- For the town in New Caledonia, see Païta.
Paita (or: Payta) is a city in northwestern Peru. It is the capital of the Paita Province which is in the Piura Region. It is a leading seaport in that region. It is located 1,089 km northwest of the country's capital Lima and 57 km northwest of the regional capital of Piura.
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Location
The seaport Paita is located at on a small peninsula south of the mouth of the Río Chira on an area of 1,785 km².
Paita faces on the Bay of Paita, and is sheltered from southerly winds by a headland called Punta Paita and by a large hill called Silla de Paita.
90 km to the south east is the capital of the Piura Region, Piura, and 160 km to the south is located Chiclayo, commercial centre of the Lambayeque region.
Population
The population of the seaport Paita was 3,800 in 1906 and 97,500 in 2003.
History
From 1578 to 1588, Paita was the Spanish capital of the northwestern Peruvial coast, before the permanent attacks of English pirates and corsairs made it necessary to relocate the capital at Piura. The port of Paita is best known to many Peruvians as the former home of Manuela Sáenz, mistress of Simón Bolivar during the Bolivar's War.
Industry
In 1875, a railway line of 97 km length was completed from Piura to Paita, but destroyed in the war with Chile from 1879 to 1883 and reconstructed in 1884. A street railway opened on 30 August 1891 and ran until the late 1920s. Today the port of Paita is Peru's fifth largest port and an important container port. It is located in a geopolitically important position on the Pacific coast. Paita has is one of the best natural harbours of the Peruvian coast and runs regular mail steamers between Valparaíso and Panama.
Fiestas
On 24 September the Fiesta de Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes is celebrated, lasting for a week and including pilgrimages in honor of la mamita meche.
