Chincha Alta

Chincha Alta
Town
Panorama of the city center
Nickname(s): "Cuna de campeones" (Cradle of Champions)
Chincha Alta Location of the city of Chinca Alta in Peru
Coordinates: 13°27′S 76°08′W / 13.450°S 76.133°W / -13.450; -76.133
Country	Peru
Region	Ica
Province	Chincha
Government
• Mayor	Lucio Juarez
Area
• Total	2,988 km2 (1,154 sq mi)
Elevation	97 m (318 ft)
Population
• Estimate (2015)	177,219
Demonym(s)	Chinchano(a)
Time zone	PET (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	PET (UTC-5)
Website	www.munichincha.gob.pe

Chincha Alta is a Peruvian city located in the Ica Region. It is the capital of Chincha Province.

The City of Chincha Alta is located 200 kilometers south of Lima, in the Chincha Province of the Ica Region of Peru. The city covers an area of 2988 km² and has a population of 56,085.

The first inhabitants of the area arrived at the beginning of the ninth century. These people are known as the "Pre-Chincha". The historian Luis Cánepa Pachas puts the date of the arrival of the Pre-Chincha at sometime in the tenth century. The rudimentary Pre-Chincha culture was centered on fishing and shell gathering. The origin of the Pre-Chincha people is still uncertain.

In the eleventh century, a more advanced and warlike people known as the Chincha arrived in the coastal area. The Chincha had developed systems of architecture, agriculture and irrigation. The Chincha came to dominate the original inhabitants of the area. Some aspects of the original Pre-Chincha culture were absorbed by the newcomers. The word Chincha is derived from "Chinchay" or "Chinchas" or "Cinca" which mean "jaguar" in Chincha Quechua. The Chincha worshiped a jaguar god, and believed themselves to be descended from jaguars, who gave them their warlike and dominating tendencies. The Chincha fertilized their fields with dead birds and guano, and this knowledge was passed on to later peoples. The Chincha learned seafaring skills from the Pre-Chincha, and may have traveled as far as Central America by boat.

Between 1458 and 1460, the Chincha were conquered by the armies of the Inca Empire led by Tupac Inca Yupanqui during the reign of his father, Pachacuti. The Chincha area became an important part of the Inca Empire, and the Inca valued the Chincha for their agricultural knowledge and military skill. The Chincha region was then conquered by the Spanish, and the people of the region began to mix with Africans brought by the Spanish.