Arequi'pa

Arequi'pa, a term applied primarily to a mountain in the west Cordillera of the Peruvian Andes, as also to a city at its foot, and to the southern department of Peru, which contains them both. The mountain, also called Misti, is volcanic, of the form of a truncated cone; it sometimes smokes, and has a height of 18,500 feet. Its neighbourhood is subject to earthquakes. The city, in a rich valley, 7700 feet above the sea, is the third largest in Peru, being inferior only to Lima and Callao, and contains about 35,000 inhabitants. It carries on a considerable trade both with the interior and by sea; especially since the opening of the remarkable railway from the port of Mollendo across the mountains to the Titicaca Sea, which passes Arequipa. This neighbourhood is fruitful and well cultivated. The department is bounded N. by Lima, and W. by the Pacific. It has an area of 27,744 sq. m., and a population of 160,282. Like nearly the whole of the maritime region of Peru, the soil is generally arid and sterile.