Lima is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Peru . It is the cultural, economic and industrial center of the country and its transportation hub. The city is located between the rivers of Chillon, Rimac and Lorraine . With a population of nearly 9 million, Lima is the fifth city in Latin America , after Mexico City , Sao Paulo , Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro . It is going to be a cosmopolitan city .
Lima founded the Spanish Conquistador Francisco Pissarro on January 18, 1535, and called it the City of Kings ( in Spanish : La Ciudad de los Reyes ). It then became the capital and most important city of the Spanish crown in Peru. After Peru's war of independence , Lima became the capital of the Republic of Peru. For three centuries, Lima remained the most important urban community in South America . In Lima and its suburbs, there are 8,380,000 inhabitants (according to the 2007 census), a third of the country's population. The city's industrial production accounts for about two-thirds of the country's industrial total.