Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE LAND
Two Andean mountain chains define the west of the country, with many peaks above
6000m. The Cordillera Occidental, in the west, stands between Bolivia and the Pacific
coast. The eastern Cordillera Real runs southeast, then turns south across central Bolivia,
joining the other chain to form the southern Cordillera Central.
The haunting Altiplano (altitude 3500m to
4000m) is boxed in by these two great cordiller-
as. It's an immense, nearly treeless plain punctu-
ated by mountains and solitary volcanic peaks.
At the Altiplano's northern end, straddling the
Peruvian border, Lake Titicaca is one of the
world's highest navigable lakes. In the far
southwestern corner, the land is drier and less populated. The salty remnants of two vast
ancient lakes, the Salar de Uyuni and the Salar de Coipasa, are there as well.
East of the Cordillera Central are the Central Highlands, a region of scrubby hills, val-
leys and fertile basins with a Mediterranean-like climate. North of the Cordillera Real, the
rainy Yungas form a transition zone between arid highlands and humid lowlands.
More than half of Bolivia's total area is in the
Amazon Basin, with sweaty tropical rainforest
in the western section, and flat
cerrados
(savan-
nas) and extensions of the Pantanal wetland in
the east. In the country's southeastern corner is
the nearly impenetrable scrubland of the Gran
Chaco, an arid, thorny forest that experiences
At 1,098,581 sq km, landlocked Bolivia is South
America's fifth-largest country, three-and-a-half
times the size of the British Isles.
The Andean condor, one of the world's heaviest
flying birds, has a 3m wingspan and can effort-
lessly drag a 20kg carcass.
the highest temperatures in the country.
