Peru History Trivia

1. Which famous Spanish conquistador founded Lima on January 18, 1535 after he conquered the Incan Empire in 1532?

From Quiz History of Lima, Peru

Answer: Francisco Pizarro

Pizarro has defeated the Incan emperor Atahualpa in 1532 for Spain. Pizarro initially attempted to transform several Incan cities into a Spanish capital, but they were all too mountainous and too far away from the ocean. Instead, Lima was established as Ciudad de los Reyes, which means City of Kings.

From Quiz History of Lima, Peru

Answer: Spanish win but many casualties on both sides.

The Spanish managed to defend Lima but the casualties were high on both sides and many Spanish soldiers were captured and sent to Ollantaytambo, an Incan fortress near Cusco. Manco II was appointed emperor of the Neo-Inca State. He was considered to be a Spanish ally. However Spanish mistreatment of the Incas in Peru caused him to rebel. Cusco, not Lima, was the most important city to Manco II and he led several successful attacks there.

From Quiz The Enigmatic Norte Chico Civilization!

Answer: Seafood

Although the region was very dry, it is believed that agriculture played an important role in the development of Norte Chico. Irrigation of crops, such as sweet potatoes, squash, beans, and corn would have been necessary; fishing appears to have also been an important occupation. There is evidence of seafood that most certainly came from coastal waters, such as clams, mussels, anchovies, and sardines.

From Quiz History of Lima, Peru

Answer: Silver

Silver was mined in the Andes Mountains and transported out of the country via the city of Callao. Callao was close to Lima and many wealthy silver merchants and prospectors relocated to Lima. The city's population more than tripled between 1619 and 1687.

From Quiz History of Lima, Peru

Answer: Pirates from Europe trying to infiltrate the city

Pirates and privateers, particularly those from England and the Netherlands, were hostile to the Spanish in Latin America. The riches Spain was unearthing in Peru were wanted in Europe and Spain had a near monopoly on South America. Privateers were hired by European countries to steal the loot, while pirates would take it for themselves. If a ship's cargo could not be stolen, it was often sunk so Spain could not have it either. Since Lima was a coastal city where much of the treasure passed through, the city was often attacked by other nations. Walls were built around Lima beginning in 1684 but they did little to repel attacks on a large scale.

From Quiz The Enigmatic Norte Chico Civilization!

Answer: It shifted the focus of research away from the highland areas to lowland areas.

Before the discovery of the Norte Chico civilization, historians were looking more in the Andes Mountains area for clues pointing to an earlier group rather than looking closer at lowland coastal areas. The reason historians were looking in the mountains is because that was the location of the Inca civilization during the 13th-16th centuries and an earlier one called the Chavín, which dates back to about 900 BC. In fact, for a long time, the Chavín civilization was believed to be the oldest in South America. It was a bit surprising to locate the Norte Chico civilization because of its location in an extremely dry area; there are, however, more than 50 rivers in the region that carry snowmelt from the mountains. That makes for lots of water to use in irrigation, which, of course, guaranteed the success of the Norte Chico civilization.

From Quiz History of Lima, Peru

Answer: Jose de la Serna e Hinojosa

Peru and Lima became severely impoverished during the 18th century and were entirely reliant on the Spanish Crown for almost anything. This is why Peruvians were not supportive of independence when everywhere else in South America was beginning in the 1810s. Pro-independence forces, including famed liberator Simon Bolivar, saw Lima's loyalty to Spain as threat to independence movements elsewhere. General Jose de San Martin invaded Peru and eventually forced Jose de la Serna e Hinojosa to resign his post as viceroy. He was replaced by another viceroy for short time who did not hold any power.

From Quiz The Enigmatic Norte Chico Civilization!

Answer: Cotton

It is believed that growing cotton was the most important economic activity for the Norte Chico civilization, although they undoubtedly traded foodstuffs as well. Archaeological evidence along the coast of Peru confirms that cotton fishing nets were used. The people, of course, needed the seafood protein in their diet; on the other hand, however, they needed the cotton to make the nets to catch the fish. Also used for textiles, bags, clothing, and other purposes, modern historians believe that control of the cotton crop in Norte Chico helped to determine social and economic status of the civilization.

From Quiz History of Lima, Peru

Answer: Guano

Guano was first experimented with as a fertilizer in Callao in 1802 and its success made it in demand in Europe. Peru had a treasure trove of guano in its southern provinces. Peru brought in Chinese indentured servants to harvest the guano. Guano claims became scarcer in the 1850s when the United States passed the Guano Islands Act in 1856. The allowed U.S. citizens to declare an island for the U.S. if it had guano deposits on it. As a result, the United States was gaining guano deposits and there was less to go around. Spain attacked the Peruvian Chincha Islands, which had a lot of guano. Spain gave up claims to the islands when the South American countries banded together. They saw Spain's seizure of the islands as an attempt by the Spanish to reclaim its lost territories. However, Spain was severely under armed to take back the islands, never mind all of South America.

From Quiz History of Lima, Peru

Answer: Chile

Chile had been a key ally of Peru's against Spain in the Chincha Islands War. But by 1879, Peru had aligned itself with Bolivia against Chile for mining rights in the Atacama Desert and other disputed territories along the Pacific. Lima suffered economically after Peruvian independence and it was thought the mining would revitalize its economy by creating new industries in Lima. However, Peru and Bolivia lost badly and not Peru not only failed to gain valuable territory, it was forced to give a few guano prosperous territories in the south to Chile. During the occupation, Chile freed thousands of Chinese slaves an looted Peruvian national treasures. Some of these treasures, such as historic books, were returned to Lima in 2007.

From Quiz The Enigmatic Norte Chico Civilization!

Answer: Quipu

Also called "talking knots", quipus were used by a number of early cultures, including those in China, Hawaii, and Peru, including both the Incas and the people of Norte Chico. Made of cotton threads or strings, quite a bit of information could be stored on a quipu. The Incas used them for record keeping, census records, and military organization, in addition to tax collection. Quipus have used to record both numbers and writing, and were especially useful because not only due to their portability, but also because of their ability to preserve information based on the color of the thread, the type of knot used, the number of knots, and their position on the string.

From Quiz History of Lima, Peru

Answer: Argentina

The Peru-Argentina match was part of the qualifying tournament for the 1964 Olympic Games. Argentina was winning 1-0 when Peru scored a goal. However, the goal was taken away and riot followed. Police entered the stadium and started using tear gas. The official casualty total is 328 but it is commonly believed to be much higher. The main cause of death was trauma caused by people being slammed into the steel shutters that lead the way out of the stadium when people tried to escape. Other people were suffocated or trampled. As a result, the seat capacity of Estadio Nacional was reduced by 10,000.

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Last Updated Aug 08 2026 5:52 AM

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