1.
Aconcagua
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Aconcagua is the highest mountain outside Asia, at 6,961 metres, and by extension the highest point in both the Western Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. It is located in the Andes mountain range, in the Mendoza Province, Argentina, and lies 112 kilometres northwest of its capital, the summit is also located about 5 kilometers from San Juan Province and 15 kilometers from the international border with Chile. The mountain itself lies entirely within Argentina and immediately east of Argentinas border with Chile and its nearest higher neighbor is Tirich Mir in the Hindu Kush,16,520 kilometres away. It is one of the Seven Summits, Aconcagua is bounded by the Valle de las Vacas to the north and east and the Valle de los Horcones Inferior to the west and south. The mountain and its surroundings are part of the Aconcagua Provincial Park, the mountain has a number of glaciers. The largest glacier is the Ventisquero Horcones Inferior at about 10 kilometers long, two other large glacier systems are the Ventisquero de las Vacas Sur and Glaciar Este/Ventisquero Relinchos system at about 5 kilometers long. The most well-known is the north-eastern or Polish Glacier, as it is a route of ascent. The mountain was created by the subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American Plate during the geologically recent Andean orogeny, in mountaineering terms, Aconcagua is technically an easy mountain if approached from the north, via the normal route. Aconcagua is arguably the highest non-technical mountain in the world, since the route does not absolutely require ropes, axes. Although the effects of altitude are severe, the use of oxygen is not common. Altitude sickness will affect most climbers to some extent, depending on the degree of acclimatization, even if the normal climb is technically easy, multiple casualties occur every year on this mountain. Given the weather conditions close to the summit, cold weather injuries are very common, the third most popular route is by the Polish Glacier itself. No hard records are kept about Aconcagua ascents, but the Provincial Park reports a rate of about 60% of climbers who attempt the mountain. About 75% of climbers are foreigners and 25% are Argentinean, among foreigners, the United States leads in number of climbers, followed by Germany and the UK. About 54% of climbers ascend the Normal Route, 43% up the Polish Glacier Route, the routes to the peak from the south and south-west ridges are more demanding and the south face climb is considered quite difficult. The camp sites on the route are listed below. Puente del Inca,2,740 metres, A small village on the main road, Confluencia,3,380 metres, A camp site a few hours into the national park. Plaza de Mulas,4,370 metres, Base camp, there are several meal tents, showers and internet access
2.
Las Heras Department
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Las Heras is a department located in the north west of Mendoza Province in Argentina. The provincial subdivision has a population of about 183,000 inhabitants in an area of 8,955 km², and its capital city is Las Heras, the provinces international airport, Governor Francisco Gabrielli International Airport is located within this subdivision. The Partido and its capital are named after General Juan Gregorio de las Heras, mount Aconcagua is located in Las Heras Department, at 6,962 metres above sea level it holds many records, including, The highest mountain in South America. The Highest Mountain in all of the Americas, the highest mountain in the Southern Hemisphere. The highest mountain outside of the continent of Asia, the people of Las Heras are proud to have such an important mountain in their department, and as one of the Seven Summits it brings a great number of mountaineers and sightseers to the region
3.
Mendoza Province
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The Province of Mendoza is a province of Argentina, located in the western central part of the country in the Cuyo region. Its capital city is the city of Mendoza. Covering an area of 148.827 km², it is the seventh biggest province of Argentina with 5. 35% of the total area. The population for 2010 is 1,741,610 inhabitants, archeological studies have determined that the first inhabitants in the area date from the Holocene, but there are few remains of those people to know their habits. The earliest sites of human occupation in Mendoza Province, Agua de la Cueva, in the basins of the Atuel River, in 300 BC lived a group of people that lived via hunting and the cultivation of maize, pumpkins and beans. Those valleys saw the rise of the Agrelo culture, ancestor of the Huarpes and they were later influenced greatly by the Inca empire during the 15th century. Oral tradition sets the arrival of the Inca Túpac Yupanqui to Coquimbo in 1470, puelches and other groups received a strong influence of the Mapuches. The first Spanish conquerors came around 1550 from the Viceroyalty of Peru, in 1561 Mendoza was founded by the conquistador Pedro del Castillo. Until the creation of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in 1776 and he received important support from Mendoza when he led his Army of the Andes from Plumerillo to the 1817 crossing of the Andes, in his campaign to end Spanish rule in Chile. The Province of Cuyo was ultimately divided in 1820, and Mendoza parted ways with San Luis, the 1861 earthquake nearly destroyed the city of Mendoza, which had to be almost entirely reconstructed. In 1885 railways were built to the province, allowing for transport of the regions wines to the countrys trade hub of Buenos Aires. Following the development of the industry in the province around 1900, Mendoza began to grow quickly, attracting tens of thousands of European immigrants. In 1939 the National University of Cuyo, one of the more important universities of the country, was founded in the province, increasing their presence in the Mendoza Legislature, the Democrats became an obstacle to progressive Governor Ernesto Ueltschi, an ally of president Arturo Frondizis. With majorities in both houses by 1961, they had Gov. Ueltschi removed and Democrat Vice-governor Francisco Gabrielli appointed in his stead, elected governor in his own right in 1963, Gov. These events came to a head in April,1972, however, upon the return to democracy in March 1973, Mendoza voters turned to a left-leaning Peronist, Alberto Martínez Baca. Alarmed by this move from the otherwise pragmatic Martínez Baca, President Perón had him removed in June 1974, fernández and Cobos won in the first round, and Cobos became Vice President of Argentina, he was replaced by pro-Kirchner Justicialist candidate Celso Jaque as governor. The province is represented by three senators in the Argentine Senate, currently María Perceval, Ernesto Sanz and Mónica Troadello, Mendoza is represented by 10 deputies in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies. His faction of the UCR won a significant victory in the 2009 mid-term elections in Mendoza, the geography of the province descends from 6,959 metres at the summit of Aconcagua to the semi-flat lands of the east
4.
Argentina
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Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a federal republic in the southern half of South America. With a mainland area of 2,780,400 km2, Argentina is the eighth-largest country in the world, the second largest in Latin America, and the largest Spanish-speaking one. The country is subdivided into provinces and one autonomous city, Buenos Aires. The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions, but exist under a federal system, Argentina claims sovereignty over part of Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The earliest recorded presence in the area of modern-day Argentina dates back to the Paleolithic period. The country has its roots in Spanish colonization of the region during the 16th century, Argentina rose as the successor state of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a Spanish overseas viceroyalty founded in 1776. The country thereafter enjoyed relative peace and stability, with waves of European immigration radically reshaping its cultural. The almost-unparalleled increase in prosperity led to Argentina becoming the seventh wealthiest developed nation in the world by the early 20th century, Argentina retains its historic status as a middle power in international affairs, and is a prominent regional power in the Southern Cone and Latin America. Argentina has the second largest economy in South America, the third-largest in Latin America and is a member of the G-15 and it is the country with the second highest Human Development Index in Latin America with a rating of very high. Because of its stability, market size and growing high-tech sector, the description of the country by the word Argentina has to be found on a Venice map in 1536. In English the name Argentina probably comes from the Spanish language, however the naming itself is not Spanish, Argentina means in Italian of silver, silver coloured, probably borrowed from the Old French adjective argentine of silver > silver coloured already mentioned in the 12th century. The French word argentine is the form of argentin and derives of argent silver with the suffix -in. The Italian naming Argentina for the country implies Argentina Terra land of silver or Argentina costa coast of silver, in Italian, the adjective or the proper noun is often used in an autonomous way as a substantive and replaces it and it is said lArgentina. The name Argentina was probably first given by the Venitian and Genoese navigators, in Spanish and Portuguese, the words for silver are respectively plata and prata and of silver is said plateado and prateado. Argentina was first associated with the silver mountains legend, widespread among the first European explorers of the La Plata Basin. The first written use of the name in Spanish can be traced to La Argentina, a 1602 poem by Martín del Barco Centenera describing the region, the 1826 constitution included the first use of the name Argentine Republic in legal documents. The name Argentine Confederation was also used and was formalized in the Argentine Constitution of 1853. In 1860 a presidential decree settled the name as Argentine Republic
5.
Summit
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A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. Mathematically, a summit is a maximum in elevation. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak, and zenith are synonymous, the UIAA definition is that a summit is independent if it has a prominence of 30 metres or more, it is a mountain if it has a prominence of at least 300 metres. This can be summarised as follows, A pyramidal peak is an exaggerated form produced by ice erosion of a mountain top, Summit may also refer to the highest point along a line, trail, or route. In many parts of the western United States, the term refers to the highest point along a road, highway. For example, the highest point along Interstate 80 in California is referred to as Donner Summit while the highest point on Interstate 5 is Siskiyou Mountain Summit, geoid Hill List of highest mountains Maxima and minima Nadir Summit accordance Peak finder
6.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
7.
Quechua languages
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Quechua /ˈkɛtʃwə/, also known as runa simi, is an indigenous language family, with variations spoken by the Quechua peoples, primarily living in the Andes and highlands of South America. Derived from an ancestral language, it is the most widely spoken language family of indigenous peoples of the Americas. Approximately 13% of Peruvians speak Quechua and it is perhaps most widely known for being the main language of the Inca Empire, and was disseminated by the colonizers throughout their reign. Quechua had already expanded across wide ranges of the central Andes long before the expansion of the Inca Empire, the Inca were one among many peoples in present-day Peru who already spoke forms of Quechua. In the Cusco region, Quechua was influenced by languages such as Aymara. The Cuzco variety of Quechua developed as quite distinct, in similar ways, diverse dialects developed in different areas, related to existing local languages, when the Inca Empire ruled and imposed Quechua as the official language. After the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire in the 16th century and it was officially recognized by the Spanish administration and many Spanish learned it in order to communicate with the local peoples. Clergy of the Catholic Church adopted Quechua to use as the language of evangelization, given its use by the Catholic missionaries, the range of Quechua continued to expand in some areas. In the late 18th century, colonial officials ended administrative and religious use of Quechua, the Crown banned even loyal pro-Catholic texts in Quechua, such as Garcilaso de la Vegas Comentarios Reales. Despite a brief revival of the immediately after the Latin American nations achieved independence in the 19th century. Gradually its use declined so that it was mostly by indigenous people in the more isolated. Nevertheless in the 21st century, those speaking Quechua language speakers number 8 to 10 million people across South America, the oldest written records of the language are by missionary Domingo de Santo Tomás, who arrived in Peru in 1538 and learned the language from 1540. He published his Grammatica o arte de la lengua de los indios de los reynos del Perú in 1560. In 1975 Peru became the first country to recognize Quechua as one of its official languages, the major obstacle to the usage and teaching of Quechua is the lack of written materials in that language, such as books, newspapers, software, and magazines. The Bible has been translated into Quechua and is distributed by certain missionary groups, Quechua, along with Aymara and the minor indigenous languages, remains essentially a spoken language. In recent years, Quechua has been introduced in intercultural education in Bolivia, Ecuador. Even in these areas, the governments are reaching only a part of the Quechua-speaking populations, some indigenous people in each of the countries are having their children study in Spanish for the purposes of social advancement. Radio Nacional del Perú broadcasts news and agrarian programs in Quechua for periods in the mornings, Quechua and Spanish are now heavily intermixed in much of the Andean region, with many hundreds of Spanish loanwords in Quechua
8.
Antisuyu
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Antisuyu was the eastern part of the Inca Empire which bordered with modern-day Upper Amazon region where the Anti inhabited. Antis is a term for the many varied ethnic groups living in the Antisuyu such as, for example. The second smallest of the suyu, Antisuyu, was located northwest of Cusco in the high Andes, indeed, it is the root of the word “Andes. ”Along with Chinchaysuyu, it was part of the Hanan Suyukuna or upper quarters of the empire. Most of the lowland jungle wasnt part of Tawantinsuyo, only the jungle region could not be dominated by the Incas, given that they couldnt colonize the jungle region. After subjecting the Chunchus, very few arrived at Musu, each suyu was divided into wamani, or provinces
9.
Bolivia
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Bolivia, officially known as the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in western-central South America. It is bordered to the north and east by Brazil, to the southeast by Paraguay, to the south by Argentina, to the southwest by Chile, and to the northwest by Peru. One-third of the country is the Andean mountain range, with one of its largest cities and principal economic centers, El Alto, Bolivia is one of two landlocked countries that lie outside Afro-Eurasia. Bolivia is geographically the largest landlocked country in the Americas, but remains a small country in economic. Before Spanish colonization, the Andean region of Bolivia was part of the Inca Empire, Spanish conquistadors arriving from Cuzco and Asunción took control of the region in the 16th century. During the Spanish colonial period Bolivia was administered by the Royal Audiencia of Charcas, spain built its empire in great part upon the silver that was extracted from Bolivias mines. After the first call for independence in 1809,16 years of war followed before the establishment of the Republic, named for Simón Bolívar, on 6 August 1825. Since independence, Bolivia has endured periods of political and economic instability, including the loss of peripheral territories to its neighbors, such as Acre. The countrys population, estimated at 11 million, is multiethnic, including Amerindians, Mestizos, the racial and social segregation that arose from Spanish colonialism has continued to the modern era. Spanish is the official and predominant language, although 36 indigenous languages also have official status, of which the most commonly spoken are Guarani, Aymara, modern Bolivia is constitutionally a unitary state, divided into nine departments. Its geography varies from the peaks of the Andes in the West, to the Eastern Lowlands and it is a developing country, with a medium ranking in the Human Development Index and a poverty level of 53 percent. Its main economic activities include agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, and manufacturing such as textiles, clothing, refined metals. Bolivia is very wealthy in minerals, especially tin, Bolivia is named after Simón Bolívar, a leader in the Spanish American wars of independence. Sucre opted to create a new nation and, with local support. The original name was Republic of Bolívar, some days later, congressman Manuel Martín Cruz proposed, If from Romulus comes Rome, then from Bolívar comes Bolivia. The name was approved by the Republic on 3 October 1825, the region now known as Bolivia had been occupied for over 2,500 years when the Aymara arrived. However, present-day Aymara associate themselves with the ancient civilization of the Tiwanaku culture which had its capital at Tiwanaku, the capital city of Tiwanaku dates from as early as 1500 BC when it was a small, agriculturally based village. The community grew to urban proportions between AD600 and AD800, becoming an important regional power in the southern Andes
10.
Chile
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Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a South American country occupying a long, narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, Chilean territory includes the Pacific islands of Juan Fernández, Salas y Gómez, Desventuradas, and Easter Island in Oceania. Chile also claims about 1,250,000 square kilometres of Antarctica, the arid Atacama Desert in northern Chile contains great mineral wealth, principally copper. Southern Chile is rich in forests and grazing lands, and features a string of volcanoes and lakes, the southern coast is a labyrinth of fjords, inlets, canals, twisting peninsulas, and islands. Spain conquered and colonized Chile in the century, replacing Inca rule in northern and central Chile. After declaring its independence from Spain in 1818, Chile emerged in the 1830s as a relatively stable authoritarian republic, in the 1960s and 1970s the country experienced severe left-right political polarization and turmoil. The regime, headed by Augusto Pinochet, ended in 1990 after it lost a referendum in 1988 and was succeeded by a coalition which ruled through four presidencies until 2010. Chile is today one of South Americas most stable and prosperous nations and it leads Latin American nations in rankings of human development, competitiveness, income per capita, globalization, state of peace, economic freedom, and low perception of corruption. It also ranks high regionally in sustainability of the state, Chile is a founding member of the United Nations, the Union of South American Nations and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. There are various theories about the origin of the word Chile, another theory points to the similarity of the valley of the Aconcagua with that of the Casma Valley in Peru, where there was a town and valley named Chili. Another origin attributed to chilli is the onomatopoeic cheele-cheele—the Mapuche imitation of the warble of a locally known as trile. The Spanish conquistadors heard about this name from the Incas, ultimately, Almagro is credited with the universalization of the name Chile, after naming the Mapocho valley as such. The older spelling Chili was in use in English until at least 1900 before switching over to Chile, stone tool evidence indicates humans sporadically frequented the Monte Verde valley area as long as 18,500 years ago. About 10,000 years ago, migrating Native Americans settled in fertile valleys, settlement sites from very early human habitation include Monte Verde, Cueva del Milodon and the Pali Aike Craters lava tube. They fought against the Sapa Inca Tupac Yupanqui and his army, the result of the bloody three-day confrontation known as the Battle of the Maule was that the Inca conquest of the territories of Chile ended at the Maule river. The next Europeans to reach Chile were Diego de Almagro and his band of Spanish conquistadors, the Spanish encountered various cultures that supported themselves principally through slash-and-burn agriculture and hunting. The conquest of Chile began in earnest in 1540 and was carried out by Pedro de Valdivia, one of Francisco Pizarros lieutenants, who founded the city of Santiago on 12 February 1541. Although the Spanish did not find the gold and silver they sought, they recognized the agricultural potential of Chiles central valley
11.
Colombia
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Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a transcontinental country largely situated in the northwest of South America, with territories in Central America. Colombia shares a border to the northwest with Panama, to the east with Venezuela and Brazil and to the south with Ecuador and it shares its maritime limits with Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It is a unitary, constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments, the territory of what is now Colombia was originally inhabited by indigenous peoples including the Muisca, the Quimbaya and the Tairona. The Spanish arrived in 1499 and initiated a period of conquest and colonization ultimately creating the Viceroyalty of New Granada, independence from Spain was won in 1819, but by 1830 the Gran Colombia Federation was dissolved. What is now Colombia and Panama emerged as the Republic of New Granada, the new nation experimented with federalism as the Granadine Confederation, and then the United States of Colombia, before the Republic of Colombia was finally declared in 1886. Since the 1960s the country has suffered from an asymmetric low-intensity armed conflict, Colombia is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse countries in the world, and thereby possesses a rich cultural heritage. Cultural diversity has also influenced by Colombias varied geography. The urban centres are located in the highlands of the Andes mountains. Colombian territory also encompasses Amazon rainforest, tropical grassland and both Caribbean and Pacific coastlines, ecologically, it is one of the worlds 17 megadiverse countries, and the most densely biodiverse of these per square kilometer. Colombia is a power and a regional actor with the fourth-largest economy in Latin America, is part of the CIVETS group of six leading emerging markets and is an accessing member to the OECD. Colombia has an economy with macroeconomic stability and favorable growth prospects in the long run. The name Colombia is derived from the last name of Christopher Columbus and it was conceived by the Venezuelan revolutionary Francisco de Miranda as a reference to all the New World, but especially to those portions under Spanish and Portuguese rule. The name was adopted by the Republic of Colombia of 1819. When Venezuela, Ecuador and Cundinamarca came to exist as independent states, New Granada officially changed its name in 1858 to the Granadine Confederation. In 1863 the name was changed, this time to United States of Colombia. To refer to country, the Colombian government uses the terms Colombia. Owing to its location, the present territory of Colombia was a corridor of early human migration from Mesoamerica, the oldest archaeological finds are from the Pubenza and El Totumo sites in the Magdalena Valley 100 km southwest of Bogotá. These sites date from the Paleoindian period, at Puerto Hormiga and other sites, traces from the Archaic Period have been found
12.
Ecuador
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Ecuador also includes the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific, about 1,000 kilometres west of the mainland. What is now Ecuador was home to a variety of Amerindian groups that were incorporated into the Inca Empire during the 15th century. The territory was colonized by Spain during the 16th century, achieving independence in 1820 as part of Gran Colombia, Spanish is the official language and is spoken by a majority of the population, though 13 Amerindian languages are also recognized, including Quichua and Shuar. The capital city is Quito, while the largest city is Guayaquil, in reflection of the countrys rich cultural heritage, the historical center of Quito was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. Cuenca, the third-largest city, was declared a World Heritage Site in 1999 as an outstanding example of a planned. Ecuador has an economy that is highly dependent on commodities, namely petroleum. The country is classified as a medium-income country, Ecuador is a democratic presidential republic. The new constitution of 2008 is the first in the world to recognize legally enforceable Rights of Nature, Ecuador is also known for its rich ecology, hosting many endemic plants and animals, such as those of the Galápagos Islands. It is one of 17 megadiverse countries in the world, various peoples had settled in the area of the future Ecuador before the arrival of the Incas. They developed different languages while emerging as unique ethnic groups, even though their languages were unrelated, these groups developed similar groups of cultures, each based in different environments. Over time these groups began to interact and intermingle with each other so that groups of families in one area became one community or tribe, with a similar language and culture. Many civilizations arose in Ecuador, such as the Valdivia Culture and Machalilla Culture on the coast, the Quitus, each civilization developed its own distinctive architecture, pottery, and religious interests. Eventually, through wars and marriage alliances of their leaders, a group of nations formed confederations, one region consolidated under a confederation called the Shyris, which exercised organized trading and bartering between the different regions. Its political and military came under the rule of the Duchicela blood-line. The native confederations that gave them the most problems were deported to distant areas of Peru, Bolivia, similarly, a number of loyal Inca subjects from Peru and Bolivia were brought to Ecuador to prevent rebellion. Thus, the region of highland Ecuador became part of the Inca Empire in 1463 sharing the same language, in contrast, when the Incas made incursions into coastal Ecuador and the eastern Amazon jungles of Ecuador, they found both the environment and indigenous people more hostile. Moreover, when the Incas tried to subdue them, these indigenous people withdrew to the interior, as a result, Inca expansion into the Amazon basin and the Pacific coast of Ecuador was hampered. The indigenous people of the Amazon jungle and coastal Ecuador remained relatively autonomous until the Spanish soldiers, the Amazonian people and the Cayapas of Coastal Ecuador were the only groups to resist Inca and Spanish domination, maintaining their language and culture well into the 21st century
13.
Peru
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Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the west by the Pacific Ocean. Peruvian territory was home to ancient cultures spanning from the Norte Chico civilization in Caral, one of the oldest in the world, to the Inca Empire, the largest state in Pre-Columbian America. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century and established a Viceroyalty with its capital in Lima, ideas of political autonomy later spread throughout Spanish America and Peru gained its independence, which was formally proclaimed in 1821. After the battle of Ayacucho, three years after proclamation, Peru ensured its independence, subsequently, the country has undergone changes in government from oligarchic to democratic systems. Peru has gone through periods of political unrest and internal conflict as well as periods of stability, Peru is a representative democratic republic divided into 25 regions. It is a country with a high Human Development Index score. Its main economic activities include mining, manufacturing, agriculture and fishing, the Peruvian population, estimated at 31.2 million in 2015, is multiethnic, including Amerindians, Europeans, Africans and Asians. The main spoken language is Spanish, although a significant number of Peruvians speak Quechua or other native languages and this mixture of cultural traditions has resulted in a wide diversity of expressions in fields such as art, cuisine, literature, and music. The name of the country may be derived from Birú, the name of a ruler who lived near the Bay of San Miguel, Panama. When his possessions were visited by Spanish explorers in 1522, they were the southernmost part of the New World yet known to Europeans, thus, when Francisco Pizarro explored the regions farther south, they came to be designated Birú or Perú. An alternative history is provided by the contemporary writer Inca Garcilasco de la Vega, son of an Inca princess, the Spanish Crown gave the name legal status with the 1529 Capitulación de Toledo, which designated the newly encountered Inca Empire as the province of Peru. Under Spanish rule, the country adopted the denomination Viceroyalty of Peru, the earliest evidences of human presence in Peruvian territory have been dated to approximately 9,000 BC. Andean societies were based on agriculture, using such as irrigation and terracing, camelid husbandry. Organization relied on reciprocity and redistribution because these societies had no notion of market or money, the oldest known complex society in Peru, the Norte Chico civilization, flourished along the coast of the Pacific Ocean between 3,000 and 1,800 BC. These early developments were followed by archaeological cultures that developed mostly around the coastal, the Cupisnique culture which flourished from around 1000 to 200 BC along what is now Perus Pacific Coast was an example of early pre-Incan culture. The Chavín culture that developed from 1500 to 300 BC was probably more of a religious than a political phenomenon, on the coast, these included the civilizations of the Paracas, Nazca, Wari, and the more outstanding Chimu and Mochica. Their capital was at Chan Chan outside of modern-day Trujillo, in the 15th century, the Incas emerged as a powerful state which, in the span of a century, formed the largest empire in pre-Columbian America with their capital in Cusco
14.
Venezuela
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Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a federal republic located on the northern coast of South America. It is bordered by Colombia on the west, Brazil on the south, Guyana on the east, Venezuela covers 916,445 km2 and has an estimated population of 31775371. The territory now known as Venezuela was colonized by Spain in 1522 amid resistance from indigenous peoples and it gained full independence as a separate country in 1830. During the 19th century, Venezuela suffered political turmoil and autocracy, since 1958, the country has had a series of democratic governments. This new constitution changed the name of the country to República Bolivariana de Venezuela. Venezuela is a presidential republic consisting of 23 states, the Capital District. Venezuela also claims all Guyanese territory west of the Essequibo River, oil was discovered in the early 20th century, and Venezuela has the worlds largest known oil reserves and has been one of the worlds leading exporters of oil. Previously an underdeveloped exporter of commodities such as coffee and cocoa, oil quickly came to dominate exports. The recovery of oil prices in the early 2000s gave Venezuela oil funds not seen since the 1980s, the Venezuelan government then established populist policies that initially boosted the Venezuelan economy and increased social spending, significantly reducing economic inequality and poverty. However, such policies later became controversial since they destabilized the economy, resulting in hyperinflation, an economic depression. According to the most popular and accepted version, in 1499, the stilt houses in the area of Lake Maracaibo reminded the navigator, Amerigo Vespucci, of the city of Venice, so he named the region Veneziola Piccola Venezia. The name acquired its current spelling as a result of Spanish influence, where the suffix -uela is used as a term, thus. The German language 16th century-term for the area, Klein-Venedig, also means little Venice, however, Martín Fernández de Enciso, a member of the Vespucci and Ojeda crew, gave a different account. In his work Summa de geografía, he states that they found people who called themselves the Veneciuela. Thus, the name Venezuela may have evolved from the native word and it is not known how many people lived in Venezuela before the Spanish conquest, it has been estimated at around one million. In addition to indigenous peoples known today, the population included historic groups such as the Kalina, Auaké, Caquetio, Mariche, the Timoto-Cuica culture was the most complex society in Pre-Columbian Venezuela, with pre-planned permanent villages, surrounded by irrigated, terraced fields. They also stored water in tanks and their houses were made primarily of stone and wood with thatched roofs. They were peaceful, for the most part, and depended on growing crops, regional crops included potatoes and ullucos
15.
Spanish language
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Spanish —also called Castilian —is a Romance language that originated in the Castile region of Spain, with hundreds of millions of native speakers around the world. It is usually considered the worlds second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese and it is one of the few languages to use inverted question and exclamation marks. Spanish is a part of the Ibero-Romance group of languages, which evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. Beginning in the early 16th century, Spanish was taken to the colonies of the Spanish Empire, most notably to the Americas, as well as territories in Africa, Oceania, around 75% of modern Spanish is derived from Latin. Greek has also contributed substantially to Spanish vocabulary, especially through Latin, Spanish vocabulary has been in contact from an early date with Arabic, having developed during the Al-Andalus era in the Iberian Peninsula. With around 8% of its vocabulary being Arabic in origin, this language is the second most important influence after Latin and it has also been influenced by Basque as well as by neighboring Ibero-Romance languages. It also adopted words from languages such as Gothic language from the Visigoths in which many Spanish names and surnames have a Visigothic origin. Spanish is one of the six languages of the United Nations. It is the language in the world by the number of people who speak it as a mother tongue, after Mandarin Chinese. It is estimated more than 437 million people speak Spanish as a native language. Spanish is the official or national language in Spain, Equatorial Guinea, speakers in the Americas total some 418 million. In the European Union, Spanish is the tongue of 8% of the population. Spanish is the most popular second language learned in the United States, in 2011 it was estimated by the American Community Survey that of the 55 million Hispanic United States residents who are five years of age and over,38 million speak Spanish at home. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term castellano to define the language of the whole Spanish State in contrast to las demás lenguas españolas. Article III reads as follows, El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado, las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas. Castilian is the official Spanish language of the State, the other Spanish languages as well shall be official in their respective Autonomous Communities. The Spanish Royal Academy, on the hand, currently uses the term español in its publications. Two etymologies for español have been suggested, the Spanish Royal Academy Dictionary derives the term from the Provençal word espaignol, and that in turn from the Medieval Latin word Hispaniolus, from—or pertaining to—Hispania
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Continental crust
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The continental crust is the layer of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks that forms the continents and the areas of shallow seabed close to their shores, known as continental shelves. This layer is sometimes called sial because its composition is more felsic compared to the oceanic crust. The continental crust consists of layers, with a bulk composition that is intermediate to felsic. The average density of continental crust is about 2.7 g/cm3, less dense than the material that makes up the mantle. Continental crust is less dense than oceanic crust, whose density is about 2.9 g/cm3. At 25 to 70 km, continental crust is thicker than oceanic crust. About 40% of Earths surface is occupied by continental crust. It makes up about 70% of the volume of Earths crust, because the surface of continental crust mainly lies above sea level, its existence allowed land life to evolve from marine life. There is little evidence of continental crust prior to 3.5 Ga, all continental crust ultimately derives from the fractional differentiation of oceanic crust over many eons. This process has been and continues today primarily as a result of the associated with subduction. In contrast to the persistence of continental crust, the size, shape, different tracts rift apart, collide and recoalesce as part of a grand supercontinent cycle. There are currently about 7 billion cubic kilometers of continental crust, the relative permanence of continental crust contrasts with the short life of oceanic crust. Because continental crust is less dense oceanic crust, when active margins of the two meet in subduction zones, the oceanic crust is typically subducted back into the mantle. Continental crust is rarely subducted.01 Ga, whereas the oldest oceanic crust is from the Jurassic, Continental crust and the rock layers that lie on and within it are thus the best archive of Earths history. The height of mountain ranges is usually related to the thickness of crust and this results from the isostasy associated with orogeny. The crust is thickened by the compressive forces related to subduction or continental collision, the buoyancy of the crust forces it upwards, the forces of the collisional stress balanced by gravity and erosion. This forms a keel or mountain root beneath the mountain range, the thinnest continental crust is found in rift zones, where the crust is thinned by detachment faulting and eventually severed, replaced by oceanic crust. The edges of continental fragments formed this way are termed passive margins, igneous rock may also be underplated to the underside of the crust, i. e. adding to the crust by forming a layer immediately beneath it
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Mountain range
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A mountain range is a geographic area containing numerous geologically related mountains. A mountain system or system of ranges, sometimes is used to combine several geological features that are geographically related. Mountain ranges are usually segmented by highlands or mountain passes and valleys, individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geologic structure or petrology. They may be a mix of different orogenic expressions and terranes, for example thrust sheets, uplifted blocks, fold mountains, most geologically young mountain ranges on the Earths land surface are associated with either the Pacific Ring of Fire or the Alpide Belt. The Andes is 7,000 kilometres long and is considered the worlds longest mountain system. The Alpide belt includes Indonesia and southeast Asia, through the Himalaya, the belt also includes other European and Asian mountain ranges. The Himalayas contain the highest mountains in the world, including Mount Everest, mountain ranges outside of these two systems include the Arctic Cordillera, the Urals, the Appalachians, the Scandinavian Mountains, the Altai Mountains and the Hijaz Mountains. If the definition of a range is stretched to include underwater mountains. The mountain systems of the earth are characterized by a tree structure, the sub-range relationship is often expressed as a parent-child relationship. For example, the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the Blue Ridge Mountains are sub-ranges of the Appalachian Mountains, equivalently, the Appalachians are the parent of the White Mountains and Blue Ridge Mountains, and the White Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains are children of the Appalachians. The position of mountains influences climate, such as rain or snow, when air masses move up and over mountains, the air cools producing orographic precipitation. As the air descends on the side, it warms again and is drier. Often, a shadow will affect the leeward side of a range. Mountain ranges are constantly subjected to forces which work to tear them down. Erosion is at work while the mountains are being uplifted and long after until the mountains are reduced to low hills, rivers are traditionally believed to be the principle erosive factor on mountain ranges, with their ability of bedrock incision and sediment transport. The rugged topography of a range is the product of erosion. The basins adjacent to a mountain range are filled with sediments which are buried and turned into sedimentary rock. The early Cenozoic uplift of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado provides an example and this mass of rock was removed as the range was actively undergoing uplift
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South America
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South America is a continent located in the western hemisphere, mostly in the southern hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the northern hemisphere. It may also be considered a subcontinent of the Americas, which is the used in nations that speak Romance languages. The reference to South America instead of other regions has increased in the last decades due to changing geopolitical dynamics. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean, North America and it includes twelve sovereign states, a part of France, and a non-sovereign area. In addition to this, the ABC islands of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Trinidad and Tobago, South America has an area of 17,840,000 square kilometers. Its population as of 2005 has been estimated at more than 371,090,000, South America ranks fourth in area and fifth in population. Brazil is by far the most populous South American country, with more than half of the population, followed by Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela. In recent decades Brazil has also concentrated half of the regions GDP and has become a first regional power, most of the population lives near the continents western or eastern coasts while the interior and the far south are sparsely populated. Most of the continent lies in the tropics, the continents cultural and ethnic outlook has its origin with the interaction of indigenous peoples with European conquerors and immigrants and, more locally, with African slaves. Given a long history of colonialism, the majority of South Americans speak Portuguese or Spanish. South America occupies the portion of the Americas. The continent is delimited on the northwest by the Darién watershed along the Colombia–Panama border. Almost all of mainland South America sits on the South American Plate, South Americas major mineral resources are gold, silver, copper, iron ore, tin, and petroleum. These resources found in South America have brought high income to its countries especially in times of war or of rapid growth by industrialized countries elsewhere. However, the concentration in producing one major export commodity often has hindered the development of diversified economies and this is leading to efforts to diversify production to drive away from staying as economies dedicated to one major export. South America is one of the most biodiverse continents on earth, South America is home to many interesting and unique species of animals including the llama, anaconda, piranha, jaguar, vicuña, and tapir. The Amazon rainforests possess high biodiversity, containing a proportion of the Earths species. Brazil is the largest country in South America, encompassing around half of the land area
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Latitude
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In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the north–south position of a point on the Earths surface. Latitude is an angle which ranges from 0° at the Equator to 90° at the poles, lines of constant latitude, or parallels, run east–west as circles parallel to the equator. Latitude is used together with longitude to specify the location of features on the surface of the Earth. Without qualification the term latitude should be taken to be the latitude as defined in the following sections. Also defined are six auxiliary latitudes which are used in special applications, there is a separate article on the History of latitude measurements. Two levels of abstraction are employed in the definition of latitude and longitude, in the first step the physical surface is modelled by the geoid, a surface which approximates the mean sea level over the oceans and its continuation under the land masses. The second step is to approximate the geoid by a mathematically simpler reference surface, the simplest choice for the reference surface is a sphere, but the geoid is more accurately modelled by an ellipsoid. The definitions of latitude and longitude on such surfaces are detailed in the following sections. Lines of constant latitude and longitude together constitute a graticule on the reference surface, latitude and longitude together with some specification of height constitute a geographic coordinate system as defined in the specification of the ISO19111 standard. This is of importance in accurate applications, such as a Global Positioning System, but in common usage, where high accuracy is not required. In English texts the latitude angle, defined below, is denoted by the Greek lower-case letter phi. It is measured in degrees, minutes and seconds or decimal degrees, the precise measurement of latitude requires an understanding of the gravitational field of the Earth, either to set up theodolites or to determine GPS satellite orbits. The study of the figure of the Earth together with its field is the science of geodesy. These topics are not discussed in this article and this article relates to coordinate systems for the Earth, it may be extended to cover the Moon, planets and other celestial objects by a simple change of nomenclature. The primary reference points are the poles where the axis of rotation of the Earth intersects the reference surface, the plane through the centre of the Earth and perpendicular to the rotation axis intersects the surface at a great circle called the Equator. Planes parallel to the plane intersect the surface in circles of constant latitude. The Equator has a latitude of 0°, the North Pole has a latitude of 90° North, the latitude of an arbitrary point is the angle between the equatorial plane and the radius to that point. The latitude, as defined in this way for the sphere, is termed the spherical latitude
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Depression (geology)
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A depression in geology is a landform sunken or depressed below the surrounding area. Erosion-related, Blowout, a depression created by wind erosion typically in either a partially vegetated sand dune ecosystem or dry soils, glacial valley, a depression carved by erosion by a glacier. River valley, a depression carved by erosion by a river. Area of subsidence caused by the collapse of a structure such as sinkholes in karst terrain. Sink, an endorheic depression generally containing a persistent or intermittent lake, collapse-related, Sinkhole, a depression formed as a result of the collapse of rocks lying above a hollow. This is common in karst regions, kettle, a shallow, sediment-filled body of water formed by melting glacial remnants in terminal moraines. Thermokarst hollow, caused by loss of the ground as the result of permafrost thawing. Impact-related, Impact crater, a depression created by an impact such as a meteorite crater, sedimentary-related, Sedimentary basin, in sedimentology, an area thickly filled with sediment in which the weight of the sediment further depresses the floor of the basin. Structural or tectonic-related, Structural basin, a depression, a region of tectonic downwarping as a result of isostasy or subduction. Graben or rift valley, fallen and typically linear depressions or basins created by rifting in a region under tensional tectonic forces, pull-apart basin caused by offset in a strike slip or transform fault. Oceanic trench, a linear depression on the ocean floor. Oceanic trenches are caused by subduction of oceanic crust beneath either oceanic crust or continental crust, pit crater, a volcanic depression smaller than a caldera formed by a sinking, or caving in, of the ground surface lying over a void. Maar, a resulting from phreatomagmatic eruption or diatreme explosion. Cryptodepression List of places on land with elevations below sea level
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Plateau
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Plateaus can be formed by a number of processes, including upwelling of volcanic magma, extrusion of lava, and erosion by water and glaciers. Magma rises from the mantle, causing the ground to swell upward, in way, large, flat areas of rock are uplifted. Plateaus can also be built up by lava spreading outward from cracks, plateaus can also be formed by the erosional processes of glaciers on mountain ranges, leaving them sitting between the mountain ranges. Water can also erode mountains and other landforms down into plateaus, volcanic plateaus are produced by volcanic activity. The Columbia Plateau in the northwestern United States is an example, dissected plateaus are highly eroded plateaus cut by rivers and broken by deep narrow valleys. Plateaus are classified according to their surrounding environment, intermontane plateaus are the highest in the world, bordered by mountains. The Tibetan Plateau is one such plateau, Piedmont plateaus are bordered on one side by mountains and on the other by a plain or a sea. The Piedmont Plateau of the Eastern United States between the Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic Coastal Plain is an example, continental plateaus are bordered on all sides by plains or oceans, forming away from the mountains. The Tibetan plateau covers approximately 2,500,000 km2, the plateau is sufficiently high enough to reverse the Hadley cell convection cycles and to drive the monsoons of India towards the south. The second-highest plateau is the Deosai Plateau of the Deosai National Park at an elevation of 4,114 m. It is located in the Astore and Skardu districts of Gilgit-Baltistan, Deosai means the land of giants. The park protects an area of 3,000 km2 and it is known for its rich flora and fauna of the Karakoram-West Tibetan Plateau alpine steppe ecoregion. In spring it is covered by sweeps of wildflowers and a variety of butterflies. The highest point in Deosai is Deosai Lake, or Sheosar Lake from the Shina language meaning Blind lake near the Chilim Valley. The lake lies at an elevation of 4,142 m, one of the highest lakes in the world, and is 2.3 km long,1.8 km wide, and 40 m deep on average. Some other major plateaus in Asia are, Armenian Highlands, Iranian plateau, Anatolian Plateau, Mongolian Plateau, and the Deccan Plateau. This polar ice cap is so massive that the echolocation sound measurements of ice thickness have shown that parts of the Antarctic dry land surface have been pressed below sea level. Thus, if that same ice cap were removed, the large areas of the frozen white continent would be flooded by the surrounding Antarctic Ocean or Southern Ocean
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Quito
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It is located in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains. With a population of 2,671,191 according to the last census, Quito is the second most populous city in Ecuador and it is also the capital of the Pichincha province and the seat of the Metropolitan District of Quito. The canton recorded a population of 2,239,191 residents in the 2010 national census, in 2008, the city was designated as the headquarters of the Union of South American Nations. The historic center of Quito has one of the largest, least-altered and best-preserved historic centers in the Americas, Quito and Kraków, Poland, were the first World Cultural Heritage Sites declared by UNESCO, in 1978. The central square of Quito is located about 25 kilometres south of the equator, a monument and museum marking the general location of the equator is known locally as la mitad del mundo, to avoid confusion, as the word ecuador is Spanish for equator. Quitos origins date back to the first millennium, when the Quitu tribe occupied the area, according to Juan de Velascos 1767 book Historia del Reino de Quito, the Quitu were conquered by the Caras tribe, who founded the Kingdom of Quito about 980 AD. For more than four centuries, Quito was ruled under the kings, Caras and their allies were narrowly defeated in the epic battles of Tiocajas and Tixán in 1462, by an army of 250,000 led by Túpac Inca, the son of the Emperor of the Incas. After several decades of consolidation, the Kingdom of Quito became integrated into the Incan Empire, in 1534, the Caras/Quitu people were conquered by the Spanish. Rumiñahui was then executed on January 10,1535, on March 14,1541, Quito was declared a city and on February 14,1556, was given the title Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de San Francisco de Quito, starting at this point its urban evolution. In 1563, Quito became the seat of a Real Audiencia of Spain and became part of the Viceroyalty of Peru and its administration on both Viceroyalties remained to Quito. As with other places colonized by the Spanish, the colonizers promptly established Roman Catholicism in Quito, the first church was in fact built even before the city had been officially founded. In January 1535, the San Francisco Convent was constructed, the first of about 20 churches, the Spanish converted the indigenous population to Christianity and used them as labor for construction. In 1743, after nearly 300 years of Spanish colonization, Quito was a city of about 10,000 inhabitants, on August 10,1809, an independence movement from Spanish domination started in Quito. On that date, a plan for government was established that placed Juan Pío Montúfar as president with various prominent figures in other positions of government. However, this movement was ultimately defeated on August 2,1810. A chain of conflicts concluded on May 24,1822, when Antonio José de Sucre, under the command of Simón Bolívar and their victory marked the independence of Quito and the surrounding areas. In 1833, members of the Society of Free Inhabitants of Quito were assassinated by the government after they conspired against it, and on March 6,1845, later, in 1875, the countrys president, Gabriel García Moreno, was assassinated in Quito. Two years later, in 1877, Archbishop José Ignacio Checa y Barba was killed by poisoning while he was celebrating Mass, in 1882, insurgents arose against the regime of dictator Ignacio de Veintimilla
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Arequipa
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Arequipa is the capital and largest city of the Arequipa Region and the seat of the Constitutional Court of Peru. Its industrial activity includes manufactured goods and camelid wool products for export, the city has close trade ties with Chile, Bolivia and Brazil. The city was founded on August 15,1540, by Garcí Manuel de Carbajal as Villa Hermosa de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, during the Colonial period, Arequipa became highly important for its economic prosperity and for its loyalty to the Spanish Crown. After Peru gained its independence from Spain in 1821, Arequipa acquired greater political significance, the historic center of Arequipa spans an area of 332 hectares and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its historic heritage, natural scenery and cultural sites make the city a major tourist destination and its religious, colonial, and republican architectural styles blend European and native characteristics into a unique style called Escuela Arequipeña. A local tradition states that Inca Mayta Capac received a petition from his subjects to reach the valley of the River Chili and they asked him for permission to stay in the region as they were impressed by the beauty of the landscape and the mild climate. However, another tale states that when the first Europeans arrived to the valley, they pointed at the ground. The local chief, not understanding the question, assumed they were asking for a permission to sit down and gave a positive answer, which sounded like Arequipa. Another possible origin of the name comes from the Aymara language phrase qhipaya ari or Ari qipa. The early inhabitants of the Arequipa City area were people who relied on activities such as hunting, fishing and gathering for survival. Later, pre-Inca cultures domesticated llamas and became sedentary with the development of agriculture, during this time, major irrigation channels were built within the valley of the Chili river, which allowed the development of agriculture by means of terraces built on both sides of the valley. The Yarabaya and Chimbe tribes settled in the current location. Lands were then distributed among three families who founded the towns of Yanahuara, Cayma, Tiabaya, Socabaya, Characato and others. At the time of its foundation, Arequipa had already a city council, because the foundation of the town occurred in part as a relocation of Villa Hermosa de Camana, the name was partially conserved as Villa Hermosa de Arequipa. Charles V of Germany and I of Spain gave the town a status of city by Royal Decree on 22 September 1541, the relocation efforts were led by Garci Manuel de Carbajal, who was selected as the political authority for the foundation of the new town. Among the first public works carried out in the city are the Main Church, the City Hall, the bridge on the Chili River and the monastery of Nuestra Señora de Gracia. Since its Spanish founding and over three centuries, the population of the city was mostly of Spanish origin, which represented a strong following of Spain. One aspect that distinguished Arequipa from the rest of the country was the explicit and public commitment of the city to the Spanish Crown
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Sucre
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Sucre is the constitutional capital of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department, and the 6th most populated city in Bolivia. Located in the part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of 2,810 meters. This relative high altitude gives the city a temperate climate year-round. On November 30,1538, Sucre was founded under the name Ciudad de la Plata de la Nueva Toledo by Pedro Anzures, Marqués de Campo Redondo. The Audiencia de Charcas was a subdivision of the Viceroyalty of Peru until 1776, in 1601 the Recoleta Monastery was founded by the Franciscans and in 1609 an archbishopric was founded in the city. In 1624 St Francis Xavier University of Chuquisaca was founded, Sucre remains the seat of the Roman Catholic Church in Bolivia, and a common sight is members of religious orders dressed in traditional costume. For much of its history, Sucres temperate climate was preferred by the Spanish royalty. Testament to this is the Glorieta Castle, Sucres University is one of the oldest universities in the new world. On May 25,1809 the Bolivian independence movement was started with the ringing of the bell of the Basilica of Saint Francisco. This bell was rung to the point of breakage, but it can still be found in the Basilica today, until the 19th century, La Plata was the judicial, religious and cultural centre of the region. It was proclaimed capital of the newly independent Alto Peru in July 1826. On July 12,1839, President José Miguel de Velasco proclaimed a law naming the city as the capital of Bolivia, Sucre, after the economic decline of Potosí and its silver industry, saw the Bolivian seat of government move to La Paz in 1898. Many argue Sucre was the location of the beginning of the Latin American independence movement against Spain, the first Grito Libertario in any Western Hemisphere Spanish colony is said to have taken place in Sucre in 1809. Ironically from that point of view, Bolivia was the last Spanish imperial territory in South America to gain its independence, in 1991 Sucre became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city attracts thousands of tourists every year due to its downtown with buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries. Most of these villagers are members of one of the indigenous ethnicities, many dress in clothing distinctive to their respective villages. Sucre is the capital of Chuquisaca department and one of the capitals of Bolivia, the government of the City of Sucre is divided into the executive and legislative branches. The Mayor of Sucre is the head of the city government, the legislative branch consists of the Municipal Council, which elects a President, Vice President and Secretary from a group of eleven members
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La Paz
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La Paz, officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz, also named Chuqi Yapu in Aymara, is the seat of government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 789,541 residents as of 2015, La Paz is the third-most populous city in Bolivia. Its metropolitan area, which is formed by La Paz, El Alto and Viacha, makes up the most populous area in Bolivia. It is also the capital of the La Paz Department, the city, located in west-central Bolivia 68 km southeast of Lake Titicaca, is set in a canyon created by the Choqueyapu River. It is located in a depression surrounded by the high mountains of the Altiplano. Overlooking the city is the towering, triple-peaked Illimani and its peaks are always snow covered and can be seen from many parts of the city. At an elevation of roughly 3,650 m above sea level, due to its altitude, La Paz has an unusual subtropical highland climate, with rainy summers and dry winters. The city was moved to its present location in the valley of Chuquiago Marka. La Paz was under Spanish colonial rule as part of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, since its founding, the city was the site of numerous revolts. In 1781, the leader and independence activist Túpac Katari laid siege to the city for a total of six months. Sucre is the capital of Bolivia and retains the judicial power. The city hosts numerous foreign embassies as well as missions in the country. The city is renowned for its markets, particularly the Witches Market. Its unusual topography offers unique views of the city and the mountains of the Cordillera Real from numerous natural viewing points. La Paz is also home to both the longest and highest urban cable car network in the world, in May 2015, it was officially recognized as one of the New 7 Wonders Cities together with Beirut, Doha, Durban, Havana, Kuala Lumpur and Vigan. La Paz is listed on the Global Cities Index 2015, and is considered a city type Gamma by Globalization. This area had been the site of an Inca city, located on a trading route. Although the Spanish conquistadors entered the area in 1535, they did not found La Paz until 1548, originally it was to be at the site of the Native American settlement, Laja, with the full name of the city being Nuestra Señora de La Paz
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Altiplano
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The Altiplano, Collao, 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 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. The Altiplano is an area of inland drainage lying in the central Andes, occupying parts of northern Chile and Argentina, western Bolivia and its height averages about 3,750 meters, slightly less than that of the Tibetan Plateau. The Atacama Desert, one of the driest areas on the planet, lies to the southwest of the Altiplano, the Altiplano is noted for hypoxic air caused by very high elevation. At various times during the Pleistocene epoch, both the southern and northern Altiplano 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, scientists classify the latter as commencing at an elevation of approximately 4,500 meters. Alternate names used in place of altiplano in this context include puna, the diurnal cycle of temperature is very wide, with maximum temperatures in the order of 12 to 24 °C and the minimum in the order of -20 to 10 °C. The coldest temperatures occur in the portion of the Altiplano during the months of 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, such weaknesses would cause the partition of tectonic deformation and uplift into the eastern and western cordillera, leaving the necessary space for the formation of the altiplano basin. Altiplano - Where Bolivia meets the sky
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Tibetan Plateau
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It stretches approximately 1,000 kilometres north to south and 2,500 kilometres east to west. Sometimes termed the Third Pole, the Tibetan Plateau contains the headwaters of the basins of most of the streams in surrounding regions. Its tens of thousands of glaciers and other geographical and ecological features serve as a water tower storing water, the impact of global warming on the Tibetan Plateau is of intense scientific interest. The Tibetan Plateau is surrounded by mountain ranges. In the west the curve of the rugged Karakoram range of northern Kashmir embraces the plateau, the Indus River originates in the western Tibetan Plateau in the vicinity of Lake Mansarovar. The Tibetan Plateau is bounded in the north by an escarpment where the altitude drops from around 5,000 metres to 1,500 metres over a horizontal distance of less than 150 kilometres. Along the escarpment is a range of mountains, in the west the Kunlun Mountains separate the plateau from the Tarim Basin. About halfway across the Tarim the bounding range becomes the Altyn-Tagh, in the V formed by this split is the western part of the Qaidam Basin. The Altyn-Tagh ends near the Dangjin pass on the Dunhuang-Golmud road, to the west are short ranges called the Danghe, Yema, Shule, and Tulai Nanshans. The easternmost range is the Qilian Mountains, the line of mountains continues east of the plateau as the Qin Mountains which separate the Ordos Region from Sichuan. North of the runs the Gansu or Hexi Corridor which was the main silk-road route from China proper to the West. The plateau is an arid steppe interspersed with mountain ranges. Annual precipitation ranges from 100 to 300 millimetres and falls mainly as hail, the southern and eastern edges of the steppe have grasslands which can sustainably support populations of nomadic herdsmen, although frost occurs for six months of the year. Permafrost occurs over parts of the plateau. Proceeding to the north and northwest, the plateau becomes progressively higher, colder and drier, here the average altitude exceeds 5,000 metres and winter temperatures can drop to −40 °C. The geological history of the Tibetan Plateau is closely related to that of the Himalayan mountain range, the Himalayas are among the youngest mountain ranges on the planet and consist mostly of uplifted sedimentary and metamorphic rock. Their formation is a result of a collision or orogeny along the convergent boundary between the Indo-Australian Plate and the Eurasian Plate. The collision began in the Upper Cretaceous period about 70 million years ago, since these sediments were light, they crumpled into mountain ranges rather than sinking to the floor
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Tropical Andes
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The Tropical Andes are the 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, the Tropical Andes are located in South America following the path of the Andes. They run, mainly, through five countries, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, the land initially was roughly 1,258,000 km2 but has decreased to 314,500 km2, leaving 25% of the original land. Due to the amount of area the landscape is diverse. Diverse landscapes lead to diverse habitats and the ability to provide needed resources for many species, the diverse landscape includes snow-topped mountains down to canyons and valleys. The most diverse cloud forests found in Peru and Bolivia covers 500,000 km2, Dry forests and woodlands are also found throughout the Tropical Andes. The range is home to the deepest gorge in Peru at 3,223 meters deep and Lake Titicaca. The Tropical Andes are a biodiversity hotspot named the global epicenter of biodiversity according to the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, the Tropical Andes are an area of rich biodiversity. This location contains about 45,000 plant species of which 20,000 are endemic, there are over 3,000 vertebrate species with about 1,500 endemic. Besides plants and vertebrates,1,666 bird species,479 reptile species, all hotspots are important for conservation biology, but especially the tropical Andes with so many endemic species. The biodiversity within the Tropical Andes is dwindling down in numbers due to threats, the diversity between vegetation throughout altitudes was further studied in Colombia. Chengyu Weng studied how pollen diversity is affected by different temperatures due to changing altitudes, the team studied different vegetations, the subandean forest, Andean forest, subparamo and grassparamo located in the Andes. There was more plant diversity as altitude increased throughout the vegetations, pollen diversity positively correlated with more diversity at lower altitudes. With these findings, they were able to see changes in plant diversity in the past 430000 years, during hot temperatures, pollen diversity increased at higher altitudes from plant species moving up. While cooler temperatures saw pollen diversity in lower altitudes, the study explains how temperature influences plant diversity. The location must also have lost a significant amount of land, the term hotspots was used by Norman Myers written to describe ten tropical forests. The forests contained the characteristics of high levels of plant endemism, Norman Myers went on to add eight more hotspots by 1990. The Conservation International reassessed Myers definition of a hotspot and by 1999 criteria for a hotspot developed to be used globally, a hotspot needs 1,500 endemic vascular plant species and a loss of at least 70 percent of original land
29.
Dry Andes
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The Dry Andes is a climatic and glaciological subregion of the Andes. Together with the Wet Andes it is one of the two subregions of the Argentine and Chilean Andes, the Dry Andes runs from the Atacama Desert in northern Chile and Argentina south to a latitude of 35°S in Chile. In Argentina the Dry Andes reaches 40°S due to the effect of the Andes. According to Luis Lliboutry the Dry Andes can be defined by the distribution of penitentes, the southernmost well developed penitentes are found on Lanín Volcano. Though precipitation increases with the height, there are semiarid conditions in the nearly 7,000 metres towering mountains of the Andes and this dry steppe climate is considered to be of the subtropic type at 32-34° S. In the valley bottoms only dwarf scrubs grow, the largest glaciers, e. g. the Plomo glacier and the Horcones glacier, do not even reach 10 kilometres in length and have insignificant ice thickness. During glacial times however, c.20,000 years ago, on the east-side of this section of the Mendoza Andes they flowed down to 2,060 metres and on the west-side to c.1,220 metres. Its dendritic glacier arms, i. e. components of valley glaciers, were up to 112.5 kilometres long, over 1,250 metres thick, the climatic glacier snowline was lowered from the current 4,600 metres to 3,200 metres during glacial times
30.
Wet Andes
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The Wet Andes is a climatic and glaciological subregion of the Andes. Together with the Dry Andes it is one of the two subregions of the Argentine and Chilean Andes, the Wet Andes runs from a latitude of 35°S to Cape Horn at 56°S. According to Luis Lliboutry the Wet Andes can be classified after the absence of penitentes, in Argentina well developed penitentes are found as south as on Lanín Volcano. The glaciers of the Wet Andes have a far more stable line of equilibrium than those of the Dry Andes due to summer precipitations, low thermal oscillations and an overall high moisture
31.
Asia
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Asia covers an area of 44,579,000 square kilometres, about 30% of Earths total land area and 8. 7% of the Earths total surface area. The continent, which has long been home to the majority of the population, was the site of many of the first civilizations. Asia is notable for not only its large size and population. In general terms, Asia is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Indian Ocean, the western boundary with Europe is a historical and cultural construct, as there is no clear physical and geographical separation between them. The most commonly accepted boundaries place Asia to the east of the Suez Canal, the Ural River, and the Ural Mountains, and south of the Caucasus Mountains, China and India alternated in being the largest economies in the world from 1 to 1800 A. D. The accidental discovery of America by Columbus in search for India demonstrates this deep fascination, the Silk Road became the main East-West trading route in the Asian hitherland while the Straits of Malacca stood as a major sea route. Asia has exhibited economic dynamism as well as robust population growth during the 20th century, given its size and diversity, the concept of Asia—a name dating back to classical antiquity—may actually have more to do with human geography than physical geography. Asia varies greatly across and within its regions with regard to ethnic groups, cultures, environments, economics, historical ties, the boundary between Asia and Africa is the Red Sea, the Gulf of Suez, and the Suez Canal. This makes Egypt a transcontinental country, with the Sinai peninsula in Asia, the border between Asia and Europe was historically defined by European academics. In Sweden, five years after Peters death, in 1730 Philip Johan von Strahlenberg published a new atlas proposing the Urals as the border of Asia, the Russians were enthusiastic about the concept, which allowed them to keep their European identity in geography. Tatishchev announced that he had proposed the idea to von Strahlenberg, the latter had suggested the Emba River as the lower boundary. Over the next century various proposals were made until the Ural River prevailed in the mid-19th century, the border had been moved perforce from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea into which the Ural River projects. The border between the Black Sea and the Caspian is usually placed along the crest of the Caucasus Mountains, the border between Asia and the loosely defined region of Oceania is usually placed somewhere in the Malay Archipelago. The terms Southeast Asia and Oceania, devised in the 19th century, have had several different geographic meanings since their inception. The chief factor in determining which islands of the Malay Archipelago are Asian has been the location of the possessions of the various empires there. Lewis and Wigen assert, The narrowing of Southeast Asia to its present boundaries was thus a gradual process, Asia is larger and more culturally diverse than Europe. It does not exactly correspond to the borders of its various types of constituents. From the time of Herodotus a minority of geographers have rejected the three-continent system on the grounds there is no or is no substantial physical separation between them
32.
Chimborazo
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Chimborazo is a currently inactive stratovolcano in the Cordillera Occidental range of the Andes. Its last known eruption is believed to have occurred around 550 C. E, with a peak elevation of 6,263 m, Chimborazo is the highest mountain in Ecuador. It is the highest peak near the equator, Chimborazo is not the highest mountain by elevation above sea level, but its location along the equatorial bulge makes its summit the farthest point on the Earths surface from the Earths center. Chimborazo is in the Cordillera Occidental of the Andes of central Ecuador,150 km south-southwest of the capital Quito and it is a neighbor to 5,018 m high Carihuairazo. Chimborazos summit rises 2,500 m above the surrounding highlands with a ≈20 km wide base, under clear conditions, the summit of Chimborazo can be seen from the coastal city Guayaquil, nearly 140 km away. The nearest cities are Riobamba, Ambato and Guaranda, Chimborazo is surrounded by the Reserva de Produccion Faunistica Chimborazo, which forms a protected ecosystem to preserve the habitat for the Andes native camelids of vicuña, llama and alpaca. Chimborazo is at the end of the Ecuadorian Volcanic Arc. Chimborazo is in la Avenida de los Volcanes west of the Sanancajas mountain chain, Carihuairazo, Tungurahua, Tulabug, and El Altar are all mountains that neighbor Chimborazo. The closest mountain peak, Carihuairazo, is 5.8 mi from Chimborazo, there are many microclimates near Chimborazo, varying from desert in the Arenal to the humid mountains in the Abraspungo valley. The top of Chimborazo is completely covered by glaciers, with some north-eastern glacier arms flowing down to 4,600 m and its glacier is the source of water for the population of the Bolivar and Chimborazo provinces of Ecuador. As on other glaciated Ecuadorian mountains, Chimborazos glacial ice is mined by locals to be sold in the markets of Guaranda, in earlier days, the people transported ice for cooling uses down to coastal towns such as Babahoyo or Vinces. With an elevation of 6,263 m, Chimborazo is the highest mountain in Ecuador and the Andes north of Peru, it is higher than any more northerly summit in the Americas. Chimborazo is one degree south of the Equator and the Earths diameter at the Equator is greater than at the latitude of Everest, nearly 27. 6° north, with sea level also elevated. Despite being 2,585 m lower in elevation above sea level, however, by the criterion of elevation above sea level, Chimborazo is not even the highest peak of the Andes. Chimborazo is an inactive volcano in Ecuador. Chimborazo is a volcano composed of one volcanic edifice on top of another. Chimborazo shows four summits, Veintimilla, Whymper, Politecnica, the Veintimilla peak is about 6,230 m high. The Whymper peak is the highest point on the mountain at 6,263 meters, the Politecnica peak is 5,820 m high
33.
Equatorial bulge
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An equatorial bulge is a difference between the equatorial and polar diameters of a planet, due to the force exerted by its rotation. A rotating body tends to form an oblate spheroid rather than a sphere, the Earth has an equatorial bulge of 42.77 km, that is, its diameter measured across the equatorial plane is 42.77 km more than that measured between the poles. An observer standing at sea level on either pole, therefore, is 21.36 km closer to Earths centrepoint than if standing at sea level on the equator, the value of Earths radius may be approximated by the average of these radii. An often-cited result of Earths equatorial bulge is that the highest point on Earth, measured from the center outwards, is the peak of Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador, rather than Mount Everest. But since the ocean also bulges, like the Earth and the atmosphere, viewing the globe as a series of rotating discs, the radius R toward the poles gets very small and thus a smaller force is produced for the same rotational velocity. Moving towards the equator, v^2 increases much faster than R, in addition, because the Earth’s dense core is included in the cross sectional disc at the equator, it contributes more to the mass of the disc. Similarly, there is a bulge in the envelope of the oceans surrounding Earth. Sea level at the equator is 21.36 km higher than sea level at the poles, gravity tends to contract a celestial body into a sphere, the shape for which all the mass is as close to the center of gravity as possible. To get a feel for the type of equilibrium that is involved, imagine someone seated in a swivel chair. If the person in the chair pulls the weights towards them, they are doing work, the increase of rotation rate is so strong that at the faster rotation rate the required centripetal force is larger than with the starting rotation rate. Something analogous to this occurs in planet formation, as long as the proto-planet is still too oblate to be in equilibrium, the release of gravitational potential energy on contraction keeps driving the increase in rotational kinetic energy. As the contraction proceeds the rotation rate keeps going up, hence the force for further contraction keeps going up. There is a point where the increase of rotational energy on further contraction would be larger than the release of gravitational potential energy. The contraction process can only proceed up to point, so it halts there. When the equilibrium state has been reached then large scale conversion of energy to heat ceases. In that sense the state is the lowest state of energy that can be reached. The Earths rotation rate is still slowing down, though gradually, estimates of how fast the Earth was rotating in the past vary, because it is not known exactly how the moon was formed. Estimates of the Earths rotation 500 million years ago are around 20 modern hours per day, the Earths rate of rotation is slowing down mainly because of tidal interactions with the Moon and the Sun
34.
Earth's rotation
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Earths rotation is the rotation of the planet Earth around its own axis. The Earth rotates from the west towards east, as viewed from North Star or polestar Polaris, the Earth turns counter-clockwise. The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earths axis of rotation meets its surface and this point is distinct from the Earths North Magnetic Pole. The South Pole is the point where the Earths axis of rotation intersects its surface. The Earth rotates once in about 24 hours with respect to the sun, Earths rotation is slowing slightly with time, thus, a day was shorter in the past. This is due to the effects the Moon has on Earths rotation. Atomic clocks show that a modern-day is longer by about 1.7 milliseconds than a century ago, analysis of historical astronomical records shows a slowing trend of 2.3 milliseconds per century since the 8th century BCE. Among the ancient Greeks, several of the Pythagorean school believed in the rotation of the rather than the apparent diurnal rotation of the heavens. Perhaps the first was Philolaus, though his system was complicated, in the third century BCE, Aristarchus of Samos suggested the suns central place. However, Aristotle in the fourth century criticized the ideas of Philolaus as being based on rather than observation. He established the idea of a sphere of fixed stars that rotated about the earth and this was accepted by most of those who came after, in particular Claudius Ptolemy, who thought the earth would be devastated by gales if it rotated. In the 10th century, some Muslim astronomers accepted that the Earth rotates around its axis, treatises were written to discuss its possibility, either as refutations or expressing doubts about Ptolemys arguments against it. At the Maragha and Samarkand observatories, the Earths rotation was discussed by Tusi and Qushji, in medieval Europe, Thomas Aquinas accepted Aristotles view and so, reluctantly, did John Buridan and Nicole Oresme in the fourteenth century. Not until Nicolaus Copernicus in 1543 adopted a heliocentric world system did the earths rotation begin to be established, Copernicus pointed out that if the movement of the earth is violent, then the movement of the stars must be very much more so. He acknowledged the contribution of the Pythagoreans and pointed to examples of relative motion, for Copernicus this was the first step in establishing the simpler pattern of planets circling a central sun. Tycho Brahe, who produced accurate observations on which Kepler based his laws, in 1600, William Gilbert strongly supported the earths rotation in his treatise on the earths magnetism and thereby influenced many of his contemporaries. Those like Gilbert who did not openly support or reject the motion of the earth about the sun are often called semi-Copernicans, however, the contributions of Kepler, Galileo and Newton gathered support for the theory of the rotation of the Earth. The earths rotation implies that the bulges and the poles are flattened
35.
Volcano
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A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. Earths volcanoes occur because its crust is broken into 17 major, therefore, on Earth, volcanoes are generally found where tectonic plates are diverging or converging. This type of volcanism falls under the umbrella of plate hypothesis volcanism, Volcanism away from plate boundaries has also been explained as mantle plumes. These so-called hotspots, for example Hawaii, are postulated to arise from upwelling diapirs with magma from the boundary,3,000 km deep in the Earth. Volcanoes are usually not created where two plates slide past one another. Erupting volcanoes can pose hazards, not only in the immediate vicinity of the eruption. Historically, so-called volcanic winters have caused catastrophic famines, the word volcano is derived from the name of Vulcano, a volcanic island in the Aeolian Islands of Italy whose name in turn comes from Vulcan, the god of fire in Roman mythology. The study of volcanoes is called volcanology, sometimes spelled vulcanology, at the mid-oceanic ridges, two tectonic plates diverge from one another as new oceanic crust is formed by the cooling and solidifying of hot molten rock. Most divergent plate boundaries are at the bottom of the oceans, therefore, most volcanic activity is submarine, black smokers are evidence of this kind of volcanic activity. Where the mid-oceanic ridge is above sea-level, volcanic islands are formed, for example, subduction zones are places where two plates, usually an oceanic plate and a continental plate, collide. In this case, the plate subducts, or submerges under the continental plate forming a deep ocean trench just offshore. In a process called flux melting, water released from the subducting plate lowers the temperature of the overlying mantle wedge. This magma tends to be very viscous due to its high content, so it often does not reach the surface. When it does reach the surface, a volcano is formed, typical examples of this kind of volcano are Mount Etna and the volcanoes in the Pacific Ring of Fire. Because tectonic plates move across them, each volcano becomes dormant and is eventually re-formed as the plate advances over the postulated plume and this theory is currently under criticism, however. The most common perception of a volcano is of a mountain, spewing lava and poisonous gases from a crater at its summit, however. The features of volcanoes are more complicated and their structure. Some volcanoes have rugged peaks formed by lava domes rather than a summit crater while others have features such as massive plateaus
36.
Ojos del Salado
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Nevado Ojos del Salado is a stratovolcano in the Andes on the Argentina–Chile border and the highest active volcano in the world at 6,893 m. It is also the second highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere and it is located about 600 km north of Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere at 6,961 m. Despite the generally dry conditions, there is a permanent crater lake about 100 m in diameter at an elevation of 6,390 m on the side of the mountain. This is most likely the highest lake of any kind in the world, the ascent of Ojos del Salado is mostly a hike except for the final section to the summit which is a difficult scramble that may require ropes. The first ascent was made in 1937 by Jan Alfred Szczepański and Justyn Wojsznis and its name, meaning roughly Eyes of the Salty One in Spanish, comes from the enormous deposits of salt that, in the form of lagoons or “eyes”, appear in its glaciers. Ojos del Salado is a volcano, but the question of whether it should be considered currently active is arguable. According to the Smithsonian Institutions Global Volcanism Program, the most recent known eruption was around 1,300 years ago, however, there is also some evidence for a minor ash emission in 1993, which would definitely qualify the volcano as historically active. The presence of fumaroles high on the mountain and recent-looking lava flows, albeit of uncertain age, by these definitions, Ojos del Salado is the highest historically active volcano on Earth. Its last eruption was 1, 000–1,500 years ago, salados rock is predominantly potassium-rich dacite and rhyodacite. Its lavas are high in biotite, hornblende, plagioclase, and opaques, with levels of augite, quartz. The elevation of Ojos del Salado has been the subject of debate, a 2006 article in Andes Magazine offered that Ojos del Salado may be higher than Aconcagua, although the argument was premised on older, less accurate altitude surveys. The results of these older surveys assigned Ojos del Salado an elevation of 7,057 m, which would have made it nearly 100 m higher than Aconcagua. As early as 1955, an estimate was made that the elevation of Ojos del Salado was 7,100 m, but that was based on the altitude of the final camp. In 1956 the first Chilean expedition led by the retired lieutenant René Gajardo measured the height of Ojos del Salado as 7,084 m with a pressure altimeter. Apart from being a method, the height shown by the altimeter was far too high as air pressure is generally lower in the afternoon. An expedition to the area in the 90s claimed that nearby Monte Pissis was even higher than Ojos del Salado, later measurements using more precise equipment showed that Ojos del Salado is about 100 m higher than Pissis. Furthermore, in 2007 a Chilean–Argentine–European expedition organized by Andes Magazine, Ojos del Salado has two summits, one in Argentina and the other in Chile. The difference in elevation of the two summits is less than 1 m Ojos del Salado has been a mountain for attaining the highest altitude aboard a land vehicle
37.
Salar de Arizaro
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Salar de Arizaro is a large salt flat of the Andes in north-western Argentina, bordering with Chile. It is located between the villages of Tolar Grande and Caipe and near Mina La Casualidad, in Los Andes Department, located in the central-western area of the Puna de Atacama, it covers an area of 1,600 km². Per extension, the Salar de Arizaro is the 6th largest salt flat in the World, the salar area is mined for metallic and non-metallic resources, as it is rich in salt, marble, iron, copper and onyx. The nearest salt flats are the ones of Antofalla, Hombre Muerto, Pocitos, the Salar de Arizaro is crossed in the middle by the Salta–Antofagasta railway and by the Provincial Route 27. A particular characteristic of it is a hill named Cerro Cono. Atacama Desert Salar de Uyuni Salar de Atacama Gonzalo Monterroso, Touring Argentina - Salta,1999, ISBN9879821645 R. N. Alonso, J. G. Viramonte, Geología y Metalogenia de la Puna. 43, 393-407 Salar de Arizaro on Salta Province website
38.
Puna de Atacama
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The Puna de Atacama or Atacama Plateau is an arid high plateau, in the Andes of northern Chile and Argentina. Geomorphologist Walther Penck based his Grossfalt landform association on Puna de Atacama, the plateaus elevation averages 4,500 metres above sea level, and it spans an area of 180,000 square kilometres. In Argentina, Punas territory is extended in the provinces of Salta, Jujuy, in Chile, it is included in the regions of Antofagasta and north-eastern Atacama. Before the War of the Pacific, the region belonged to Bolivia, in 1898 it was ceded to Argentina in exchange for recognition of Tarija as part of Bolivia. Chile, which had annexed the Litoral Province from Bolivia, declared the exchange illegal, the border was defined in 1899 after the Puna de Atacama dispute. Of the 75,000 km2 in dispute 64,000 were awarded to Argentina and 11,000 to Chile, Puna de Atacama dispute Atacama Desert Altiplano Altiplano–Puna volcanic complex Salar de Atacama Salar de Arizaro Puna grassland Tren a las Nubes Salta–Antofagasta railway
39.
Salta
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Salta is a city located in the Lerma Valley, at 1,152 metres above sea level in the northwest part of Argentina. It is also the name for the city of Salta Province. Along with its area, it has a population of 619,000 inhabitants. It is situated in the Lerma Valley,1,152 metres above sea level, the weather is warm and dry, with annual averages of 756 mm of rainfall and an average temperature of 16.4 °C. January, February and march are the months with greatest rainfall, during the spring, Salta is occasionally plagued by severe, week-long dust storms. Nicknamed Salta la Linda, it has become a major tourist destination due to its old, colonial architecture, tourism friendliness, excellent weather and natural scenery of the valleys westward. Attractions in the city include the 18th century Cabildo, the neo-classical style Cathedral. Salta used to be the point of the Train to the Clouds. The Martín Miguel de Güemes Airport,6 kilometres southwest of the city, has flights to Buenos Aires, Tucumán, Jujuy, Córdoba, Iguazu, Rio de Janeiro. Salta was founded on April 16,1582 by the Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma, the origin of the name Salta is a matter of conjecture, with several theories being advanced to explain it. During the war of independence, the city became a commercial, Salta emerged from the War of Independence politically in disarray and financially bankrupt, a condition that lingered throughout much of the 19th century. Salta has a highland climate, and it is famous in Argentina for having very pleasant weather. Fall brings dry weather, pleasant days at around 22 °C, by winter, the dryness is extreme, with very few rain episodes. Nights are cold at 3 °C on average, but daytime heating allows for high temperatures of 19 °C, snow is rare and frost is quite common, with temperatures reaching down to −7 °C during the coldest nights. Spring brings sunny weather with warm days and cool nights, days range from 25 to 28 °C with nights between 10 to 14 °C, of the over 700 millimetres of rain that Salta receives yearly, over 80% falls between December and March, when thunderstorms occur almost daily. During the rest of the year, blue skies dominate the region, Salta receives 1863 hours of bright sunshine each year or about 5.1 hours per day. The highest recorded temperature was 39.9 °C on November 28,1972 while the lowest recorded temperature was −9.4 °C on August 5,1966, the city centre features a number of buildings dating back to the 18th and 19th and early 20th centuries. The Plaza is almost completely surrounded by a gallery, within walking distance of the 9th July Square are the Saint Francis Church and the citys three pedestrian streets, Alberdi, Florida and Caseros
40.
Inca Empire
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The Inca Empire, also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire, was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America, and possibly the largest empire in the world in the early 16th century. The administrative, political and military center of the empire was located in Cusco in modern-day Peru, the Inca civilization arose from the highlands of Peru sometime in the early 13th century. Its last stronghold was conquered by the Spanish in 1572, from 1438 to 1533, the Incas incorporated a large portion of western South America, centered on the Andean Mountains, using conquest and peaceful assimilation, among other methods. The Incas considered their king, the Sapa Inca, to be the son of the sun, the Inca Empire was unique in that it lacked many features associated with civilization in the Old world. In the words of one scholar, The Incas lacked the use of wheeled vehicles, the Incan economy has been described as feudal, slave, socialist. The economy functioned largely without money and without markets, instead, exchange of goods and services was based on reciprocity between individuals and among individuals, groups, and Inca rulers. Taxes consisted of an obligation of a person to the Empire. The Inca rulers reciprocated by granting access to land and goods and providing food, the Inca referred to their empire as Tawantinsuyu, the four suyu. The four suyu were, Chinchaysuyu, Antisuyu, Qullasuyu and Kuntisuyu, the name Tawantinsuyu was, therefore, a descriptive term indicating a union of provinces. The Spanish transliterated the name as Tahuatinsuyo or Tahuatinsuyu, the term Inka means ruler or lord in Quechua and was used to refer to the ruling class or the ruling family. The Incas were a small percentage of the total population of the empire, probably numbering only 15,000 to 40,000. The Spanish adopted the term as a term referring to all subjects of the empire rather than simply the ruling class. As such the name Imperio inca referred to the nation that they encountered, the Inca people were a pastoral tribe in the Cusco area around the 12th century. Incan oral history tells a story of three caves. The center cave at Tampu Tuqu was named Qhapaq Tuqu, the other caves were Maras Tuqu and Sutiq Tuqu. Four brothers and four sisters stepped out of the middle cave and they were, Ayar Manco, Ayar Cachi, Ayar Awqa and Ayar Uchu, and Mama Ocllo, Mama Raua, Mama Huaco and Mama Qura. Out of the side caves came the people who were to be the ancestors of all the Inca clans, Ayar Manco carried a magic staff made of the finest gold. Where this staff landed, the people would live and they traveled for a long time
41.
Tierra del Fuego
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Tierra del Fuego is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the island, Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, with an area of 48,100 km2. Tierra del Fuego is divided between Chile and Argentina, with the controlling the eastern half of the main island. The southernmost extent of the archipelago is at about latitude 55 S, the earliest known human settlement in Tierra del Fuego dates to around 8,000 B. C. Europeans first explored the islands during Ferdinand Magellans expedition of 1520, Tierra del Fuego, today, petroleum extraction dominates economic activity in the north of Tierra del Fuego, while tourism, manufacturing, and Antarctic logistics are important in the south. The earliest human settlement occurred around 8,000 B. C, the Yaghan were some of the earliest known humans to settle in Tierra del Fuego. Archeological sites with characteristics of their culture have found at locations such as Navarino Island. The name Tierra del Fuego derives from the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, sailing for the Spanish Crown and he believed he was seeing the many fires of the Yaghan, which were visible from the sea, and that the Indians were waiting in the forests to ambush his armada. In 1525 Francisco de Hoces was the first to speculate that Tierra del Fuego was one or more islands rather than part of what was then called Terra Australis, francis Drake in 1578 and a Dutch VOC expedition in 1616 learned more about the geography. The latter expedition named Cape Horn, on his first voyage with the HMS Beagle in 1830, Robert FitzRoy picked up four native Fuegians, including Jemmy Button and brought them to England. The surviving three were taken to London to meet the King and Queen and were, for a time and they returned to Tierra del Fuego in the Beagle with FitzRoy and Charles Darwin, who made extensive notes about his visit to the islands. During the second half of the 19th century, the archipelago began to come under Chilean, both countries sought to claim the whole archipelago based on de jure Spanish colonial titles. Salesian Catholic missions were established in Río Grande and Dawson Island, anglican missions were established by British colonists at Keppel Island in the Falklands in 1855 and in 1870 at Ushuaia on the main island, which continued to operate through the 19th century. Thomas Bridges learned the language and compiled a 30, 000-word Yaghan grammar and it was published in the 20th century and considered an important ethnological work. An 1879 Chilean expedition led by Ramón Serrano Montaner reported large amounts of gold in the streams. This prompted massive immigration to the island between 1883 and 1909. Numerous Argentines, Chileans and Croatians settled in the main island, julius Popper, a Romanian explorer, was one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the region. Granted rights by the Argentine government to exploit any gold deposits he found in Tierra del Fuego, despite the missionaries efforts, many natives died
42.
Llullaillaco
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Llullaillaco is a dormant stratovolcano at the border of Argentina and Chile. It lies in the Puna de Atacama, a region of high volcanic peaks on a high plateau close to the Atacama Desert. It is the second highest active volcano in the world after Ojos del Salado, Llullaillaco was constructed during two different phases in the Pleistocene-Holocene by dacitic lava flows. The oldest rocks are about 1.5 million years old, about 150,000 years ago, the volcanos southeastern flank collapsed and generated a debris avalanche that reached as far as 25 kilometres from the summit. The youngest dated rocks were erupted 5,600 ±250 years ago in the summit region, the mountains first recorded climb was in 1950, but traces of earlier climbs, and a number of archeological sites, were found on the mountain and at its feet. With an archeological site at the region, Llullaillaco is the highest archeological site in the world. There, in 1999, the remains of three children, known as the Children of Llullaillaco, were found. They are presumed to have been human sacrifices, the name Llullaillaco is derived from the Kunza word llulla meaning false, lie or deceitful and yaku or llaco meaning water. This name probably refers to the meltwater from snow, which flows down the slopes, normally such mountains are sources for water. Volcanism in the Andes is caused by the subduction of the Nazca Plate, the Nazca Plate subducts at a speed of 7–9 centimetres per year and the Antarctic Plate at a speed of 2 centimetres per year. The formation of magma results from the release of water and other material from the subducting plate. The volcanic zones are separated by areas where the plate subducts at a flatter angle. About 178 volcanoes are found in the Andes,60 of which have active in historical times. In addition, large calderas and monogenetic volcanoes exist in the Andes, Llullaillaco is part of the Central Volcanic Zone. At least 44 volcanic centres with historical activity and 18 large caldera-forming volcanoes have been identified in the Central Volcanic Zone, volcanism in the Central Volcanic Zone mostly occurs on the Altiplano and the Cordillera Occidental. A number of volcanoes there reach heights of over 6,000 metres above sea level, large Miocene ignimbrites that cover large surfaces are also part of the regional geology. Llullaillaco is located about 300 kilometres east of the Peru-Chile Trench, the Wadati-Benioff zone is 180 kilometres deep. Llullaillaco is located in the northwestern Argentine Andes, towards the end of the Puna
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