What does «Cordillera de los Andes» mean in Spanish?
- A great mountain system that crosses longitudinally all of South America in the west, from the Caribbean Sea to Tierra del Fuego, over a distance of more than 6437 km with widths ranging from 160 to 650 km. The enormous peaks of the Andes rise to heights only surpassed by the great mountains of Central Asia. A considerable part of the range rises along the Pacific coast in the W and from low plains in the E, forming a mighty mountain wall that exerts a strong influence on the climate, vegetation, soil, transportation, population and economy of the South American continent. The erosion of the slopes of the Andes has produced the fertile soils of the deep valleys and adjacent plains; the rain that comes from the high points of the mountains feeds most of the great rivers and the altitude produces territories of temperate climate in the tropical latitudes.