Puno, Peru, is one of larger cities of the Altiplano. Puno is a city in southeastern Peru, located on the shore of Lake Titicaca, the world's highest navigable lake at 3860 m (12421 ft above sea level

The Altiplano (Spanish for high plain), where the Andes are at their widest, is the most extensive area of high plateau on earth outside of Tibet. The Andes form the world's longest exposed Mountain range. They lie as a continuous chain of highland along the western coast of South America. In Geology and Earth science, a plateau, also called a high plateau or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting Definitions of Tibet See also Definitions of Tibet Name In English The English word Tibet, like the word for Tibet in most European

In the case of the Andes, it is an area of inland drainage lying in the central Andes, occupying parts of Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador. The Andes form the world's longest exposed Mountain range. They lie as a continuous chain of highland along the western coast of South America. Chile, officially the Republic of Chile ( Spanish:) is a country in South America occupying a long and narrow Coastal strip wedged between the For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Argentina topics. The Republic of Bolivia (República de Bolivia) named after Simón Bolívar, is a Landlocked country in central South America. Peru (Perú Piruw Piruw officially the Republic of Peru ( reˈpuβlika del peˈɾu is a country in western South America. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Ecuador topics. Its height averages about 3,300 meters (11,000 feet), somewhat less than that of Tibet. Unlike the Tibetan Plateau, however, the Altiplano is dominated by the massive peaks of active volcanoes to the west. The Tibetan Plateau, also known as the Qinghai-Tibetan (Qingzang Plateau is a vast elevated Plateau in Central Asia covering most of the Tibet Autonomous Plate tectonics and hotspots Divergent plate boundaries At the The Atacama Desert, the driest area on the whole planet, lies to the southwest of the Altiplano. Atacama redirects here for the political-administrative region of Chile, see Atacama Region. In contrast, to the east lies the humid Amazon rainforest. The Amazon Rainforest (Brazilian Portuguese: Floresta Amazônica or Amazônia; Spanish: Selva Amazónica or Amazonía

At the end of the Pleistocene epoch, the whole extent of the Altiplano was covered by a vast lake, Ballivián, the present remnants of which are Lake Titicaca, straddling the Peru/Bolivia border, and Poopó, a saline lake which extends south of Oruro, Bolivia. The Pleistocene ('plaɪstəsin is the epoch from 18 million to 10000 years BP covering the world's recent period Lake Ballivián was a vast inland sea that existed until the end of the Pleistocene. Lake Titicaca is a lake located on the border of Bolivia and Peru. Oruro is a city in Bolivia with a population of over 215 660 (2001 located about equidistant between La Paz and Sucre at approx Salar de Uyuni, locally known as "Salar de Tunupa", as well as Salar de Coipasa are two large dry salt flats formed as well after the Altiplano paleolakes dried out. Salar de Uyuni (or Salar de Tunupa) is the world's largest Salt flat at 10582 km² (4085 square miles

The Bolivian Altiplano at approximately 14,000 feet. In the background rise the snow covered peaks of the Cordillera Real

The term Altiplano is also sometimes used to identify the altitude zone itself — and the type of climate that prevails within it, colder than that of the tierra fria but not as cold as that of the tierra helada; the latter is usually reckoned as commencing at an elevation of approximately 4,500 meters (or about 15,000 feet). Climate encompasses the temperatures humidity rainfall atmospheric particle count and numerous other meteorogical factors in a given region over long periods of Tierra fria ( Spanish for cold land) is a pseudoclimatological term used in Latin America to refer to mountain locations within that realm where high Tierra helada ( Spanish for frozen land) is a term used in Latin America to refer to the highest places found within the Andes mountains Alternate names used in place of altiplano in this context include puna and páramos. Puna is a Neotropical Ecoregion and one of the eight Natural Regions of Peru.

In extentum, the climate is cool and semi-arid to arid, with mean annual temperatures that vary from 3 C near the western mountain range to 12 C near Lake Titicaca, and total annual rainfalls that range between less than 200 mm to the south west to more than 800 mm near and over Lake Titicaca as well. In general terms the Climate of a local or region is said to be arid when it is characterized by a severe lack of available Water, to the extent of hindering Lake Titicaca is a lake located on the border of Bolivia and Peru. Rain is Liquid precipitation. On Earth it is the condensation of atmospheric Water vapor into drops heavy enough to fall often making it to The diurnal cycle of temperature, however, is very wide with maximum temperatures in the order of 12 to 24 C and minimum in the order of -20 to 10 C. The coldest temperatures occur in the southwestern portion of the Altiplano during the months of June and July, which correspond to the Austral winter. The seasonal cycle of rainfall is marked with the rainy season concentrating between December and March. The rest of the year tends to be very dry, cool, windy and sunny. Snowfall events may happen between April and September, especially to the north, but they are not very common (1-5 events per year). "Snowfall" redirects here For other uses see Snow (disambiguation or Snowfall (disambiguation.

La Paz, Bolivia is the Altiplano's principal city. Nuestra Señora de La Paz is the administrative Capital of Bolivia, as well as the departmental capital of La Paz Department. The Republic of Bolivia (República de Bolivia) named after Simón Bolívar, is a Landlocked country in central South America.

Geology

Several mechanisms have been suggested as responsible for the formation of the Altiplano plateau, aiming to explain why the topography in the Andes incorporates this large area of low relief at high altitude (high plateau) within the orogen:

1. Existence of weaknesses in the Earth's crust prior to tectonic shortening. Such weaknesses would cause the partition of tectonic deformation and uplift into eastern and western cordillera, leaving the necessary space for the formation of the altiplano basin.
2. Magmatic processes rooted in the asthenosphere might have contributed to uplift the plateau.
3. Climate has controlled the spatial distribution of erosion and sediment deposition, controlling the lubrication along the Nazca Plate subduction and hence influencing the transmission of tectonic forces into South America.
4. Climate also determined the formation of internal drainage (endorheism) and sediment trapping within the Andes, potentially blocking tectonic deformation in the area between the two cordilleras.

Communities

• Achacachi
• Uros
• Quechua
• Aymara

External links

• Photos of the Altiplano
• Water resources of chilean Altiplano