Chancay | |
|---|---|
 Castle in Chancay | |
 Location of Chancay in the Huaral province | |
| Country |  Peru |
| Region | Lima |
| Province | Huaral |
| Founded | April 16, 1828 |
| Capital | Chancay |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Domitila Aurora Dulanto De Balta (2019-2022) |
| Area | |
• Total | 150.11 km2 (57.96 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 43 m (141 ft) |
| Population (2017) | |
• Total | 56,920 |
| • Density | 380/km2 (980/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (PET) |
| UBIGEO | 150605 |
| Website | Official Website |
Chancay District is one of twelve districts of the province Huaral in Peru. [1]
In the pre-Columbian Chancay culture ruled over the valleys of Chancay and Huaura. The mummies found from the Ancon and Zepita necropolis have evidence that this culture expanded far north up to the Chillón valley. The Chancay culture took place between 1300 and 1450 A.D and after that became part of the Inca Empire.
Chancay was founded by Luis Flores, according to the viceroy Diego López de Zúñiga, 4th Count of Nieva, on November 16, 1562. By then its name was Villa de Arnedo in memory of the fee he had in Spain.
Although it was a "Spanish town", according to the 1792 census, the town had a total of 2960 people but only 369 were Spanish. Most of them were slaves and Indians.
By the time of Peru's independence, the April 16, 1828 law was created by the people of Chancay, and that made the town a "faithful town"
In 1966, a 6.2 magnitude earthquake caused great damage in the north of Chancay and part of the Lima-Callao area. 30 people died in Chancay and 4,000 homes were destroyed, in the Lima-Callao area 100 people died because of the tsunami and homes collapsed there, trapping the people inside them.
Its capital, the city of Chancay, is 83 km north of the city of Lima. The altitude of the city is 43 m.a.s.l.
