quality:corruption, linguistic:voice_change, structural:scholar_edition, structural:reformatting, structural:summarization
Demographics

With a municipal population of 8,852,000 and 9,752,000 for the metropolitan area and a population density of 3,008.8 inhabitants per square kilometer (7,793/sq mi) as of 2007, Lima ranks as the 30th most populous agglomeration in the world, as of 2014, and the second biggest city in South America in terms of population within city limits, after São Paulo. Its population features a complex mix of racial and ethnic groups. Mestizos of mixed Amerindian and European (mostly Spanish and Italians) ancestry are the largest ethnic group. European Peruvians are the second largest group. Many are of Spanish, Italian or German descent; many others are of French, British, or Croatian descent. The minorities in Lima include Amerindians (mostly Aymara and Quechua) and Afro-Peruvians, whose African ancestors were initially brought to the region as slaves. Jews of European descent and Middle Easterners are there. Lima's Asian community is made up primarily of Chinese (Cantonese) and Japanese descendants, whose ancestors came mostly in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The city has, by far, the largest Chinese diaspora in Latin America.

The first settlement in what would become Lima was made up of 117 housing blocks. In 1562, another district was built across the Rímac River and in 1610, the first stone bridge was built. Lima then had a population of around 26,000; blacks made up around 40% and whites made up around 38%. By 1748, the white population totaled 16,000–18,000. In 1861, the number of inhabitants surpassed 100,000 and by 1927, had doubled.

During the early 20th century, thousands of immigrants came to the city, including people of European descent. They organized social clubs and built their own schools. Examples are The American-Peruvian school, the Alianza Francesa de Lima, the Lycée Franco-Péruvien and the hospital Maison de Sante; Markham College, the British-Peruvian school in Monterrico, Antonio Raymondi District Italian School, the Pestalozzi Swiss School and also, several German-Peruvian schools.

Chinese and a lesser number of Japanese came to Lima and established themselves in the Barrios Altos neighborhood in downtown Lima. Lima residents refer to their Chinatown as Barrio chino or Calle Capon and the city's ubiquitous Chifa restaurants – small, sit-down, usually Chinese-run restaurants serving the Peruvian spin on Chinese cuisine – can be found by the dozens in this enclave.

In 2014, the National Institute for Statistics and Information (Instituto Nacional de Estadistica e Informatica) reported that the population in Lima's 49 districts was 9,752,000 people, including the Constitutional Province of Callao. The city and (metropolitan area) represents around 29% of the national population. Of the city's population 48.7% are men and 51.3% are women. The 49 districts in Metropolitan Lima are divided into 5 areas: Cono Norte (North Lima), Lima Este (East Lima), Constitutional Province of Callao, Lima Centro (Central Lima) and Lima Sur (South Lima). The largest areas are Lima Norte with 2,475,432 people and Lima Este with 2,619,814 people, including the largest single district San Juan de Lurigancho, which hosts 1 million people.

Lima is considered a "young" city. According to INEI, by mid 2014 the age distribution in Lima was: 24.3% between 0 and 14, 27.2% between 15 and 29, 22.5% between 30 and 44, 15.4% between 45 and 59 and 10.6% above 60.

Migration to Lima from the rest of Peru is substantial. In 2013, 3,480,000 people reported arriving from other regions. This represents almost 36% of the entire population of Metropolitan Lima. The three regions that supply most of the migrants are Junin, Ancash and Ayacucho. By contrast only 390,000 emigrated from Lima to other regions.

The annual population growth rate is 1.57%. Some of the 43 metropolitan districts are considerably more populous than others. For example, San Juan de Lurigancho, San Martin de Porres, Ate, Comas, Villa El Salvador and Villa Maria del Triunfo host more than 400,000, while San Luis, San Isidro, Magdalena del Mar, Lince and Barranco have less than 60,000 residents.

A 2005 household survey study shows a socio-economic distribution for households in Lima. It used a monthly family income of 6,000 soles (around US$1,840) or more for socioeconomic level A; between 2,000 soles (US$612) and 6,000 soles (US$1,840) for level B; from 840 soles (US$257) to 2,000 soles (US$612) for level C; from 420 soles (US$128) to 1200 soles (US$368) for level D; and up to 840 soles (US$257) for level E. In Lima, 18% were in level E; 32.3% in level D; 31.7% in level C; 14.6% in level B; and 3.4% in level A. In this sense, 82% of the population lives in households that earn less than 2000 soles (or US$612) monthly. Other salient differences between socioeconomic levels include levels of higher education, car ownership and home size.

In Metropolitan Lima in 2013, the percentage of the population living in households in poverty was 12.8%. The level of poverty is measured by households that are unable to access a basic food and other household goods and services, such as clothing, housing, education, transportation and health. The level of poverty has decreased from 2011 (15.6%) and 2012 (14.5%). Lima Sur is the area in Lima with the highest proportion of poverty (17.7%), followed by Lima Este (14.5%), Lima Norte (14.1%) and Lima Centro (6.2%). In addition 0.2% of the population lives in extreme poverty, meaning that they are unable to access a basic food basket.