Piura

Piura is a city in northwestern Peru, located north of the Sechura Desert along the Piura River. It is the capital of the Piura Region and the Piura Province. Its population was 484,475 as of 2017 and it is the 7th most populous city in Peru. The city is located in the central eastern part of the Piura Region, 981 kilometers from the country's capital, Lima and is near to the border with Ecuador. It was here that Spanish Conqueror Francisco Pizarro founded the third Spanish city in South America and first in Peru, under the name of San Miguel de la Nueva Castilla (en: Saint Michael of New Castile) in the Tallán settlement of Tangarará on July or August of 1532. Piura declared its independence from Spain on 4 January 1821, a few months before Peru gained its independence on 28 July 1821. It is the commercial and administrative center of the Department of Piura.