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Lima is the capital and largest city in Peru, as well as the capital of Lima Province. It is the cultural, industrial, financial, and transport hub of the country. The city is located in an area encompassing the valleys of the Chill n, R mac ... more »
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Airports Lima is the capital and largest city in Peru, as well as the capital of Lima Province. It is the cultural, industrial, financial, and transport hub of the country. The city is located in an area encompassing the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers. It lies on a desertic coast adjacent to the bay in the Pacific Ocean where its port was built and named Callao.
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 of Lima (urban area) 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 500 mASL. 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 absolutely barren of vegetation.
Things to do
Amusement Parks * Lima's Zoo, San Miguel * Kart Circuit, Magdalena del Mar * Daytona Park, Surco * Sports Center, Miraflores * Apolo (Ice-Skating Park), San Isidro * Lima's Hippodrome, Surco * La Granja Villa, Chorrillos * Sports Center, Barranco
Zoos
* Parque de las Leyendas * Centro Ecologico Recreacional de Huachipa
Museums
* Gold Museum * Lima Wall Museum * Museum of the Nation (Museo de la Nación) * Japanese Inmigration Museum * National Museum of the Archaeology, Anthropology, and History of Peru (Museo Nacional del Arqueología, Antropología, e Historia del Perú) * Natural History Museum, Lima (Museo de Historia Natural) * Arts & Peruvian Popular Traditions Museum * Miguel Grau House-Museum * Ricardo Palma House-Museum * Morro de Arica soldiers Museum * Italian Arts Museum
The Historic centre of Lima, located in downtown Lima and the Rímac District, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988 due to the large number of historical buildings dating from the Spanish colonial era, a small number of which have now been restored. In particular, the monumental Plaza Mayor, with the 16th century Cathedral and the Presidential Palace, and the catacombs of the Convento de San Francisco are popular with visitors.
Several sections of the Lima City Walls can still be seen. These fine examples of Spanish medieval fortification were used to defend Lima from attacks from pirates and corsairs.
The city also has a number of fine museums, notably the National Museum of Anthropology, Archaeology, and History and the Rafael Larco Herrera Archaeological Museum, both in the Pueblo Libre district.
Many small beaches, which are heavily visited during the summer months, are located by 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. 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. The beaches in Lima itself are not suitable for swimming because the city's sewage is dumped raw into the ocean.
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.
Recently, the Palomino Islands near the port of Callao have attracted visitors due to a population of sea lions.
Situated in Monterrico, the Gold Museum, together with the even more interesting textile museum. Here can be seen almost perfectly preserved thousand year old garments and feathered capes recovered from the waterless deserts of Western Peru. Also in the same building, an arms museum with a huge range of antique Spanish firearms, among muskets and arquebuses.
Lima has an extensive bus system, which connects all of Lima's main streets and avenues. These buses are commonly known as micros or combis. Although very cheap and convenient (they stop virtually everywhere), they are often poorly mantained and the smaller buses run at excessive speeds.
Taxis vary in quality of service and price. They can be stopped at any street, or private taxi companies can be called to pick up passengers at a certain address.
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Numerous inter-urban bus companies offer transportation to other cities in Peru. Quality varies depending on the price, from luxury express buses to uncomfortable and crowded micros.
Nowadays Lima's mayor is working on a new bus system called Metropolitano where all buses will have exclusive lines; it has been told that new buses must be acquired by the companies working in the metropolitan area, this busses will be bought from a Chinese company, the same company that sells buses to Italy. The mayor's hope is to see a new massive transport system in the next few years.
To improve the quality of taxis running in Lima, a new law has been promulgated forbidding the importation of used cars; the city of Lima hopes that this law will promote the use of newer cars in the city, reducing vehicle emissions and smog.
An agreement signed by Mayor Luis Castañeda and President Alejandro Toledo on February 17, 2005, provided funding for finishing the Lima Metro, an above-ground mass-transit system which will link the downtown area with the financial district, San Isidro. The project was launched in the late 1980s but left unfinished by former president Alan García.
Lima's main passenger gateway for national and international air travelers is Jorge Chávez International Airport.
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The city was founded by conquistador Francisco Pizarro on January 18, 1535, naming it Ciudad de los Reyes as the location was decided at Epiphany, the January 6. Lima, its original name, however persisted. It is uncertain where the name originated, but it is thought that it derives from the Aymara word lima-limaq, (yellow flower) or from Quechuan rimaq (talking). In the oldest Spanish maps of Peru, both Lima and Ciudad de los Reyes can be seen together as the names of the city.
Lima became the most important city in the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru, which encompassed nearly all of Spain's possessions in South America during the colonial era (mid 1500s to early 1800s).
In 1746, many important and monumental buildings were damaged and or destroyed (later repaired) in an earthquake. The City of Kings' cultural patrimony and incomparable, beautiful architecture remained prevalent. Its architectural and political importance in Latin America were equalled only by Mexico City.
In 1996, the Japanese embassy hostage crisis took place in Lima, an affair which received global media attention. It ended on April 22, 1997 when Peruvian Armed Forces commandos stormed the building by carrying out a frontal daytime attack after tunneling underground into the embassy to rescue the seventy-two hostages. One hostage died of medical complications, two soldiers and all fourteen kidnappers were killed in action.
Lima is not only a city, but a very popular last name among portugeese, as well as a city in Portugal named Ponte de Lima
* 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 27°C in February to 18°C in August, with an all-time record high temperature of 32°C (90°F). Corresponding minima are 14°C (58°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 produces brief morning fog events from December to June and persistent low clouds from May to November. Sunny, moist and warm summers (Dec-Apr) lead to cloudy, damp and cool winters (Jun-Oct).
Rainfall is almost unknown. The yearly average of 0.7cm (0.3in) reported at the airport is the lowest of any large metropolitan area in the world. Inland locations within the city receive 1 to 6 cm of rainfall, which accumulates mainly during the winter months. Summer rain occurs in the form of isolated light and brief afternoon or evening events, leftover from afternoon storms that generate over the Andes. The peak of the 'rainy season' however, name which really does not apply, occurs during winter when late-night/morning drizzle events(locally called 'garua', 'llovizna' or 'camanchaca') become frequent. All these climatic phenomena arise from the combination of semi-permanent coastal upwelling and the presence of the cold Humboldt Current just offshore.
Temperature - Yearly Average
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* This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Source wikipedia.
