the capital of Peru; the country’s most important economic, political, and cultural center. Lima is situated on a plain near the foothills of the Andes, on the Pacific Ocean. It has a tropical desert climate. The average temperature during the coldest month (August) is 16°C, and during the warmest month (February), 23°C. The average precipitation is 40 mm per year. Population of Greater Lima, 3.5 million (1972, estimate).
Historical information. Lima was founded in 1535 on the left bank of the Rímac River by the Spanish conquistador F. Pizarro. It was originally called Ciudad de los Reyes (City of the Kings). The city’s modern name is a corrupted form of the name of the river. For three centuries, Lima was the center of the Spanish colonial possessions in South America and the capital of the viceroyalty of Peru. After the declaration of Peru’s independence from Spain in 1821, Lima became the capital of the republic of Peru. During the War of the Pacific of 1879–83, the city was occupied by Chilean troops from January 1881 to October 1883. By the turn of the 20th century, Lima had become an industrial city and the center of the strike movement and of demonstrations by workers.
Economic information. Greater Lima, which includes Lima proper, its suburbs, and the seaport of Callao, produces approximately 80 percent of Peru’s manufactures. There are metalworking, chemical, textile, shoe, and fish-processing enterprises. Automobiles are assembled and electrical appliances are produced there. A major railroad and highway junction, Lima has an international airport.
Architecture. Lima has preserved the rectangular grid of streets that was laid out during the colonial period; the streets were partially rebuilt in the middle of the 20th century. South of the Rímac River is the Old City, which has a number of architectural monuments. Northwest of the Old City lies the industrial region, and southwest, the business districts (which arose in the 19th century). Areas with expensive private homes are located south and southeast of the Old City. During the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries several buildings were constructed in the baroque style: palaces (Torre Tagle, 1735), residential buildings with patios and wooden balconies, a cathedral (1572–1797), monastery complexes with buildings and courtyards (San Francisco, Santo Domingo, and La Merced), and churches. These structures were built primarily of adobe, and their portals and interiors are decorated with skillfully executed, intricate sculptural work. Nineteenth-century buildings are characterized by an eclectic style (for example, the Square of May 2, 1895).
In the first half of the 20th century the magnificent “neocolonial style” (the Presidential Palace, 1937–38) and the more simple “neo-Peruvian style” (the Union of Architects building, 1947) predominated. Since 1950 modern-style buildings have been constructed (the Matute residential district, 1952; the Ministry of Education, 1956).
Educational, scientific, and cultural institutions. Located in Lima are the University of San Marcos, the Catholic University of Peru, the University of the Pacific, the National University of Engineering, the Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University, the Federico Villarreal National University, the National Academy of Music, and the National School of Fine Arts. The city’s scientific institutions include the Peruvian Academy, the Academy of the Exact, Physical, and Natural Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, and the Peruvian Academy of Surgery.
Lima is the site of the National Library and ten museums (including the National Historical Museum, the National Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology, the Javier Prado Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of Peruvian Culture, and the Museum of Art). In the Municipal Theater, Theater of M. A. Segura, Corral de Comedias, La Cabaña, F. Pardo i Aliaga, Club de Teatro L., Arequipa, and Casa de Cultura de Lince, several companies appear (the Young Blood, the Experimental Troupe, Procontra, Ayar, Istrion, and El Molino). There are a symphony orchestra, folklore ensembles with their own schools, and a Peruvian choral association.
a city in the eastern USA, in the state of Ohio. Population, 54,000 (1970; with suburbs, 171,000). The city’s industries, which employ 35,000 people, produce road-construction machinery, motor vehicles, automobile parts, diesel engines, electrical appliances, refined petroleum, and foodstuffs.