Demographics
With a municipal population of 7,605,743, and 8,472,935 for the metropolitan area and a population density of 3,008.8 inhabitants per square kilometre (7,793 /sq mi) as of 2007, Lima ranks as the 27th most populous 'agglomeration' in the world. Its population features a very complex mix of racial and ethnic groups. Mestizos of mixed Amerindian and European (mostly Spanish and Italians) ancestry are the largest ethnic group. European Peruvians are the second largest group. Many are of Spanish, Italian or German descent; many others are of French, British, or Croatian descent. The minorities in Lima include Amerindians (mostly Aymara and Quechua), Afro-Peruvians, whose African ancestors were initially brought to the region as slaves, are yet another part of the city's ethnic diversity. There are also numerous Jews of European descent and Middle Easterners. Asians make up a large number of the metropolitan population, especially of Chinese (Cantonese) and Japanese descent, whose ancestors came mostly in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Lima has, by far, the largest ethnic Chinese community in Latin America.
The first settlement in what would become Lima was made up of 117 housing blocks. In 1562, another district was built at the other side of the Rimac River and in 1610, the first stone bridge was built. Lima then had a population of around 26,000; blacks made up around 40% of the population, and whites made up around 38% of the population. By 1748, the white population totaled 16,000–18,000. In 1861, the number of inhabitants surpassed 100,000, and by 1927, this had doubled.
During the early twentieth century, thousands of immigrants came to the city, including people of German, French, Italian, and British descent. They organized social clubs, and built their own schools. Examples are The American-Peruvian school, the Alianza Francesa de Lima, the Lycée Franco-Péruvien and the hospital Maison de Sante; Markham College, the British-Peruvian school in Monterrico, Antonio Raymondi Italian School, the Pestalozzi Swiss School and also several German-Peruvian schools.
The immigrants influenced Peruvian cuisine, with Italians in particular exerting a strong influence in the Miraflores and San Isidro areas with their restaurants, called trattorias.
A great number of Chinese immigrants, and a lesser amount of Japanese, came to Lima and established themselves in the Barrios Altos neighborhood near downtown Lima. Lima residents refer to their Chinatown as Calle Capon, and the city's ubiquitous Chifa restaurants – small, sit-down, usually Chinese-run restaurants serving the Peruvian spin on Chinese cuisine – can be found by the dozen in this Chinese enclave.
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