ABSTRACT
Lima, chief city and capital of Peru, lies on a plateau above the Pacific port of Callao, and its greater metropolitan area had a population estimated in 2001 at 7,060,600. It was founded by Francisco Pizarro (who is buried in the Cathedral) in 1535 but the present name, a Spanish corruption of the native name Rimac, was preferred to his title of the City of the Kings (Ciudad de los Reyes), and as the colonial capital of all of Spanish South America it was rebuilt after a disastrous earthquake in 1746. It has been the seat of the National University of San Marcos since 1551.
