THE andes mountains...

INTRODUCTION

THE WESTERN CORDILLERAS

• The American Cordillera is a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that form the western "backbone" of North America, Central America, South America and Antarctica.It is also the backbone of the volcanic arc that forms the eastern half of the Pacific Ring of Fire.

THE ANDES MOUNTAINS

• The Cordillera continues on through the mountain ranges of Central America in Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua etc. and becomes the Andes Mountains of South America. The Andes with their parallel chains and the island chains off the coast of Chile continue to the very tip of South America.

THE GEOGRAPHY

ANDES

• The Andes can be divided into 3 sections: The Southern Andes in Argentina and Chile; The Central Andes in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia The Northern Andes in Venezuela and Colombia.

THE ETYMOLOGY

ETYMOLOGY

• The etymology of the word Andes has been debated. The majority consensus is that it derives from the Quechua word anti, which means "east" as in Antisuyu (Quechua for "east region") ,one of the four regions of the Inca Empire.

IMPORTANCE

ROAD TRADING

• The Andes Mountains are important because you can trade by road there. They go through 7 countries making road trading easy

NATURAL BORDER

• The Andes Mountains also act as a natural border between Chile and Argentina.

NATURAL DISASTERS AND HAZARDS

EARTHQUAKeS

• There are many natural disasters that take place such as earthquakes because the mountains are at a fault.

NATURAL HAZARDS

• The mountains stretch across the eastern part of the " Pacific Ring of Fire" causing a lot of natural hazards

MINING

MINING

• Currently, mining in the Andes of Chile and Peru places these countries as the first and third major producers of copper in the world. Peru contains the largest goldmine in the world.

FARMING

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• The potato holds a very important role as an internally consumed staple crop. Maize was also an important crop for these people, and was used for the production of chicha, important to Andean native people. Currently, tobacco, cotton, cocoa and coffee are the main export crops.

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