Spanish as their native tongue; other languages spoken are Quechua (0.4%), foreign languages (0.1%), Aymara (60 speakers, 0.0%), and other indigenous languages (0.1%). Immigration Immigrants from other regions make up 29.4% of the population; 0.2% of residents were born in a foreign country. The largest immigrant groups are from the regions of Piura (16.9% of the total population), Lambayeque (3.7%), and the Lima Province/Lima Region (2.8%). Age The population is spread out, with 49.4% under the age of 20, 10.7% from 20 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 9.7% from 45 to 64, and 3.5% who are 65 years of age or older. Education The literacy rate in the region is 90.4%. Secondary education has been completed by 31.8% of the population and 4.5% also have graduated from non-university higher education, while 2.3% have complete university studies. 45.9% only have attended primary education and 5.9% have not had any education. Political division The region is divided into three provinces (, singular: provincia), which are composed of twelve districts (distritos, singular: distrito). The provinces, with their capitals in parenthesis, are: Contralmirante Villar (Zorritos) Tumbes (Tumbes) Zarumilla (Zarumilla) History Tumbes was a populated region well before the Inca Empire. The first settlers were fishers and hunters. Most recent cultures that lived there have left evidence of the refinement in their ceramics, and huacas or ruins that still stand today. Tumbes was integrated into the Inca Empire during the reign of Sapa Inca Pachacuti. He introduced a new way of organizing the empire, but the task of integration continued during Tupac Inca Yupanqui's and Huayna Capac's reigns. He made it a key departure point for his campaign to conquer the Cañaris. The adventure of the Spanish Conquistadores had its beginning in Tumbes: at Puerto Pizarro Francisco Pizarro and his men landed in search of gold. The conquerors set off to the rest of the empire, founding cities and overpowering their people. During colonial times, Tumbes was no more than a crossing point where soldiers and adventurers stopped momentarily to restock themselves, and continue traveling. Tumbes, however, gained permanent importance after Peru's independence; with Ecuador's long-standing territorial claims over the Loreto Region of Peru, Tumbes's closeness to the border exposed it as a resistance point in some episodes of the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War. As part of the decentralization process in Peru, a referendum was held on October 30, 2005 to decide whether the region