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.

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.

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.

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 upscale neighborhoods of Miraflores and San Isidro are among the wealthiest 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, upscale residential areas with several gated communities.

The traditional middle-class districts such as Jesús María, Lince, San Borja and Magdalena del Mar surround the "rich" districts.

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. Economic growth during the late 1990s helped these districts, and today they have a fast-growing middle class and lively economic life, with malls and other commercial services being inaugurated in former marginal districs such as Comas, Los Olivos and Villa El Salvador

Source: Wikipedia