Lima conquistador Francisco Pizarro on January 18, 1535, as "Ciudad de los Reyes". It became the capital and most important city in the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru. Following the Peruvian War of Independence, it became the capital of the Republic of Peru. Around one-third of the national population lives in the metropolitan area. Lima is home to one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the New World. The National University of San Marcos, founded on May 12, 1551, during the Spanish colonial regime, is the oldest continuously functioning university in the Americas. In October 2013, Lima was chosen to
Lima Province territories of present-day Lima, Callao and Ica regions, and the provinces of Casma, Huarmey and Santa, which later would be part of the La Costa Department. The department was further subdivided as time passed but the Lima Province kept being part of it. Due to the massive migration from other areas of the country, the need to separate the province from the rest of the department was forecast by experts. In 2002, the new regionalization law passed by President Alejandro Toledo made the Lima Province a separate entity from the rest of the newly created Lima Region. The province is