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The Andes (/ˈændiːz/ AN-deez), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (Spanish: Cordillera de los Andes; Quechua: Anti) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is 8,900 km (5,530 mi) long and 200 to 700 km (124 to 435 mi) wide (widest between 18°S and 20°S latitude) and has an average height of about 4,000 m (13,123 ft). The Andes extend from South to North through seven South American countries: Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela.
Along their length, the Andes are split into several ranges, separated by intermediate depressions. The Andes are the location of several high plateaus—some of which host major cities such as Quito, Bogotá, Cali, Arequipa, Medellín, Bucaramanga, Sucre, Mérida, El Alto, and La Paz. The Altiplano Plateau is the world's second-highest after the Tibetan Plateau. These ranges are in turn grouped into three major divisions based on climate: the Tropical Andes, the Dry Andes, and the Wet Andes. (Full article...)
Selected general articles
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Image 1
Pumasillo (possibly from Quechua puma cougar, puma, sillu claw, "puma claw") is a mountain in the Vilcabamba mountain range in the Andes of Peru, about 5,991 m (19,656 ft) high'. Pumasillo or Sacsarayoc also refers to the whole massif. It includes the peaks Pumasillo, Sacsarayoc and Lasunayoc. It is located in the Cusco Region, La Convención Province. Its slopes are within the administrative boundaries of the Peruvian city of Santa Teresa. ('Full article...) -
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The Andean flicker (Colaptes rupicola) is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. (Full article...) -
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Azufral is a stratovolcano located in the department of Nariño in southern Colombia, 12 km (7 mi) west of the town of Túquerres. It is the only volcano of the Western Ranges of the Colombian Andes. Its name derives from the Spanish word for sulfur, azufre. The volcano is considered semi-dormant but there are numerous fumaroles in the summit crater. The summit of the volcano has an altitude of 4,070 metres (13,350 ft), and the north-western side of the crater contains a crescent-shaped lake named Laguna Verde (English: Green Lake) at 3,970 m (13,025 ft). The lake is 1,100 m (0.68 mi) long and 600 metres (2,000 ft) wide. and its bright green color is a result of the sulfur and iron-based deposits in the crater. There are also two other much smaller lakes in the crater, Laguna Negra (English: Black Lake) and Laguna Cristal (English: Crystal Lake).
The volcano lies within a nature reserve, the Reserva Natural del Azufral, created in 1990. The reserve covers an area of 5,800 hectares (58 km2) and is free of charge to enter. As Azufral is semi-dormant, there are no restrictions on ascending the volcano and visiting Laguna Verde: there is a road that climbs to within 1.5 kilometers (1 mi) from the summit, and the remaining distance can be covered on foot via a trail. (Full article...) -
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Lake Titicaca (/tɪtɪˈkɑːkə/; Spanish: Lago Titicaca [ˈlaɣo titiˈkaka]; Quechua: Titiqaqa Qucha) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. Titicaca is the largest lake in South America both in terms of the volume of water and surface area. It has a surface elevation of 3,812 m (12,507 ft). (Full article...) -
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Ancohuma or Janq'u Uma (Aymara janq'u white, uma water, "white water", also spelled Janq'uma, other spellings, Jankho Uma, Jankhouma) is the third highest mountain in Bolivia (after Sajama and Illimani). It is located in the northern section of the Cordillera Real, part of the Andes, east of Lake Titicaca. It lies just south of the slightly lower Illampu, near the town of Sorata.
Despite being higher than Illampu, Ancohuma is a gentler peak, with less local relief, and it is a somewhat easier climb. The peak was first climbed in 1919, by Rudolf Dienst and Adolf Schulze. Their route, still the easiest, climbs the southwest face, and is rated PD (not very difficult). Other routes exist on the northwest ridge and the west face. Depending on the route desired, the mountain is approached either from the west or from the northeast; each approach requires two to three days from Sorata. (Full article...) -
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Pichincha is a stratovolcano in Ecuador. The capital Quito wraps around its eastern slopes.
The two highest peaks of the mountain are Wawa Pichincha (Kichwa wawa child, baby / small, Spanish spelling Guagua Pichincha) (4,784 metres (15,696 ft)) and Ruku Pichincha (Kichwa ruku old person, Spanish Rucu Pichincha) (4,698 metres (15,413 ft)). The active caldera is in Wawa Pichincha on the western side of the mountain. (Full article...) -
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Nevado Anallajsi is a stratovolcano in Bolivia. The date of its last eruption is unknown, but its youngest lava flows appear to have erupted from a vent on the north flank of the mountain. The main composition of the volcano is andesitic and dacitic. It overlies a plateau which is composed of ignimbrite. The volcano covers an area of 368.8 square kilometres (142.4 sq mi) and is 10.2 mya old based on its erosion state, while other estimates indicate an age of 2.6 mya. (Full article...) -
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Maipo is a stratovolcano in the Andes, lying on the border between Argentina and Chile. It is located 90 km (56 mi) south of Tupungato and about 100 km (62 mi) southeast of Santiago. It has a symmetrical, conical volcanic shape, and is among the southernmost 5,000 metre peaks in the Andes.
Maipo is located within the Diamante caldera, a feature measuring 15 km by 20 km that is about half a million years old. It rises about 1,900 m (6,230 ft) above the floor of the caldera. Immediately to the east of the peak, on the eastern side of the caldera floor, is Laguna del Diamante, a lake that formed when lava flows blocked drainage channels from the caldera in 1826. The Diamante Caldera erupted 450 cubic kilometers (108 cu mi) of tephra, 450 ka. (Full article...) -
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Nevado de Santa Isabel (English: "The Snowy of Saint Isabel") is a shield volcano straddling the boundaries of the Colombian departments of Tolima, Caldas, and Risaralda, being the highest point of the latter. The volcano lies approximately 10 kilometers southwest of the larger Nevado del Ruiz volcano. Santa Isabel is the third highest peak in Los Nevados National Natural Park. It is a relatively flat volcano with three domes of nearly equal elevation. (Full article...) -
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Tungurahua (/tʊŋɡʊˈrɑːwə/; from Quichua tunguri (throat) and rahua (fire), "Throat of Fire") is an active stratovolcano located in the Cordillera Oriental of Ecuador. The volcano gives its name to the province of Tungurahua. Volcanic activity restarted on August 19, 1999, and is ongoing , with several eruptive episodes since then, the most recent lasting from February 26 to March 16, 2016. (Full article...) -
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Volcán Marmolejo is a 6,108 m (20,039 ft) high Pleistocene stratovolcano in the Andes on the border between Argentina and Chile. It is located 9 km (6 mi) NNE of the active San José volcano, and is the southernmost 6,000 m (19,685 ft)-plus peak in the world. The Argentine portion is within the Argentinean protection area of Provincial Reserve for Multiple Use and Natural Recreation Manzano / Portillo de Piuquenes. It is on the border of two provinces: Argentinean province of Mendoza and Chilean province of Cordillera. Its slopes are within the administrative boundaries of the two cities: Argentinean city of Tunuyán and the Chilean commune of San José de Maipo. (Full article...) -
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Jirishanca is a 6,094-metre-high (19,993 ft) mountain in the Huayhuash mountain range in west central Peru, part of the Andes. Other sources cite a height of 6,125 metres (20,095 ft). It is the tenth highest peak in Peru and the third in the Huayhuash range (after Yerupajá and Siula Grande). Jirishanca translates as "hummingbird bill peak". (Full article...) -
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The Tropical Andes is northern of the three climate-delineated parts of the Andes, the others being the Dry Andes and the Wet Andes. The Tropical Andes' area spans 1,542,644 km2 (595,618 sq mi). (Full article...) -
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Pomerape is a stratovolcano lying on the border of northern Chile and Bolivia (Oruro Department, Sajama Province, Curahuara de Carangas Municipality). It is part of the Payachata complex of volcanoes, together with Parinacota Volcano to the south. The name "Payachata" means "twins" and refers to their appearance. It hosts glaciers down to elevations of 5,300–5,800 metres (17,400–19,000 ft), lower on the northern slope.
Pomerape is a complex of lava domes, accompanied by lava flows which were emplaced atop of the domes. It was active about 200,000 years ago. The lava domes formed first and were later buried by the actual volcanic cone, which unlike the rhyolitic-dacitic domes is formed by hornblende andesite. The "Chungará Andesites" and lava dome complex of Parinacota were laid down at this time. Pomerape is associated with an adventive vent that has erupted mafic magmas. The main cone was last active 106,000 +- 7,000 years ago, the adventive vent is dated to 205,000 ± 24,000 years ago. (Full article...) -
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Cerro Escorial is a stratovolcano at the border of Argentina and Chile. It is part of the Corrida de Cori volcanic group and its youngest member. A well-preserved 1-kilometre-wide (0.6 mi) crater forms its summit area. Lava flows are found on the Chilean and smaller ones on the Argentinian side, the former reaching as far as 3–4 kilometres (1.9–2.5 mi) from the volcano. One of these is dated 342,000 years ago by argon-argon dating.
Off the western coast of South America, the Nazca Plate subducts beneath the South America Plate. This process has given rise to the Andes mountain chain and the Altiplano-Puna high plateau, which formed through shortening of the crust that lasted until 1 million years ago. Cerro Escorial rises from the Puna, which is dissected at Cerro Escorial by the Archibarca lineament; it is a strike-slip fault that has facilitated the ascent of magma. (Full article...) -
Image 16Irruputuncu is a volcano in the commune of Pica, Tamarugal Province, Tarapacá Region, Chile, as well as San Pedro de Quemes Municipality, Nor Lípez Province, Potosí Department, Bolivia. The mountain's summit is 5,163 m (16,939 ft) high and has two summit craters—the southernmost 200 m (660 ft)-wide one has active fumaroles. The volcano also features lava flows, block and ash flows and several lava domes. The volcano is part of the Andean Central Volcanic Zone (CVZ).
The volcano has been active during the Pleistocene and Holocene, with major eruptions occurring 258.2 ± 48.8 ka ago, between 55.9 ka and 140 ka ago and 1570 ± 900 BP (380 ± 900 AD), which were accompanied by the formation of ignimbrites. Historical volcanic activity is less clear; an eruption in 1989 is considered unconfirmed. Plumes linked to phreatomagmatic eruptive activity were observed on 26 November 1995 and 1 September 2003. Seismic activity is also observed on Irruputuncu, and ongoing fumarolic activity releasing 21–50 t/d (0.24–0.57 long ton/ks) of sulfur dioxide has left sulfur deposits in the active crater. (Full article...) -
Image 17
Puracé is an andesitic stratovolcano located in the Puracé National Natural Park in the Cauca Department, Colombia. It is part of the North Volcanic Zone of the Andean Volcanic Belt. The volcano is located at the intersection of the Coconucos and Morras Faults.
It is one of the most active volcanoes in Colombia. Large explosive eruptions occurred in 1849, 1869, 1885, 1949, 1950, 1956, and 1957. There were about a dozen eruptions in the 20th century, the most recent being in 1977. On this occasion, volcanic ash was deposited 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) away. Fumaroles were seen near the summit in 1990, and hot springs emerged from some of the lower slopes. (Full article...) -
Image 18
Nevado Sajama ([neˈβaðo saˈxama]; Aymara: Chak Xaña) is an extinct volcano and the highest peak in Bolivia. The mountain is located in Sajama Province, in Oruro Department. It is situated in Sajama National Park and is a composite volcano consisting of a stratovolcano on top of several lava domes. It is not clear when it erupted last but it may have been during the Pleistocene or Holocene.
The mountain is covered by an ice cap, and Polylepis tarapacana trees occur up to 5,000 metres (16,000 ft) elevation. (Full article...) -
Image 19
Yerupajá is a mountain of the Huayhuash mountain range in west central Peru, part of the Andes. It is located at Áncash, Bolognesi Province, Lauricocha Province. At 6,635 metres (21,768 ft) (other sources: 6,617 m (21,709 ft)) it is the second-highest in Peru and the highest in the Huayhuash mountain range. The summit is the highest point in the Amazon River watershed, and was first reached in 1950 by Jim Maxwell and Dave Harrah, and its northern peak (Yerupajá Norte) in 1968 by the Wellingtonian Roger Bates and Graeme Dingle. Many visitors consider Yerupajá to be the most spectacular peak in South America.
There have been only a few successful ascents of the peak because it is one of the hardest Andean high peaks to climb. The most popular route is the southwest face. The approach is normally made from Huaraz southwards via Chiquián and Jahuacocha. (Full article...) -
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Chinchillas are either of two species (Chinchilla chinchilla and Chinchilla lanigera) of crepuscular rodents of the parvorder Caviomorpha, and are native to the Andes mountains in South America. They live in colonies called "herds" at high elevations up to 4,270 m (14,000 ft). Historically, chinchillas lived in an area that included parts of Bolivia, Peru and Chile, but today, colonies in the wild are known only in Chile. Along with their relatives, viscachas, they make up the family Chinchillidae. They are also related to the chinchilla rat.
The chinchilla has the densest fur of all mammals that live on land, with around 20,000 hairs per square centimeter and 50 hairs growing from each follicle. In the water, the sea otter has a denser coat. The chinchilla is named after the Chincha people of the Andes, who once wore its dense, velvet-like fur. By the end of the 19th century, chinchillas had become quite rare after being hunted for their notably soft fur. Most chinchillas currently used by the fur industry for clothing and other accessories are farm-raised. Domestic chinchillas descended from C. lanigera are sometimes kept as pets, and may be considered a type of pocket pet. (Full article...) -
Image 21
Cerro Mercedario is the highest peak of the Cordillera de la Ramada range and the eighth-highest mountain of the Andes. It is located 100 km to the north of Aconcagua, in the Argentine province of San Juan. (Full article...) -
Image 22Touching the Void is a 2003 survival documentary film directed by Kevin Macdonald and starring Brendan Mackey, Nicholas Aaron, and Ollie Ryall. The plot concerns Joe Simpson and Simon Yates' near-fatal descent after making the first successful ascent of the West Face of Siula Grande in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes, in 1985. It is based on Simpson's 1988 book of the same name.
Critically acclaimed, Touching the Void was listed in PBS's "100 Greatest Documentaries of All Time". The Guardian described it as "the most successful documentary in British cinema history". (Full article...) -
Image 23
Telmatobius culeus, commonly known as the Titicaca water frog or Lake Titicaca frog, is a medium-large to very large and endangered species of frog in the family Telmatobiidae. It is entirely aquatic and found only in the Lake Titicaca basin, including rivers that flow into it and smaller connected lakes like Arapa, Lagunillas and Saracocha, in the Andean highlands of Bolivia and Peru. In reference to its excessive amounts of skin, it has jokingly been referred to as the Titicaca scrotum (water) frog.
It is closely related to the more widespread and semiaquatic marbled water frog (T. marmoratus), which also occurs in shallow, coastal parts of Lake Titicaca, but lacks the excessive skin and it is generally smaller (although overlapping in size with some forms of the Titicaca water frog). (Full article...) -
Image 24
The hooded mountain tanager (Buthraupis montana) is a species of bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is the only member of the genus Buthraupis. This yellow, blue and black tanager is found in forest, woodland and shrub in the Andean highlands of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. At 23 centimetres (9.1 in) and 85 grams (3.0 oz), it is one of the largest tanagers (second in weight only to the white-capped tanager). (Full article...) -
Image 25
Nevado del Huila (/nɛˈvɑːdoʊ dɛl ˈwiːlə/, Spanish pronunciation: [neˈβaðo ðel ˈwila]) at 5,364 metres (17,598 ft), is the highest volcano in Colombia, located at the tripoint of the departments of Huila, Tolima and Cauca. It is visible from the city of Cali. The andesitic volcano is located on top of the Ibagué Batholith.
After being dormant for more than 500 years, the volcano showed heavy signs of activity in 2007 and 2008. As of February 20, 2007, there were more than 7000 "minor" seismic events, and a high state of alert was in place for the departments of Cauca, Huila, Caldas and Valle del Cauca. The volcano erupted twice in April 2007, once in April 2008 and again in November 2008. Any eruption would affect the small villages around the volcano, mostly Páez, where their inhabitants still have in memory the eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano and the destruction of Armero. (Full article...)
Did you know...
- ... that the 1930s Polish Andean expeditions have been credited with several first ascents and the tracing of a new route to the summit of Aconcagua, the Andes' highest peak?
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Selected images
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Image 2Aerial view of Valle Carbajal in the Tierra del Fuego. The Andes range is about 200 km (124 mi) wide throughout its length, except in the Bolivian flexure where it is about 640 kilometres (398 mi) wide. (from Andes)
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Image 4Peruvian farmers sowing maize and beans (from Andes)
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Image 6Pico Humboldt at sunset (from Andes)
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Image 7Central Andes (from Andes)
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Image 13Bolivian Andes (from Andes)
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Image 19Irrigating land in the Peruvian Andes (from Andes)
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Image 22A male Andean cock-of-the-rock, a species found in humid Andean forests and the national bird of Peru (from Andes)
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