The Andes are one of the most beautiful mountain systems on the planet. And at the same time, it is the longest mountain range in the world, the length of the Andes mountains is 9 thousand kilometers. They stretched across several large states and climatic zones, their nature is very diverse and unique.
Andes - the longest mountain system on the planet
The Andes are the longest mountains on the planet. The Andes Mountains are 9,000 kilometers long. Despite this, their width is relatively small - only 500 kilometers. The average height of the Andes is about 4 kilometers. The Andes pass through 7 states - these are Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Ecuador and Bolivia. The nature and landscapes of these mountains are very diverse, because the Andes are thousands of kilometers long. The mountains are located in five climatic zones, starting from the equatorial zone in the north and ending with the temperate in the south. And the altitudinal zonality makes the nature of the mountains even more unique and diverse. The climate in different parts of the Andes is significantly different. The mainfeature of the Andes - this mountain system is a watershed between the two largest oceans - the Pacific and Atlantic. To the east of the mountains are the river basins of the Atlantic Ocean, and to the west of the rivers of the Pacific Ocean.
Different regions of the Andes
Since the Andes is a very long mountain system, they were conditionally divided into three regions. The Andes Mountains make up the Northern, Central and Eastern Andes. In turn, these parts of the Andes are divided into the Caribbean Andes, Northwest Andes and so on.
Northern Andes
The northern Andes are located closest to the equator, stretching from the Caribbean Sea to the border of Ecuador and Peru. The northern Andes end in a fault that separates them from the Central Andes. They are also divided into separate regions, mountain systems. The Caribbean Andes stretch along the Caribbean Sea on the territory of Venezuela, at the foot of them is the capital of Venezuela - Caracas. The Ecuadorian Andes are located, respectively, in the state of Ecuador. The northwestern Andes stretch across Colombia and Venezuela.
If off the coast of the Caribbean Sea, in Colombia and Venezuela, the ridges are fan-shaped and the length of the Andes from west to east in this area is 450 kilometers, then to the south the mountains narrow sharply to 100 kilometers. The Serrania de Baudo ridge stretches along the Pacific coast, it is isolated from the rest of the Andes by the depression of the Colombian Atrato River. It is low, narrow and strongly dissected. To the east rise the higher ranges belonging to the Western, Eastern Cordillera and Central, whichseparated by the Cauca and Magdalena rivers. They belong to the Northwest Andes.
Cordillera Central - the highest mountains in Colombia, they contain high volcanic peaks - Talima (5215 m) and Huila (5750 m). There is also the volcano Ruiz (5,400 m), which destroyed the city of Amero with its eruption, the number of victims is 25 thousand people. In general, the Northern Andes are a seismically active zone, earthquakes occur regularly here. In 1949, the city of Palileo was completely destroyed by tremors with a power of 6.8 points. And in 1999, the cities of Armenia and Pereira in Colombia underwent significant destruction.
Central Andes
The Central Andes stretch for thousands of kilometers from the border of Peru and Ecuador to 27 degrees south latitude. This is the widest section of the mountain system, from west to east, the Andes Mountains stretch in km - 800 in Bolivia.
The Central Andes are divided into the Peruvian Andes and just the Central. In Peru there are rivers that feed the full-flowing Amazon - Ucayali, Huallaghi, Marañon. Here, as in the Northern Andes, there are also the ridges of the Eastern, Western and Central Cordillera. They are separated by numerous deep canyons. The peaks here are over 6,000 meters high. The highest point is Huascaran, at 6,768 meters.
To the south is the widest stretch of mountains - the Central Andean Highlands, a significant part of which is occupied by the Puna Plateau. Heights in the territory of Pune reach 4 thousand meters. In this area there are large and famous lakes -Poopo, Titicaca. Titicaca is the only navigable lake in the world located at such a high altitude - 3,812 meters. And also there are s alt marshes - Atacama, Uyuni, Koipasa. East of Pune is the Cordillera Real with the high peak of Ankouma (6550 m). Also in this part of the Andes is the highland city of La Paz, which is the capital of Bolivia. This is the only metropolitan city located at an altitude of 3,600 m, it is located in the crater of an extinct volcano. In addition, the world's longest cable car in the Andes is located here, its length is 10 km.
Continuation of the Cordillera Real in the south is the Central Cordillera with the highest point - El Libertador (6,720 m). To the west of Puna is the Western Cordillera with high peaks-volcanoes: Sajama (6,780), San Pedro, Lullaillaco, Misti. The slopes of the Western Cordillera descend to the Longitudinal Valley, the southern part of which is occupied by the most severe Atacama desert. It is located near the Andes Mountains, the length is in km - 1,000.
South Andes
The southern Andes are divided into two parts. In the north, these are the Chilean-Argentine Andes or Subtropical, and in the south, the Patagonian.
In the Chilean-Argentinean, one can distinguish the Coastal Cordillera, the Main Cordillera and the Longitudinal Valley. Within the main Cordillera, one can single out the Cordillera Frontal, where the peak of Aconcagua is located with a height of 6,960 meters. To the east are the Precordillera.
The Patagonian Andes are located in the south in the temperate climate zone. They are low compared toCentral and Northern Andes and Chile-Argentina, the highest peak here is San Valentin (4,058 meters). The coastal Cordillera in the south becomes numerous mountainous islands. The longitudinal valley to the south goes down until it becomes the bottom of the ocean. The main Cordillera also declines to the south.
