Crossword Dictionary
THE ANDES
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (Spanish: Cordillera de los Andes) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is 6,999 km (4,349 mi) long, 200 to 700 km (124 to 435 mi) wide (widest between 18°S - 20°S latitude), and has an average height of about 4,000 m (13,123 ft). The Andes extend from north to south through seven South American countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina.
Andes Mountains, also called the Andes, Spanish Cordillera de los Andes or Los Andes, mountain system of South America and one of the great natural features on Earth.
They separate a narrow western coastal area from the rest of the continent, affecting deeply the conditions of life within the ranges themselves and in surrounding areas. The Andes contain the highest peaks in the Western Hemisphere. The highest of them is Mount Aconcagua (22,831 feet [6,959 metres]) on the border of Argentina and Chile.
The Andes are not a single line of formidable peaks but rather a succession of parallel and transverse mountain ranges, or cordilleras, and of intervening plateaus and depressions. Distinct eastern and western ranges—respectively named the Cordillera Oriental and the Cordillera Occidental—are characteristic of most of the system. The directional trend of both the cordilleras generally is north-south, but in several places the Cordillera Oriental bulges eastward to form either isolated peninsula-like ranges or such high intermontane plateau regions as the Altiplano (Spanish: “High Plateauâ€), occupying adjoining parts of Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, and Peru.
Some historians believe the name Andes comes from the Quechuan word anti (“eastâ€); others suggest it is derived from the Quechuan anta (“copperâ€). It perhaps is more reasonable to ascribe it to the anta of the older Aymara language, which connotes copper colour generally.
the Rockies
Rockies, Rocky Mountains - n
the chief mountain range of western North America; extends from British Columbia to northern New Mexico; forms the continental divide
Rocky Mountains, byname the Rockies, mountain range forming the cordilleran backbone of the great upland system that dominates the western North American continent. Generally, the ranges included in the Rockies stretch from northern Alberta and British Columbia southward to New Mexico, a distance of some 3,000 miles (4,800 km). In places the system is 300 or more miles wide. Limits are mostly arbitrary, especially in the far northwest, where mountain systems such as the Brooks Range of Alaska are sometimes included. The Rockies are bordered on the east by the Great Plains and on the west by the Interior Plateau and Coast Mountains of Canada and the Columbia Plateau and Basin and Range Province of the United States.
The Rocky Mountains include at least 100 separate ranges, which are generally divided into four broad groupings: the Canadian Rockies and Northern Rockies of Montana and northeastern Idaho; the Middle Rockies of Wyoming, Utah, and southeastern Idaho; the Southern Rockies, mainly in Colorado and New Mexico; and the Colorado Plateau in the Four Corners region of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. These four subdivisions differ from each other in terms of geology (origin, ages, and types of rocks) and physiography (landforms, drainage, and soils), yet they share the physical attributes of high elevations (many peaks exceeding 13,000 feet [4,000 metres]), great local relief (typically 5,000 to 7,000 feet in vertical difference between the base and summit of ranges), shallow soils, considerable mineral wealth, spectacular scenery from past glaciation and volcanic activity, and common trends in climate, biogeography, culture, economy, and exploration.