city and distrito (district) of the Lima–Callao metropolitan area of Peru, south of central Lima on the Pacific coast. The city abounds in bougainvillea for most of the year; thus, in the mid-16th century, while still an Inca village, it came to be known by its present name (meaning “look at the flowers”). Although an 1850 census mentioned it as a district of Lima, it was not legally declared such until 1866. It was involved in the battles of La Palma (a civil war engagement in 1855 that led to Ramón Castilla's victory) and of Miraflores (which led to the Chilean occupation of Lima in 1881).