Arequipa (; Aymara and ) is a city in Peru and the capital of the eponymous province and department. It is the seat of the Constitutional Court of Peru and often dubbed the "legal capital of Peru". It is the second most populated city in Peru, after Lima, with an urban population of 1,296,278 inhabitants according to the 2017 national census.
Its metropolitan area integrates twenty-one districts, including the foundational central area, which it is the seat of the city government. The city had a nominal GDP of US$9,445 million, equivalent to US$10,277 per capita (US$18,610 per capita PPP) in 2015, making Arequipa the city with the second-highest economic activity in Peru.
Arequipa is also an important industrial and commercial center of Peru, and is considered as the second industrial city of the country. Within its industrial activity the manufactured products and the textile production of wool of camelids. The town maintains close commercial links with Chile, Bolivia, and Brazil and with the cities connected by the South trainway, as well as with the port of Matarani.
The city was founded on 15 August 1540, under the name of "Beautiful Villa of Our Lady of the Assumption" in the name of Marquis Francisco Pizarro. On 22 September 1541, the monarch Carlos V ordered that it should be called the "City of Arequipa". During the viceregal period, it acquired importance for its outstanding economic role, and is characterized by the fidelismo towards the Spanish Crown, which honored Arequipa with titles such as "Very Noble and Very Loyal". In the Republican history of Peru, the city has been the focus of popular, civic and democratic rebellions. It has also been the cradle of notable intellectual, political and religious figures. In the Republican era, it was awarded the title of "Heroic city of the free people of Arequipa".
Its historical center extends over an area of 332 hectares and has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Historical heritage and monumental that it houses and its diverse scenic and cultural spaces turn it into a host city of national and international tourism, in its historical center it highlights the religious architecture viceregal and republican product of mixture of Spanish and autochthonous characteristics, that constituted an own stylistic school called "Arequipeña School" whose influence arrived in Potosí (Bolivia).
Etymology
A local tradition states that Sapa Inca Mayta Cápac received a petition from his subjects to reach the valley of the River Chili. They asked him for permission to stay in the region as they were impressed by the beauty of the landscape and the mild climate. The Inca answered "Ari qhipay" (Quechua: "Yes, stay"). However, another similar tale states that when the first Europeans arrived to the valley, they pointed at the ground and asked for the name of the land. The local chief, not understanding the question, assumed they were asking for permission to sit down and gave an affirmation, which sounded like "Arequipa".
Chroniclers Blas Valera and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega suggested that the name of the city came from an ancient Aymara phrase, "ari qquepan", supposedly meaning "trumpet sound", in reference to the sound produced from blowing into an empty conch-like seashell.
Another possible origin of the city's name comes from the Aymara phrase "qhipaya ari" or "Ari qipa" (from 'ari': acute, sharp or pointed; and 'qhipaya': behind), which translates to "behind the peak", referring to the nearby volcano, Misti.
History
The early inhabitants of the modern-day Arequipa area were nomads who relied on fishing as well as hunting and gathering for survival. Later, pre-Inca cultures domesticated llamas and became sedentary with the rise of agriculture. Terraces used for crop irrigation were built on both sides of the Chili River valley. The Yarabaya and Chimbe tribes settled in the city's current location, and together with the Cabana and Collagua tribes they developed an agrarian economy in the valley.