21 Facts About Andes

The Andes extend from north to south through seven South American countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina.

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, Bogota, Cali, Arequipa, Medellin, Bucaramanga, Sucre, Merida, El Alto and La Paz.

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.

Andes are part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that form the western "backbone" of North America, Central America, South America and Antarctica.

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Andes are a Mesozoic–Tertiary orogenic belt of mountains along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a zone of volcanic activity that encompasses the Pacific rim of the Americas as well as the Asia-Pacific region.

The Andes are the result of tectonic plate processes, caused by the subduction of oceanic crust beneath the South American Plate.

The main cause of the rise of the Andes is the compression of the western rim of the South American Plate due to the subduction of the Nazca Plate and the Antarctic Plate.

From a geographical approach, the Andes are considered to have their western boundaries marked by the appearance of coastal lowlands and a less rugged topography.

The Andes Mountains contain large quantities of iron ore located in many mountains within the range.

Formation of the modern Andes began with the events of the Triassic when Pangaea began the break up that resulted in developing several rifts.

The rise of the Andes has not been constant, as different regions have had different degrees of tectonic stress, uplift, and erosion.

Andes range has many active volcanoes distributed in four volcanic zones separated by areas of inactivity.

Porphyry copper in the western slopes of the Andes has been generated by hydrothermal fluids during the cooling of plutons or volcanic systems.

The dry climate in the central western Andes has led to the creation of extensive saltpeter deposits which were extensively mined until the invention of synthetic nitrates.

In tide of anti-imperialist 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 the Dry Andes extend from the latitudes of Atacama Desert to the area of Maule River, precipitation is more sporadic and there are strong temperature oscillations.

Rainforests and tropical dry forests used to encircle much of the northern Andes but are now greatly diminished, especially in the Choco and inter-Andean valleys of Colombia.

In modern times, the largest cities in the Andes are Bogota, with a population of about eight million, Santiago, Medellin, Cali, and Quito.

Andes rose to fame for their mineral wealth during the Spanish conquest of South America.

The Bolivian Andes produce principally tin although historically silver mining had a huge impact on the economy of 17th century Europe.