Geography of Lima

Physical setting

Lima has a land area of 2,672.28 km². It is located on mostly flat terrain in the Peruvian coastal plain, within the valleys of the Chillon, Rimac and Lurin rivers. As in the rest of the region, the extreme dryness of the climate means that away from the river valleys and irrigated areas the local terrain is absolute barren of vegetation.

Climate

Lima’s climate can be said to be quite peculiar, as besides the aforementioned dryness, it surprises for its mildness: despite being located in the Tropics and at a near sea-level elevation, temperatures are far from torrid, with maxima ranging from 26°C in February to 19°C in August, with an all-time record high temperature of 32°C (90°F). Corresponding minima are 15°C (59°F) in August and 20°C (68°F) in February, with 8°C (46°F) being the lowest ever recorded.

On the other hand, relative humidity is very high, and the fog associated with it shrouds the city from May to November. Rainfall is all but unknown, usually occurring only in El Nino years, the yearly average of 0.7cm (0.03in) being the lowest of any large metropolitan area in the world. All these climatic phenomena have a common cause, which is the presence of the cold Humboldt Current just offshore.

Lima is the largest city in the Western Hemisphere, and the second largest in the world after Cairo, that is located in a desert.