Andean Plateau

The Altiplano (Spanish for "high plain"), Collao (Quechua and Aymara: Qullaw, meaning "place of the Qulla"), Andean Plateau or Bolivian Plateau, in west-central South America, is the area where the Andes are the widest. It is the most extensive area of high plateau on Earth outside Tibet. The bulk of the Altiplano lies in Bolivia, but its northern parts lie in Peru, and its southern parts lie in Chile and Argentina.

The plateau hosts several cities of these three nations, including El Alto, La Paz, Oruro, and Puno. The northeastern Altiplano is more humid than the southwestern area. The latter area has several salares, or salt flats, due to its aridity. At the Bolivia–Peru border lies Lake Titicaca, the largest lake in South America. South of that in Bolivia was Lake Poopó, which was declared dried up and defunct as of December 2015. It is unclear if this second-largest lake in Bolivia can be revitalized.

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.

Major economic activities in the Altiplano include mining, llama and vicuña herding, and services in the cities. There is some international tourism.

The Altiplano is an area of inland drainage (endorheism) lying in the central Andes, occupying parts of northern Chile and Argentina, western Bolivia and southern Peru. Its height averages about 3,750 meters (12,300 feet), slightly less than that of the Tibetan Plateau. Unlike conditions in Tibet, the Altiplano is dominated by massive active volcanoes of the Central Volcanic Zone to the west, such as Ampato (6288 m), Tutupaca (5,816 m), Parinacota (6348 m), Guallatiri (6071 m), Paruma (5,728 m), Uturunku (6,008 m) and Licancabur (5,916 m), and the Cordillera Real in the north east with Illampu (6,368 m), Huayna Potosí (6,088 m), Janq'u Uma (6,427 m) and Illimani (6,438 m). The Atacama Desert, one of the driest areas on the planet, lies to the southwest of the Altiplano; to the east lies the humid Amazon rainforest.

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