Lima is the capital city of the Republic of Peru, located on the central coast of the country, on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, forming an extensive and populous urban area known as Lima Metropolitan, flanked by the coastal desert and spread over the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers. According to the Peruvian census of 2017, Lima has more than 8.5 million inhabitants, while its urban agglomeration has more than 9.5 million inhabitants, 30% of the Peruvian population, figures that make it the most populated city in the country.
On January 18,1535, the Spanish foundation was made with the name of the City of the Kings in the agricultural region known by the Indians as Limaq, name that acquired over time. It was the capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru and the largest and most important city in South America during Spanish imperial America. After Independence it became the capital of the Republic. Lima is home to one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the New World. The National University of San Marcos, founded on May 12,1551, during the Spanish colonial regime, is the oldest continuously operating university in the Americas. At present it is considered as the political, cultural, financial and commercial center of the country.
At an international level, it is the third most populous metropolitan area in Latin America, and the city occupies the fifth place among the most populated cities in Latin America and is one of the thirty most populated urban agglomerations in the world. Been defined as a global city of "beta class". Jurisdictionally, the metropolis extends mostly within the province of Lima and in a smaller portion, to the west, within the constitutional province of Callao, where the seaport and the Jorge Chávez airport are located. Both provinces have regional autonomy since 2002. In October 2013, Lima was chosen to host the 2019 Pan American Games. It also hosted the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in December 2014 and the Miss Universe 1982 contest.