Arequipa is a city in southern Peru and the capital of Arequipa Province and the Department of Arequipa. With a projected population of 1,195,700 in 2025, it is the country's second most populous city after Lima. It is the official seat of the Constitutional Court of Peru and is known as the "Legal Capital of Peru". Arequipa joined the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities in 2020.
Arequipa extends along both banks of the Chili River, in the Arequipa or Chili valley. The valley is bordered by the Andes to the north and east and by low coastal hills to the south and west. The city proper extends mainly over 14 districts, while the Arequipa metropolitan area includes 21 conurbated districts.
The site of the city was founded on 15 August 1540, when it was named "Villa Hermosa de Nuestra Señora de la Asunta de Arequipa". On 25 September 1541, by a real cédula issued by Charles V, it became the "City of Arequipa". During the viceregal period, Arequipa gained importance through its economic role and its loyalty to the Spanish monarchy.
Arequipa is Peru's second most industrialized city and one of its most economically active urban centers. In 2024 the Department of Arequipa recorded a nominal GDP of S/31.458 billion and GDP per capita of S/19,593, making it the country's second-largest regional economy. Because the capital city concentrates much of the department's economic activity, the departmental figure provides broad macroeconomic context for the city. A 2015 study estimated the city's own GDP at US$9.445 billion. Its industrial activity includes manufactured goods, textiles made from wool of camelids, and the production and sale of copper and molybdenum concentrates. The city maintains commercial links with Chile, Bolivia and Brazil, and is connected by the Southern Railway with the port of Matarani and the cities of Cusco and Puno.
After independence, the city gained political and economic importance. During the 19th and 20th centuries it acted as a counterweight to centralized power in Lima, functioning as a "second capital". It was a focus of popular, civic and democratic rebellions and produced prominent figures in politics and religion. Arequipa was the scene of more than seven uprisings or revolutions between independence and 1850 and twice served as the seat of the national government. During Salaverry's coup, President Luis José de Orbegoso installed his government in the city from 13 January 1835. On 31 August 1882, during the war with Chile, President Lizardo Montero declared Arequipa the capital of Peru and convened a National Congress on 28 April 1883.
In 2000, UNESCO inscribed 332 hectares of Arequipa's historic center as a World Heritage Site. Its historical and monumental heritage, together with its scenic and cultural spaces, has made it a destination for national and international tourism. In the historic area, viceregal and republican religious architecture combines Spanish and Indigenous features, forming a local architectural style known as the "Arequipan School", whose influence reached Potosí.
Several hypotheses have been proposed for the origin of the name "Arequipa". Some derive from local tradition, while others rest on geographical, archaeological and linguistic arguments.
One proposed derivation links the name to the Puquina language, spoken by the region's first inhabitants before the arrival of Aymara-speaking groups. According to this hypothesis, the original form was Are-quiapi. The main Puquina urban nucleus, Kasa-Patak, was discovered in 1942, and much local toponymy is said to derive from that language. The researcher Bernardo Málaga, who supported this interpretation, argued that the Aymara and Quechua versions were later and less likely:
The adaptive names Ari-quepa, which in Aymara means "behind the summit", and Are-quepay, Quechua, translated as "yes, stay here", cannot correspond to the factual reality established by archaeology, since there was no important settlement in the Arequipa countryside and it did not then offer the splendid panorama that now characterizes it.
The best-known legend attributes the origin of the name to the Inca Mayta Cápac. According to the story, when he allowed his subjects to settle in the Chili valley, he said to them Ari qipay or Are quepay (Quechua: "Yes, stay"). This version was recorded by Father Calancha and translated by J. Ignacio Gamio.
Other versions propose an Aymara origin. Father Blas Valera, cited by the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, suggested that the name came from ari qquepan or are quepa, referring to a sea shell used as a war trumpet. Similarly, historian Ernst Middendorf argued that the name derived from the Aymara ari qhipaya or ariq qipa, meaning "behind the peak", in reference to the Misti volcano.
The city flag displays the city's coat of arms on a crimson field. The color of the standard, however, was debated by historians in the 1940s. At the time, several scholarly publications sought to settle the controversy. Historians Francisco Mostajo and Víctor M. Barriga eventually confirmed the crimson color of the standard, rejecting the blue version reconstructed by historian Víctor Benavente, which coincided with the color used in the city's sporting activities.
On 2 September 1940, Francisco Mostajo sent a formal letter to the mayor insisting on his position regarding the color of the standard. He based his claims on the Acta de la jura del Rey Carlos III of 11 August 1788. On 23 September of the same year, Father Víctor M. Barriga published in the Catholic newspaper El Deber a document describing the royal standard of Arequipa as found in the Acta of 3 September 1789. Both documents confirm that the city standard is crimson and that it originates in a colonial royal standard.
The standard is described as follows:
For the royal festivities of proclamation and oath to King Charles IV, the Illustrious Cabildo had ordered in advance a new crimson velvet standard, with the royal and city arms, trimmed with gold overlay, fastened to a finely worked pole ending in a spur-shaped tongue, from whose throat hung two crimson silk cords with tassels, making a handsome set. A canopy, dais cloths, cushions and benches with gold fringes and tassels completed it.
The coat of arms of Arequipa has a central figure: a griffin holding a flag inscribed "Carlos V" or "Del rey". The arms were granted to the city on 25 September 1541 by a real cédula issued by Charles V.
The Peruvian traditionalist Ricardo Palma, in Tradiciones Peruanas, offered an interpretation of the arrangement and meaning of the elements. Referring to a chronicler versed in heraldry, Palma wrote in the tradition "El ahijado de la providencia":
This democrat who writes understands nothing of heraldry, and so relies on the explanation given by a chronicler. He says that the inscription on the flag expresses the possession that the king took of Arequipa, and that by placing it not under the griffin's feet but in its hand, the monarch meant to show his esteem for the city, not trampling it as a vassal but offering it a hand as favored. If someone can explain it better, let him raise a finger.