Ica () ( Quechua: ''Ika'') is a city and the capital of the

Department of Ica Ica (; qu, Ika) is a department and region of Peru. It borders the Pacific Ocean on the west; the Lima Region on the north; the Huancavelica and Ayacucho regions on the east; and the Arequipa Region on the south. Its capital is the city of Ica ...

in southern

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

. While the area was long inhabited by varying cultures of

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

s, the Spanish ''

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...

'' Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera claimed its founding in 1563. As of the 2017 census, it had a population of over 282,407. The city suffered extensive damage and loss of life during the

2007 Peru earthquake The 2007 Peru earthquake, which measured 8.0 on the moment magnitude scale, hit the central coast of Peru on August 15 at 23:40:57 UTC (18:40:57 local time) and lasted two minutes. The epicenter was located south-southeast of Lima at a depth ...

Location

The city is located on the

Ica River The Ica is a 220 kilometer long river in Peru which flows south from highlands in Huancavelica Region to the Pacific Ocean through Ica Region and passing the region's capital, the city of Ica. The river is normally dry during much of the year, ...

about to the south of

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

, along the desert coast of southern Peru. Further south along the

Pan-American Highway The Pan-American Highway (french: (Auto)route panaméricaine/transaméricaine; pt, Rodovia/Auto-estrada Pan-americana; es, Autopista/Carretera/Ruta Panamericana) is a network of roads stretching across the Americas and measuring about in to ...

lies the city of

Nazca Nazca (; sometimes spelled Nasca; qu, Naska) is a city and system of valleys on the southern coast of Peru. It is also the name of the largest existing town in the Nazca Province. The name is derived from the Nazca culture, which flourished in ...

History

In 2007, researchers found the fossil remains of a prehistoric penguin, ''

Icadyptes salasi ''Icadyptes'' is an extinct genus of giant penguins from the Late Eocene tropics of South America. Etymology The genus name is a combination of "''Ica''" for the Peruvian region where the type species was found and "dyptes" from the Gree ...

'', which inhabited the

Atacama Desert The Atacama Desert ( es, Desierto de Atacama) is a desert plateau in South America covering a 1,600 km (990 mi) strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes Mountains. The Atacama Desert is the driest nonpolar desert in th ...

about 30 million years ago. Scientists estimate it was about tall, with a beak. Evidence of prehistoric indigenous civilizations has been found in the nearby deserts, such as that of Paracas. Other cultures include the Chincha and the

Inca The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, ( Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The adm ...

, the latter of whom ruled this area beginning in the 14th century. Numerous pre-Columbian

archeological artifacts An artifact, or artefact (see American and British English spelling differences), is a general term for an item made or given shape by humans, such as a tool or a work of art, especially an object of archaeological interest. In archaeology, the ...

are now displayed in the '' Museo Regional de Ica''. The Inca were still in power when the Spanish conquistadors invaded the territory. The Spanish colonial city was founded on 17 June 1563 by Gerónimo Luis de Cabrera as ''Villa de Valverde''. It was ruled by Spain under colonial rulers until Peru achieved independence in 1821. On 15 August 2007, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake occurred off the coast of Peru, severely damaging buildings, houses and infrastructure in Ica. Initially 17 people died and 70 were killed when a church collapsed. Pisco was even more severely damaged and many people were buried under buildings that had collapsed. Some 80% of the city's buildings were destroyed.

Transportation

Ica can be reached from

by the

, a journey of . The Tren de la Costa is planned.

Tourism

Ica and surrounding areas are the traditional source of Pisco brandy. Ica is the site of the ''Museo Regional de Ica'', a regional museum with exhibits ranging from prehistoric artifacts to the Spanish colonial era. On display are

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...

funerary bundles and

mummies A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furt ...

. The elongated skulls from the Paracas and pre-Inca cultures suggest ritual deformation, perhaps to mark an elite class. Some skulls also bear evidence of trepanning, a kind of early brain surgery to relieve internal pressure or remove damaged skull matter suffered in battle. A collection of furniture, paintings and artifacts date from the Spanish colonial era. The Department of Ica encompasses considerable desert, giving it unique opportunities for tourism. The nearby

Huacachina Huacachina is a village built around a small oasis and surrounded by sand dunes in southwestern Peru. It is about five kilometers from the city of Ica in the Ica District of Ica Province. The oasis was introduced as a feature on the back of the ...

oasis is located in the midst of sand dunes. The city of Ica attracts international travelers, as well as resort seekers from Peru. Some young visitors try sandboarding; others travel the dunes in sand buggies.

Agriculture

The many days of sunshine have made Ica the center of an important agricultural region. Commodity crops are

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus '' Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years a ...

asparagus Asparagus, or garden asparagus, folk name sparrow grass, scientific name ''Asparagus officinalis'', is a perennial flowering plant species in the genus '' Asparagus''. Its young shoots are used as a spring vegetable. It was once classified in ...

avocado The avocado (''Persea americana'') is a medium-sized, evergreen tree in the laurel family ( Lauraceae). It is native to the Americas and was first domesticated by Mesoamerican tribes more than 5,000 years ago. Then as now it was prized for ...

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in Sout ...

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ' ...

s and other produce. It is known by Peruvians as the "Land of the Sun". Although the area has four seasons, the climate is warm and dry. Visitors say that it feels like a northern summer year-round. The climate of the city can help in easing

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, co ...

, which is aggravated by damp and humid climates and their associated

allergens An allergen is a type of antigen that produces an abnormally vigorous immune response in which the immune system fights off a perceived threat that would otherwise be harmless to the body. Such reactions are called allergies. In technical ter ...

. The desert city has drawn water for domestic and agricultural needs from an aquifer fed by glacial melt water. The regional usage is exceeding the inflow of water into the aquifer. Because the aquifer is quickly drying up, activists have called for more efficient irrigation, or adding dams and water diversions.

Climate

Ica lies on the border of the Atacama desert and has one of the driest climates in the world Köppen ''BWh'', with only around 1 inch of rainfall for the whole year. Temperatures are hot during the summer months (December – March) and warm through the winter months (June – September).

References

External links

Ica and the Huacachina Oasis
Trekker

TampoPampa

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ica (City) Populated places in the Ica Region Populated places established in 1563 Cities in Peru 1563 establishments in the Viceroyalty of Peru Regional capital cities in Peru