History of Lima Reforms. The population of Lima played an ambivalent role in the 1821–1824 Peruvian War of Independence; the city suffered exactions from Royalist and Patriot armies alike. After independence, Lima became the capital of the Republic of Peru. It enjoyed a short period of prosperity in the mid-19th century until the 1879–1883 War of the Pacific when it was occupied and looted by Chilean troops. After the war, the city went through a period of demographic expansion and urban renewal. Population growth accelerated in the 1940s spurred by immigration from the Andean regions of Peru. This gave rise to the proliferation
Lima Province divided into 43 districts. 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 exercises its authority in these districts. All the districts of Lima province are fused together in a continuous urban area, with the exception of the beach resorts of Ancon and Santa Rosa in the north and Pachacamac, Punta Hermosa, Punta Negra, San Bartolo, Santa Maria del Mar and Pucusana in the south. Lima Province is administered by the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima ("Municipalidad Metropolitana de Lima"), which also administers the city