Barranco (; ) is a district of Lima, Peru. A seaside district of the city, it is considered a bohemian and artistic centre, being the home and working place of many of Peru's leading artists, musicians, designers and photographers. Its beaches are among the most popular within the worldwide surfing community, and a marina completed in 2008 provides state-of-the-art services for its yacht club.

The Monumental Zone of Barranco () is the designation under which most of the district is administered under a special regime that protects the monumental heritage located in the district. The area, alongside its monuments, forms part of the cultural heritage of Peru.

Etymology The name Barranco is Spanish for "ravine". Barranco has two ravines; one in the north where Armendariz Avenue is situated between Miraflores District and Barranco, and one near the central part, the Bajada de los Baños.

History San José de Surco was founded on 26 October 1874, with the Hermitage of Barranco chosen as its capital. The hermitage's location is traditionally considered the origin of the district, with an 18th-century legend claiming that two Indian fishermen who had become lost at sea managed to find their way to the shore through a light cast by a cross located on the site.

In the 19th century, it was a very fashionable beach resort for the local upper-class (also known as the aristocracy), alongside neighbouring Chorrillos.

The district was officially renamed from "San José de Surco" to "Barranco" through Law Decree No. 19001 of October 19, 1971.

During the 2010s and 2020s, many high rises and other projects began to be built in Barranco as a result of urban renewal, replacing a number of the district's traditional buildings.

Politics Barranco is under the jurisdiction of its own district municipality, as well as that of the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima.

List of mayors Since 2023, the incumbent mayor is Jessica Vargas.

№MayorPartyTerm Begin End1Pedro Bustamante y García2Francisco García Monterroso3Benito Bregante4Alberto Lajon5Baldomero Prado de Zela ??6José Tiravanti ??7Manuel Checa ??8Juan Francisco Pazos Monasis9José Cornejo10Pedro Elguera11Pedro Solari12Pedro Swayne – José Mendoza13Pedro Heraud14Juan Francisco Pazos Varela15Aurelio Souza1617Catalina Miranda18Pedro de Osma Gildemeister19Cesar Morelli20Enrique de las Casas21Pedro Martinto2223César Contreras24Enrique A. Coloma25Tomás A. Valeza26Germán Noriega del Valle27Manuel Montero Bernales28Javier Lanfranco29Luís Brambilla Tosso30Leopoldo Luna Ferrecio31Alfonso Ballón Elguera32Jorge Souza Miranda, Jr33Estuardo Núñez Hague34Manuel Campodónico Quevedo35Fernando Giuffa Fontanes36Jorge Rocha ArnaoAP–DC37Héctor Vega LeónAP–DC38Tomas Paso Valles39Carlos Varela Morales40Renato Lectora Ginetti41Emilio Gordillo Angulo42Miguel Lora Arbulú43Nicodemes Montalván PradoAcción Popular44Jorge del Castillo GálvezAPRA45Danilo Delgado Bedoya46Pedro Allemant CentenoAPRA47Renato Lectora GinettiFREDEMO48Carlos Gálvez MartínezOBRAS49Mario Zolezzi50Francisco Silva ChecaSomos Lima51Josefina Estrada de CapriataSomos Perú52Unidad Nacional53Restauración Nacional54PPC55APP56Siempre Unidos57Renovación PopularIncumbent

Subdivisions The district's central area is a designated Monumental Zone since 1972.

Barranco is the site of a lone populated centre that is coterminous with the district: Code Name Region Type Altitude (MSL) Population (total) Housing (total) 0001 Barranco Chala 97 34,378 (2017) 13,509 (2017)

Twin cities As of 2025, Barranco is twinned with the following places: Oakland County, Michigan Jun, Granada

Geography Barranco is part of the country's Chala region. It is also part of Lima's Cono Centro, an unofficial subregion of the city.

Boundaries The district is bordered to the north by Miraflores, to the east by Santiago de Surco, to the south by Chorrillos District and to the west by the Pacific Ocean.

Climate The cliffs of Chorrillos shield Barranco from colder and more humid winds coming from the South. As a result, Barranco has a micro-climate that is warmer and drier than many of the other districts of Lima, which are generally more humid, especially between May and October.

Demographics In 2017, the district's population was numbered at 34,378 people.

Notable people María Isabel Granda Larco (1920–1983), singer-songwriter and composer, better known as Chabuca Granda. Maria Isabel Sanchez-Concha (1889–1977), pioneer film maker.

Culture Barranco is commonly referred to as the city's foremost bohemian and artistic district, with a pedestrian-friendly layout and a historical tie to many of the country's best-known artists, such as singer-songwriter Chabuca Granda, poet Martín Adán, and writer Mario Vargas Llosa.

A popular Spanish proverb () has a local variant that refers to the district ().

Landmarks The Monumental Zone of Barranco is the designation under which a large part of the district has been administered since 1972, in which a number of buildings have been granted UNESCO's blue shield since 2024. Barranco has many houses in the colonial and Republican style (called "casonas"), flower-filled parks and streets, and appealing beachfront areas. A number of high-rise buildings have been constructed in areas surrounding the district's historic quarter, near the district's limits with Miraflores and Santiago de Surco.