|Nickname(s): El Primer Puerto (the first port)| |- Mayor||Félix
Moreno| |- City||146.98 km2 (56.7 sq mi)| |Population (2005
est)| |- Urban Density||5,608.4/km2 (14,525.7/sq mi)| |Time
zone||PET (UTC-5)| Callao (Spanish: El Callao) is the largest
and most important port in Peru. The city is coterminous with
the Constitutional Province of Callao, the only province of the
Callao Region. Callao is located west of Lima, the country's
capital, and is part of the Lima Metropolitan Area, a large
metropolis that concentrates almost one-third of Peru's
population. Callao borders Lima Province on the north, east and
south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Callao (pronounce as
Kah.ya.oh)was founded in 1537, just two years after Lima (1535),
and soon became the main port for Spanish commerce in the
Pacific. The origin of its name is unknown; both Indian
(particularly Yunga, or Coastal Peruvian) and Spanish sources
are credited, but it is certain that it was known by that name
since 1550. At the height of the Viceroyalt