima's unemployment rate was 7.6 percent.

The city's public transit system was somewhat antiquated, including the oldest rail line in South America. The city streets were generally overcrowded with cars and buses, which have tended to be small and poorly maintained. The need for better public transportation has led to a thriving amateur taxi industry, particularly since deregulation in the 1990s. Between 2003 and 2011, the World Bank Group devised, funded, and implemented a new rapid-bus transit system to improve transportation for lower-income residents living on the outskirts. Construction of Line 1 of the Lima Metro, a rapid transit railway connecting Lima's suburbs, began in 2010 and became operational in January 2012. In March 2014, Peru granted an international consortium, Consorcio Nuevo Metro de Lima, the rights to build the city's first subway line. As of late 2018, Line 2 was one-quarter finished and six light-rail lines were planned. Despite that, Lima's mayor faced fierce criticism for reportedly obstructing infrastructure projects serving pedestrians in favor of car-centric projects like bypasses and tunnels that have worsened traffic conditions.

Landmarks

Many ancient structures are still standing in Lima. The Templo de Pachacamac, in the Lurín district, was built by the Wari (Huari) people to honor the Hacedor del Mundo (Creator of the World). Many sections of the Lima City Walls, built by the Spanish to protect the city from pirates, are still standing, and are a major tourist attraction in Lima.

Due to the Spanish conquistadores' mission to convert the native people to Catholicism, Lima is home to many churches. In fact, there is a church on almost every street in the city. Lima's rich metal mines were a boon to the city's early economic development, and also resulted in ornately decorated churches, which often had silver or gold altars and ornaments.

The Pueblo Libre district is home to most of Lima's museums, including the Museo Nacional de Antropología, Arqueología e Historia, and the Museo de Oro del Perú, both of which have numerous artifacts from Lima's ancient civilizations on display. In 1988, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared Lima's Historic center a World Heritage Site. The Plaza Mayor, home to the Lima Cathedral and the Presidential Palace, is located in this historic district. The Convento de San Francisco, built in the seventeenth century, is known both for its neoclassical architecture and the extensive catacombs beneath it.

History

The earliest known inhabitants of the area where Lima now stands were hunters and harpoon fishers; remains of these early inhabitants suggest that they lived in Lima more than one thousand years ago. Several different tribes inhabited the area for centuries, leaving their mark on modern-day Lima in the form of adobe buildings and temples. A tribe called the Wari (or Huari) dominated the region for years, before eventually declining and being supplanted by the Chancay.

In the fifteenth century, the Inca population rose to prominence. The Incas would dominate the city until the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores, and would ultimately help shape the character of the modern city.

Originally called Ciudad de los Reyes (City of the Kings) by the Spanish, Lima was founded in 1535 by Francisco Pizarro, as the base of operations for the conquistadores. Pizarro chose the site due to its location near the Rímac River and the port of Callao. Six years after he founded the city, Pizarro was assassinated in Lima, as a result of power disputes between the conquistadores. The city prospered for many years, eventually becoming the unofficial capital of Spain's South American empire. Lima's position as the capital of the viceroyalty during the Spanish Inquisition contributed to the city's enduring and overwhelming Catholicism.

Despite its status, Lima was slow to develop. The city's development was further hindered by a devastating earthquake in 1746. Limeños turned the tragedy into an opportunity to reinvent their city. Modern Lima's wide streets and distinctive, ornate architecture are part of the legacy of this rebuilding effort, which adopted much of the style of Enlightenment Europe.

Ultimately, Peru came to resent Spain's imperial rule, although it was the last South American country to rebel against the Spanish Empire. Eventually, Argentine soldier José de San Martín drove the Spanish forces from Lima and, later, all of Peru. Peru formally declared its independence on July 28, 1821.

Lima finally began growing into a modern city in 1851, with the completion of the Lima-Callao railroad. During the War of the Pacific (1879–83), Lima experienced political turmoil and eventually the city fell to the Chilean military, which occupied Lima from 1881 to 1883 and burned the National Library.

In the early twentieth century, the arrival of automobiles prompted Lima to expand its road systems, and to build roads that connected the city to other parts of Peru. This expansion elevated Lima's status once again, and brought in thousands of immigrants from other parts of Peru and South America who were looking for work in the bustling capital. Unfortunately, this unchecked influx of people had devastating consequences for Lima, which had trouble absorbing so many people.

The latter half of the twentieth century brought a major economic downturn, while migration from rural residents looking for work in the city increased; about two million people migrated to Lima between 1940 and 1980. These migrants eventually settled just outside Lima's historic center, creating shantytowns that eventually housed almost half of Lima's population. Some of the shanty towns (barriadas) have actually developed into neighborhoods or pueblos jóvenes (young towns), but others still have no electricity of plumbing.

In 2000, Lima was the site of rioting and upheaval after the election of controversial Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori to a third five-year term. The Peruvian media largely ignored the protests and refused to cover the disturbance in the city, which further angered many of the protesters. In spite of the turmoil surrounding Fujimori's presidency, he maintained significant support in Lima, where he announced in 2001 that he would step down before the end of his term. In 2009, Fujimori received a twenty-five-year prison sentence for human rights violations and corruption, and in June 2013, then president Ollanta Humala refused to pardon an ailing Fujimori. Former investment banker Pablo Kuczynski was elected president in 2016 after promising to fight income inequality and further modernize the country. Tens of thousands took to the streets of Lima in protest again in 2017, when Kuczynski pardoned Fujimori, and in 2018, when leaked video revealed corruption within the judiciary.

A fire in 2001, started accidentally by a group of young boys playing with fireworks, eventually destroyed four city blocks in downtown Lima and killed more than 250 people. The fire started in the Mesa Redonda commercial district of the city, where fireworks—often illegally imported—are sold in large numbers in late December.

In August 2007, another earthquake hit Peru, killing over 400 people and injuring over 1,300. Although Lima was not directly affected by the quake, the nearby city of Ica was devastated. It was reported that nearly 17,000 Peruvians were impacted by the disaster.

In October 2013 Lima was selected to host the 2019 Pan American and Parapan Games.

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