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Arequipa

Arequipa,
in southern Peru, is the capital of Arequipa Department, near Mollendo.
Located on the Pan-American Highway, the city is the commercial center for
southern Peru, northern Bolivia, and western Brazil.
Extensive
trade in cotton, wheat, rice, and sugar is carried on in the city through
railway connections with the seaport town of Mollendo. The chief industry is
the grading and packing of alpaca wool.
Arequipa
has a mild, dry climate and is located in a beautiful mountain valley
surrounded by several peaks, the highest of which is Volcán Misti (pictured
above, 5822 meters/19,101 feet), notable for a perfectly shaped snowcapped cone.
The
city was founded in 1540 by the Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro. The old
city was virtually destroyed by an earthquake in 1868 and has been completely
rebuilt. The population in 1996 was 680,600.