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The Altiplano (Spanish for "high plain"), Collao (Quechua and Aymara language: Qullaw, meaning "place of the Qulla people") or Andean Plateau, in west-central South America, is the most extensive high plateau on Earth outside Tibet. The plateau is located at the latitude of the widest part of the north–south-trending Andes. The bulk of the Altiplano lies in Bolivia, but its northern parts lie in Peru, its southwestern fringes lie in Chile, and it extends into Argentina.
Many towns and several cities are on the plateau, including El Alto and Oruro in Bolivia and Juliaca and Puno in Peru. The northeastern part of the Altiplano is more humid than the southwestern part, which has several salares (salt flats), due to its aridity. At the Bolivia–Peru border lies Lake Titicaca, the largest lake in South America. Farther south, in Bolivia, Lake Poopó existed until recently, but by December 2015, it had completely dried up, and was declared defunct. Whether that lake, which had been the second-largest in Bolivia, can be restored is unclear.
The Altiplano was the site of several pre-Columbian cultures, including the Chiripa, Tiawanaku, and the Inca Empire. Spain conquered the region in the 16th century.
Today, major economic activities in the Altiplano include mining, llama and vicuña herding, and services (in its cities). The area also attracts some international tourism.
The Altiplano is noted for hypoxic air caused by very high altitude. The communities located in the Altiplano include Qulla people, Uros, Quechua people, and Aymara people.
At various times during the Pleistocene epoch, both the southern and northern Altiplano areas were covered by vast pluvial lakes. Remnants are Lake Titicaca, straddling the Peru–Bolivia border, and Poopó, a salt lake that extends south of Oruro, Bolivia. Salar de Uyuni, locally known as Salar de Tunupa, and Coipasa Lake are two large, dry, salt flats formed after the Altiplano paleolakes dried out.
In general, the climate is cool and humid to semiarid and even arid, with mean annual temperatures that vary from near the western mountain range to near Lake Titicaca; total annual rainfall ranges between less than to the southwest to more than near and over Lake Titicaca. The diurnal cycle of temperature is very wide, with maximum temperatures on the order of and the minimum on the order of .
The coldest temperatures occur in the southwestern portion of the Altiplano during winter - June and July. The seasonal cycle of rainfall is marked, with the rainy season concentrated between December and March. The rest of the year tends to be very dry, cool, windy, and sunny. Snowfall may happen between April and September, especially to the north, but it is not very common, occurring between one and five times a year.
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