Lima History

Although “officially” founded on 18 January, 1535, by the Spanish Conquistador Francisco Pizarro, Lima existed for centuries before as a small port town originally inhabited by communities of fishermen. At its founding in 1535, the city was officially renamed the City of Three Kings (Tres Veces Coronada Ciudad de los Reyes), although the original name of Lima continued to be used. The reference to the three kings comes from January 6 – date of the feast of the Epiphany – and the date the city was established. The origin and significance of the original name Lima, however, remains unclear. Historians believe there are two possible origins for this name, deriving from the Aymara word  limaq- meaning “yellow flower,” or the Quechua word rimaq, which means “talker,” after a famous oracle who occupied the valley before the Incan invasion in the 15th century. Rimaq is also the name of the river that leads to Lima, although Spanish documents from the colonial period indicate that the river was named after the Valley, rather than the reverse which is more often the case.

Lima experienced a massive boom in foreign influence, religion, and trade while serving as the seat (along with Mexico City) of the Spanish Viceroyalty during the colonial era, from the mid-1500s to early 1800s. It is during this period that much of the city’s fine colonial architecture, especially its churches, cloisters, and monasteries, was constructed.

The broad avenues and wide criss-crossing streets which now characterize much of the city were constructed at the end of the 19th century, in the aftermath of the War of the Pacific and the simultaneous mob attacks spurred on by social unrest and the growing chasm between rich and poor. Another earthquake destroyed much of the city in 1940, which at that time was mostly constructed out of adobe and other natural materials. It was also in the 1940s that Lima started a period of extensive urbanization, prompted primarily by massive waves of immigrants from the Andean provinces seeking to escape the violence and poverty of the countryside and highlands. The population of Lima grew exponentially beginning at this time, beginning in 1940 from an estimated 0.6 million, reaching 1.9 million only two decades later, and nearing 7.7 million as of 2007. At the start of this period, the urban area was confined to a triangular area bounded by the city’s historic center, Callao and Chorillos; in the following decades settlements spread to the north, east and south. New arrivals and immigrants sought to expand the confines of their worker ghettos, originally centered in downtown Lima, through large-scale land invasions which gave rise to the proliferation of shanty towns, known as pueblos jovenes (literally meaning “young towns.”)

During the early twentieth century thousands of immigrants came to the city, a significant number of which were from western Europe, comprising mostly of French, Italians and Germans. They organized social clubs and built their own schools and hospitals. In the process of adapting their own lifestyle to their new home, they also influenced Peruvian cuisine, the Italians in particular exerting a strong influence in the Miraflores and San Isidro areas with their restaurants, called Trattorias. In addition to European immigrants, a great number of Chinese immigrants, and a lesser amount of Japanese, came to Lima and established themselves in the Barrios Altos neighborhood near downtown Lima. They usually found work on farms and in the domestic services. Lima residents refer to their Chinatown as “Calle Capon,” and the city’s ubiquitous Chifa restaurants – a small, sit-down, usually Chinese-run restaurant serving the Peruvian spin on Chinese cuisine – can be found by the dozen in this Chinese enclave, currently the largest of its kind in South America.

Where the economy is concerned, industrialization began to take hold in Lima in 1930s, and today the Callao seaport is one of the main fishing and commerce ports in South America, with 75% of the country’s imports and 25% of its exports shipping through the Callao port. The main export goods leaving the country through Callao are oil, steel, silver, zinc, cotton, sugar, and coffee.

Lima is indisputably the industrial and financial center of Peru, home to many national companies. The Metropolitan area, with around 7,000 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. The most relevant industrial sectors are textiles, clothing, and food. Chemicals, fish, leather, and oil derivatives are also manufactured and/or processed in Lima. The financial district is located in the quarter of San Isidro, while much of the industrial activity takes place in the area stretching west of Downtown Lima to the airport in Callao.

Most of the foreign companies operating in the country have also settled in Lima, which has led to the previously mentioned concentration of economic and financial activity in the city.

There has been a noticeable increase in light industries, services, and high technologies. In 2007, the Peruvian economy grew by 9%, the largest growth rate in all of South America, an increase which was which was spearheaded by economic policies originating in Lima. The Lima Stock Exchange grew by 185.24% in 2006 and by 168.3% in 2007, making it one of the fastest growing stock exchanges in the world. In 2006, the Lima Stock Exchange was the most profitable in the world.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit and the Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union Summit were hosted by the city of Lima in 2008.