Paita

Paita, or Payta, a seaport of northern Peru, chief town of the province of Paita in the department of Piura. Pop. (1906 estimate), 3800. The town has one of the best natural harbours of the Peruvian coast, is a port of call for the regular mail steamers between Valparaiso and Panama, and is the port of the departmental capital, Piura, with which it is connected by a railway 60 m. long. It is also the Pacific terminus of the railway across the Andes to Puerto Limon, on the Maranon, or upper Amazon. 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 the Silla de Paita. The water supply is brought from the river Chira (17 m. distant). The exports include cotton, tobacco, petroleum, cattle, hides and straw hats. Paita dates from the early years of the Spanish Conquest, and was a prosperous port in colonial times. It was nearly destroyed by Lord Anson's fleet in 1741.