Population of Lima

In 2003, Lima was home to about 7.9 million people. It gained more than 2.5 million residents since 1981, when its population was 4.1 million.

Lima’s residents are spread among 33 separate municipal districts and the adjoining port of Callao.

More than 90 percent of Lima’s residents are mestizo (people of mixed European and Native American background), with small minorities of whites, blacks, and Asians, mostly of Japanese descent.

Since the 1940s Lima has experienced dramatic population growth, averaging 7 percent annually in the 1960s, 5 percent in the 1970s, and 4 percent in the 1980s. This increase, driven by large-scale migration from small towns and rural areas of the Andes, has contributed to serious problems in the metropolitan area, which cannot provide adequate housing, water, and other services.