Districts of Lima

The Lima city proper is comprised of thirty districts in the Lima Province. Each of them is headed by a mayor, although the Metropolitan Lima Municipal Council (Municipalidad Metropolitana de Lima), led by the mayor of Lima, also has authority in these districts.

The historical downtown of the city is located in the Lima District, which is locally known as Cercado de Lima. This is where most vestiges of Lima’s colonial heyday remain, as well as the Presidential Palace and the Metropolitan Lima Municipal Council.

The upscale neighborhoods of Miraflores and San Isidro are among the wealthiest in the city, and most of the better hotels and other tourist destinations are located in them. The latter district is also an important financial center that is noweadays far more important in Lima’s daily business life than the Cercado. The districts of La Molina and Santiago de Surco offer quieter, upscale residential areas with several gated communities.

The traditional middle-class districts such as Jesus Maria, Lince, San Borja and Magdalena del Mar surround the “rich” districts.

Barranco, south of Miraflores, is known as a bohemian neighborhood and has earned recognition for its population of writers and intellectuals.

The most populous districts of Lima lie in the north and south ends of the city. Their population is comprised principally of immigrants from other regions of Peru. Many of them are poor people of indigenous origin who arrived during the mid and late twentieth century after being displaced by terrorism, agrarian crises, and general economic frustration.

These peasants invaded the vast desert areas and hillsides in the districts of the Cono Norte and Cono Sur areas, populating new slums known as pueblos jovenes. Economic growth during the late 1990s helped these districts, and today they have a fast-growing middle class and lively economic life, with malls and other commercial services being inaugurated in former marginal districs such as Comas, Los Olivos and Villa El Salvador.

Metropolitan Lima

1. Lima
2. San Miguel
3. Magdalena del Mar
4. San Isidro
5. Surquillo
6. Miraflores
7. Barranco
8. Santiago de Surco
9. La Molina
10. San Borja
11. San Luis
12. La Victoria
13. Lince
14. Jesus Maria
15. Pueblo Libre
16. Brena
17. Rimac
18. San Martin de Porres
19. Los Olivos
20. Independencia
21. Comas
22. Puente Piedra
23. San Juan de Lurigancho
24. El Agustino
25. Santa Anita
26. Chorrillos
27. San Juan de Miraflores
28. Villa El Salvador
29. Villa Maria del Triunfo
41. Ate

Outskirts

30. Pachacamac
31. Lurin
32. Punta Hermosa
33. Punta Negra
34. San Bartolo
35. Santa Maria del Mar
36. Pucusana
37. Ancon
38. Santa Rosa
39. Carabayllo
40. Lurigancho
42. Cieneguilla
43. Chaclacayo