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The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S and 20°S latitude) and has an average height of about . 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 —some of which host major cities such as Arequipa, Bogotá, Cali, Medellín, El Alto, La Paz, Mérida, Santiago and Sucre. The Altiplano 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.
The Andes are the highest mountain range outside of Asia. The range's highest peak, Argentina's Aconcagua, rises to an elevation of about above sea level. The peak of Chimborazo in the Ecuadorian Andes is farther from the Earth's center than any other location on the Earth's surface, due to the equatorial bulge resulting from the Earth's rotation. The world's highest are in the Andes, including Ojos del Salado on the Chile–Argentina border, which rises to .
The Andes are also part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that form the western "backbone" of the Americas and Antarctica.
The term cordillera comes from the Spanish language word cordel "rope" and is used as a descriptive name for several contiguous sections of the Andes, as well as the entire Andean range, and the combined mountain chain along the western part of the North and South American continent.
The Leeward Antilles islands Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, which lie in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Venezuela, were formerly thought to represent the submerged peaks of the extreme northern edge of the Andes range, but ongoing geological studies indicate that such a simplification does not do justice to the complex tectonic boundary between the South American and Caribbean Plate.
The Andean orogen has a series of bends or . The Bolivian Orocline is a seaward-concave bending in the coast of South America and the Andes Mountains at about 18° S. At this point, the orientation of the Andes turns from northwest in Peru to south in Chile and Argentina. The Andean segments north and south of the Orocline have been rotated 15° counter-clockwise to 20° clockwise respectively. The Orocline area overlaps with the area of the maximum width of the Altiplano, and according to Isacks (1988) the Orocline is related to crustal shortening. The specific point at 18° S where the bends is known as the Arica Elbow. Further south lies the Maipo Orocline, a more subtle orocline between 30° S and 38°S with a seaward-concave break in the trend at 33° S. Near the southern tip of the Andes lies the Patagonian Orocline. (2025). 9781862392199, Geological Society of London. ISBN 9781862392199
The formation of the modern Andes began with the events of the Triassic, when Pangaea began the breakup that resulted in developing several . The development continued through the Jurassic Period. It was during the Cretaceous Period that the Andes began to take their present form, by the Tectonic uplift, faulting, and folding of sedimentary rock and metamorphic rock rocks of the ancient cratons to the east. The rise of the Andes has not been constant, as different regions have had different degrees of tectonic stress, uplift, and erosion.
Across the Drake Passage lie the mountains of the Antarctic Peninsula south of the Scotia Plate, which appear to be a continuation of the Andes chain.
The far east regions of the Andes experience a series of changes resulting from the Andean orogeny. Parts of the Sunsás Orogen in Amazonian craton disappeared from the surface of the earth, being thrust fault by the Andes. The Sierras de Córdoba, where the effects of the ancient Pampean orogeny can be observed, owe their modern uplift and relief to the Andean orogeny in the Tertiary. Further south in southern Patagonia, the onset of the Andean orogeny caused the Magallanes Basin to evolve from being an extensional back-arc basin in the Mesozoic to being a contractional foreland basin in the Cenozoic.
The amount, magnitude, and type of seismic activity varies greatly along the subduction zone. These differences are due to a wide range of factors, including friction between the plates, angle of subduction, buoyancy of the subducting plate, rate of subduction, and hydration value of the mantle material. The highest rate of seismic activity is observed in the central portion of the boundary, between 33°S and 35°S. In this area, the angle of subduction is very low, meaning the subducting plate is nearly horizontal. Studies of mantle hydration across the subduction zone have shown a correlation between increased material hydration and lower-magnitude, more frequent seismic activity. Zones exhibiting dehydration instead are thought to have a higher potential for larger, high-magnitude earthquakes in the future.
The mountain range is also a source of shallow intraplate earthquakes within the South American Plate. The largest such earthquake (as of 2024) struck Peru in 1947 and measured 7.5. In the Peruvian Andes, these earthquakes display normal (1946), strike-slip (1976), and reverse (1969, 1983) mechanisms. The Amazonian Craton is actively underthrusted beneath the sub-Andes region of Peru, producing thrust faults. In Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, thrust faulting occurs along the sub-Andes due in response to contraction brought on by subduction, while in the high Andes, normal faulting occurs in response to gravitational forces.
In the extreme south, a major transform fault separates Tierra del Fuego from the small Scotia Plate.
In the tide of Anti-imperialism nationalism, the Andes became the scene of a series of independence wars in the 19th century, when rebel forces swept through the region to overthrow Spanish colonial rule. Since then, many former Spanish territories have become five independent Andean states.
The Andes of Chile and Argentina can be divided into two climatic and glaciological zones: the Dry Andes and the Wet Andes. Since the Dry Andes extend from the latitudes of the Atacama Desert to the area of the Maule River, precipitation is more sporadic, and there are strong temperature oscillations. The line of equilibrium may shift drastically over short periods of time, leaving a whole glacier in the ablation area or in the accumulation area.
In the high Andes of Central Chile and Mendoza Province, are larger and more common than glaciers; this is due to the high exposure to solar radiation. In these regions, glaciers occur typically at higher altitudes than rock glaciers. The lowest active rock glaciers occur at 900 m a.s.l. in Aconcagua.
Though precipitation increases with height, there are semiarid conditions in the nearly highest mountains of the Andes. This dry steppe climate is considered to be typical of the subtropical position at 32–34° S. The valley bottoms have no woods, just dwarf scrub. The largest glaciers, for example the Plomo Glacier and the Horcones Glaciers, do not even reach in length and have only insignificant ice thickness. At glacial times, however, 20,000 years ago, the glaciers were over ten times longer. On the east side of this section of the Mendozina Andes, they flowed down to and on the west side to about above sea level. The massifs of Aconcagua (), Tupungato (), and Nevado Juncal () are tens of kilometres away from each other and were connected by a joint ice stream network. The Andes' dendritic glacier arms, components of valley glaciers, were up to long and over thick, and spanned a vertical distance of . The climatic glacier snowline (ELA) was lowered from to at glacial times.
About 30,000 species of vascular plants live in the Andes, with roughly half being endemism to the region, surpassing the diversity of any other hotspot. The small tree Cinchona pubescens, a source of quinine that is used to treat malaria, is found widely in the Andes as far south as Bolivia. Other important crops that originated from the Andes are tobacco and . The high-altitude Polylepis forests and woodlands are found in the Andean areas of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. These trees, by locals referred to as Queñua, Yagual, and other names, can be found at altitudes of above sea level. It remains unclear if the patchy distribution of these forests and woodlands is natural, or the result of clearing that began during the period. Regardless, in modern history, the clearance has accelerated, and the trees are now considered highly endangered, with some believing that as little as 10% of the original woodland remains.
The vicuña and guanaco can be found living in the Altiplano, while the closely related Domestication llama and alpaca are widely kept by locals as and for their meat and wool. The crepuscular (active during dawn and dusk) , two threatened members of the rodent order, inhabit the Andes' alpine regions.Eisenberg, J.F.; & Redford, K.H. (2000). Mammals of the Neotropics, Volume 3: The Central Neotropics: Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil. Eisenberg, J.F.; & Redford, K.H. (1992). Mammals of the Neotropics, Volume 2: The Southern Cone: Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay. The Andean condor, the largest bird of its kind in the Western Hemisphere, occurs throughout much of the Andes but generally in very low densities.Fjeldsaa, J.; & Krabbe, N. (1990). Birds of the High Andes: A Manual to the Birds of the Temperate Zone of the Andes and Patagonia, South America. Other animals found in the relatively open habitats of the high Andes include the huemul, cougar, foxes in the genus Pseudalopex, and, for birds, certain species of (notably members of the genus Nothoprocta), Andean goose, giant coot, (mainly associated with hypersaline lakes), lesser rhea, Andean flicker, diademed sandpiper-plover, Geositta, Phrygilus and Diuca.
Lake Titicaca hosts several endemics, among them the highly endangered Titicaca flightless grebe and Titicaca water frog.Stuart, Hoffmann, Chanson, Cox, Berridge, Ramani and Young, editors (2008). Threatened Amphibians of the World. A few species of hummingbirds, notably some Oreotrochilus, can be seen at altitudes above , but far higher Species richness can be found at lower altitudes, especially in the humid Andean forests ("") growing on slopes in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and far northwestern Argentina. These forest-types, which includes the Yungas and parts of the Chocó, are very rich in flora and fauna, although few large mammals exist, exceptions being the threatened mountain tapir, spectacled bear, and yellow-tailed woolly monkey.
Birds of humid Andean forests include , , and the Andean cock-of-the-rock, while mixed-species flocks dominated by tanagers and furnariids are commonly seen—in contrast to several vocal but typically crypsis species of wrens, , and .
A number of species such as the royal cinclodes and white-browed tit-spinetail are associated with Polylepis, and consequently also threatened.
La Paz, Bolivia's seat of government, is the highest capital city in the world, at an elevation of approximately . Parts of the La Paz conurbation, including the city of El Alto, extend up to .
Other cities in or near the Andes include Bariloche, Catamarca, Jujuy, Mendoza, Salta, San Juan, Tucumán, and Ushuaia in Argentina; Calama and Rancagua in Chile; Cochabamba, Oruro, Potosí, Sucre, Tarija, and Yacuiba in Bolivia; Arequipa, Cajamarca, Cusco, Huancayo, Huánuco, Huaraz, Juliaca, and Puno in Peru; Ambato, Cuenca, Ibarra, Latacunga, Loja, Riobamba, and Tulcán in Ecuador; Armenia, Cúcuta, Bucaramanga, Duitama, Ibagué, Ipiales, Manizales, Palmira, Pasto, Pereira, Popayán, Rionegro, Sogamoso, Tunja, and Villavicencio in Colombia; and Barquisimeto, La Grita, Mérida, San Cristóbal, Tovar, Trujillo, and Valera in Venezuela. The cities of Caracas, Valencia, and Maracay are in the Venezuelan Coastal Range, which is a debatable extension of the Andes at the northern extremity of South America.
The rough terrain has historically put the costs of building and that cross the Andes out of reach of most neighboring countries, even with modern civil engineering practices. For example, the main crossover of the Andes between Argentina and Chile is still accomplished through the Paso Internacional Los Libertadores. Only recently have the ends of some highways that came rather close to one another from the east and the west been connected. Much of the transportation of passengers is done via aircraft.
There is one railroad that connects Chile with Peru via the Andes, however, and there are others that make the same connection via southern Bolivia.
There are multiple highways in Bolivia that cross the Andes. Some of these were built during a Chaco War between Bolivia and Paraguay, in order to transport Bolivian troops and their supplies to the war front in the lowlands of southeastern Bolivia and western Paraguay.
For decades, Chile claimed ownership of land on the eastern side of the Andes. These claims were given up in about 1870 during the War of the Pacific between Chile and the allied Bolivia and Peru, in a diplomatic deal to keep Peru out of the war. The Chilean Army and Chilean Navy defeated the combined forces of Bolivia and Peru, and Chile took over Bolivia's only province on the Pacific Coast, some land from Peru that was returned to Peru decades later. Bolivia has been completely landlocked ever since. It mostly uses in eastern Argentina and Uruguay for international trade because its diplomatic relations with Chile have been suspended since 1978.
Because of the tortuous terrain in places, villages and towns in the mountains—to which travel via motorized vehicles is of little use—are still located in the high Andes of Chile, Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador. Locally, the relatives of the camel, the llama, and the alpaca continue to carry out important uses as pack animals, but this use has generally diminished in modern times. , , and horses are also useful.
Irrigation is helpful in advancing the sowing data of the summer crops, which guarantees an early yield in periods of food shortage. Also, by early sowing, maize can be cultivated higher up in the mountains (up to ). In addition, it makes cropping in the dry season (winter) possible and allows the cultivation of frost-resistant vegetable crops like onion and carrot.W. van Immerzeel, 1989. Irrigation and erosion/flood control at high altitudes in the Andes. Published in Annual Report 1989, pp. 8–24, International Institute for Land Reclamation and Improvement, Wageningen, The Netherlands. On line: [2]
Currently, mining in the Andes of Chile and Peru places these countries as the first and second major producers of copper in the world. Peru also contains the 4th-largest goldmine in the world: the Yanacocha. The Bolivian Andes principally produce tin, although historically silver mining had a huge impact on the Price revolution of 17th-century Europe. In Chile in the higher portions of the Andes there are only mining districs dominated by large-scale mining, while medium and small-scale mining is more common at lower altitudes. For mines in the high Andes there are logistical difficulties in the use of sea water, in addition to increased probabilities of extreme weather events that may disrupt water supply. The gold deposits of the El Indio Gold Belt tend to lie along the Argentina–Chile border and next to or below glaciers and gold mining there have thus issues relating to the bi-nationality and their environmental impacts on glaciers.
Mining in the cold conditions in the Andes pose also difficult conditions for outdoor workers such as pallaqueo and for the batteries of electrified machinery. La mina eléctrica: Cómo la minería enfrenta el reto de las condiciones ambientales
There is a long history of mining in the Andes, from the Spanish silver Mining in Potosí in the 16th century to the vast current porphyry copper deposits of Chuquicamata and Escondida in Chile and Toquepala mine in Peru. Other metals, including iron, gold, and tin, in addition to non-metallic resources are important. The Andes have a vast supply of lithium; Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile have the three largest reserves in the world respectively.
Flora
The Andean region cuts across several natural region and floristic regions, due to its extension, from Caribbean Venezuela to cold, windy, and wet Cape Horn passing through the hyperarid Atacama Desert. and tropical dry forests used to encircle much of the northern Andes but are now greatly Deforestation, especially in the Chocó and inter-Andean valleys of Colombia. Opposite the humid Andean slopes are the relatively dry Andean slopes in most of western Peru, Chile, and Argentina. Along with several Interandean Valles, they are typically dominated by deciduous woodland, shrub and xeric vegetation, reaching the extreme in the slopes near the virtually lifeless Atacama Desert.
Fauna
The Andes are rich in fauna: With almost 1,000 species, of which roughly 2/3 are endemism to the region, the Andes are the most important region in the world for . Tropical Andes – biodiversityhotspots.org The diversity of animals in the Andes is high, with almost 600 species of (13% endemic), more than 1,700 species of birds (about 1/3 endemic), more than 600 species of (about 45% endemic), and almost 400 species of fish (about 1/3 endemic).
Human activity
The Andes Mountains form a north–south axis of cultural influences. A long series of cultural development culminated in the expansion of the Inca civilization and Inca Empire in the central Andes during the 15th century. The Incas formed this civilization through imperialism militarism as well as careful and meticulous governmental management.D'Altroy, Terence N. The Incas. Blackwell Publishing, 2003 The government sponsored the construction of aqueducts and roads in addition to pre-existing installations. Some of these constructions still exist today.
Devastated by European diseases and by civil war, the Incas were defeated in 1532 by an alliance composed of tens of thousands of allies from nations they had subjugated (e.g. Huanca people, Chachapoyas, Cañaris) and a small army of 180 Spaniards led by Francisco Pizarro. One of the few Inca sites the Spanish never found in their conquest was Machu Picchu, which lay hidden on a peak on the eastern edge of the Andes where they descend to the Amazon. The main surviving languages of the Andean peoples are those of the Quechua and Aymara language families. Woodbine Parish and Joseph Barclay Pentland surveyed a large part of the Bolivian Andes from 1826 to 1827.
Cities
In modern times, the largest cities in the Andes are Bogotá, with a metropolitan population of over ten million, and Santiago, Medellín, Cali, and Quito. Lima is a coastal city adjacent to the Andes and is the largest city of all Andean countries. It is the seat of the Andean Community of Nations.
Transportation
Cities and large towns are connected with Asphalt concrete-paved roads, while smaller towns are often connected by dirt roads, which may require a four-wheel-drive vehicle.
Agriculture
The ancient peoples of the Andes such as the Incas have practiced irrigation techniques for over 6,000 years. Because of the mountain slopes, terracing has been a common practice. Terracing, however, was only extensively employed after Incan imperial expansions to fuel their expanding realm. The potato holds a very important role as an internally consumed staple crop. Maize was also an important crop for these people, and was used for the production of chicha, important to Andean native people. Currently, tobacco, cotton, quinoa, and coffee are the main export crops. Coca, despite eradication programs in some countries, remains an important crop for legal local use in a mildly stimulating herbal tea, and illegally for the production of cocaine.
Irrigation
In unirrigated land, pasture is the most common type of land use. In the rainy season (summer), part of the rangeland is used for cropping (mainly potatoes, barley, broad beans, and wheat).
Mining
The Andes rose to fame for their mineral wealth during the Spanish conquest of South America. Although Andean Amerindian peoples crafted ceremonial jewelry of gold and other metals, the mineralizations of the Andes were first mined on a large scale after the Spanish arrival. Potosí in present-day Bolivia and Cerro de Pasco in Peru were among the principal mines of the Spanish Empire in the New World. Río de la Plata and Argentina derive their names from the silver of Potosí.
Peaks
This list contains some of the major peaks in the Andes mountain range. The highest peak is Aconcagua of Argentina.
Argentina
The border between Argentina and Chile
Bolivia
Border between Bolivia and Chile
Chile
Colombia
Ecuador
Peru
Venezuela
See also
Notes
(2025). 9783540243298 ISBN 9783540243298
Bibliography
External links
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