Geography
Written by Nadia
Lima, Peru is located on the western coast of South America. It has an area of 3,900 square kilometers. It has a longitude of 12.433°S and a latitude of 77.0283°W. Lima is located in the Peru Time Zone. Peru shares borders with Ecuador, Columbia, Brazil, Bolivia and Chile. There are many cities that border it. The city of Rimac is to the north and the cities of Brena, Pueblo Libre, Lince, and La Victoria border it to the south. To the west there is the city of Carmende la Lengua Reynoso and to the east there is the city of El Agustino. It is located in a desert stripe between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes Mountains. There are three major rivers that flow through Lima: Rio Rimac, Rio Chillon, and Rio Lurin.
Lima has a mild climate throughout the year even though it is located in the tropics and in a desert. Lima’s climate can be classified as subtropical or desert climate. Micro climates make the atmosphere very humid. In summer it is moist and warm and in the winter it cloudy and humid. From December to May, there would be an average daily temperature ranging from 25°C to 32°C. From June to November, There would be an average daily temperature ranging from 12°C to 20°C. The city is located in the Southern Hemisphere so its hottest months are December and January. During summer there is barely any rainfall and in the winter it is mostly overcast with clouds and fog. When El Nino passes over Lima, the Pacific Ocean get warmer, air pressure increases, trade winds get disrupted and precipitation levels rise.
The coast of Lima covers about 10% of the territory but is home to more than half of the population. The width of the desert varies from ten to one hundred miles. The widest part of the desert, the Sechura desert, is rich in phosphate rock which is used in fertilizer. In the winter, the desert is covered with a thick fog that keeps the sun from penetrating and makes everything appear gray. Vegetation in Lima is very diverse because of the different microclimates created by the sea currents. The dryness of the desert makes agriculture a difficult task. However, Lima flourished in small areas and were supported by rivers coming from the mountains. The source of water relies on the rain in the Andes and makes the valleys subject to drought and floods. Most of the coastal landscape is dry and dusty. In some places along the coast, the fog is so dense that water condenses enough to support local vegetation.
A variety of natural disasters occur in Peru, some of which are limited to only one of Peru’s three main geographic regions while others occur throughout the country. Peru is very prone to earthquakes. The country often experiences as many as 200 small quakes each year, with one major quake occurring every five to six years on average. Small landslides occur frequently in Peru, especially in highland and jungle regions during the rainy season, often blocking roadways and causing delays in overland transportation. Many of these are prompted by human activities, such as the construction of the roads themselves. Naturally-occurring landslides are primarily the result of gravity, but factors such as slope stability also play a significant role. Flooding is a regular occurrence in Peru, particularly in the highlands and in the jungle. Another hazardous form of flooding comes from glacial lakes in the Andean highlands. These unstable lakes cause outburst floods, which have claimed thousands of lives during the last one hundred years.
These tsunamis are the result of seismic activity associated with the Peru-Chile Trench, located about one hundred miles off the Peruvian coast, where the Nazca Plate is being subducted beneath the South American Plate. Southern Peru is an area of mild volcanic activity. A number of volcanoes are considered potentially hazardous and remain under constant observation. In general, volcanic eruptions do not pose an immediate threat. El Nino is a complex and still not fully understood temperature anomaly that typically occurs every three to seven years. In Peru, this leads to particularly disruptive and damaging weather patterns. Heavy rains fall in the normally rainless coastal regions, leading to flooding and associated phenomena. Disease is different from other natural hazards in that it is not necessarily related to the physical environment. Human actions, such as urbanization and poor sanitation, also play a large role in the onset of outbreaks or epidemics.
Lima has a mild climate throughout the year even though it is located in the tropics and in a desert. Lima’s climate can be classified as subtropical or desert climate. Micro climates make the atmosphere very humid. In summer it is moist and warm and in the winter it cloudy and humid. From December to May, there would be an average daily temperature ranging from 25°C to 32°C. From June to November, There would be an average daily temperature ranging from 12°C to 20°C. The city is located in the Southern Hemisphere so its hottest months are December and January. During summer there is barely any rainfall and in the winter it is mostly overcast with clouds and fog. When El Nino passes over Lima, the Pacific Ocean get warmer, air pressure increases, trade winds get disrupted and precipitation levels rise.
The coast of Lima covers about 10% of the territory but is home to more than half of the population. The width of the desert varies from ten to one hundred miles. The widest part of the desert, the Sechura desert, is rich in phosphate rock which is used in fertilizer. In the winter, the desert is covered with a thick fog that keeps the sun from penetrating and makes everything appear gray. Vegetation in Lima is very diverse because of the different microclimates created by the sea currents. The dryness of the desert makes agriculture a difficult task. However, Lima flourished in small areas and were supported by rivers coming from the mountains. The source of water relies on the rain in the Andes and makes the valleys subject to drought and floods. Most of the coastal landscape is dry and dusty. In some places along the coast, the fog is so dense that water condenses enough to support local vegetation.
A variety of natural disasters occur in Peru, some of which are limited to only one of Peru’s three main geographic regions while others occur throughout the country. Peru is very prone to earthquakes. The country often experiences as many as 200 small quakes each year, with one major quake occurring every five to six years on average. Small landslides occur frequently in Peru, especially in highland and jungle regions during the rainy season, often blocking roadways and causing delays in overland transportation. Many of these are prompted by human activities, such as the construction of the roads themselves. Naturally-occurring landslides are primarily the result of gravity, but factors such as slope stability also play a significant role. Flooding is a regular occurrence in Peru, particularly in the highlands and in the jungle. Another hazardous form of flooding comes from glacial lakes in the Andean highlands. These unstable lakes cause outburst floods, which have claimed thousands of lives during the last one hundred years.
These tsunamis are the result of seismic activity associated with the Peru-Chile Trench, located about one hundred miles off the Peruvian coast, where the Nazca Plate is being subducted beneath the South American Plate. Southern Peru is an area of mild volcanic activity. A number of volcanoes are considered potentially hazardous and remain under constant observation. In general, volcanic eruptions do not pose an immediate threat. El Nino is a complex and still not fully understood temperature anomaly that typically occurs every three to seven years. In Peru, this leads to particularly disruptive and damaging weather patterns. Heavy rains fall in the normally rainless coastal regions, leading to flooding and associated phenomena. Disease is different from other natural hazards in that it is not necessarily related to the physical environment. Human actions, such as urbanization and poor sanitation, also play a large role in the onset of outbreaks or epidemics.