The complex extends over an area of 240 square kilometres (93 sq mi) and its highest summit reaches an altitude of 6,377 metres (20,922 ft) above sea level.

Below an elevation of 5,000 metres (16,000 ft), there are various vegetation belts which include trees, peat bogs, grasses and also agricultural areas and pastures.

The retreat of the Coropuna glaciers threatens the water supply of tens of thousands of people relying upon its watershed, and interaction between volcanic activity and glacial effects has generated mudflows that could be hazardous to surrounding populations.

[18] The Andes stretch along the western coast of South America from Tierra del Fuego northwards to Venezuela, forming the longest mountain chain in the world.

[19] More regionally, the volcano is in the Cordillera Ampato [es], a mountain range which lies at an average of 100 kilometres (62 mi) from the Pacific coastline,[20] and contains nearly one hundred glaciers.

[39] Ice cover makes discerning its structure difficult,[40] but about[40] six separate peaks[37][41][42] as well as six not readily recognisable summit craters have been counted.

[29][32] Additional lava domes form a southeastward trending line on the southwestern side of the volcano[29] and dikes crop out close to Lake Pallarcocha.

[36] A sector collapse took place on the southwestern flank and formed a landslide deposit as well as a horseshoe-shaped valley that was later filled by glaciers.

[50] Lahars are dangerous phenomena owing to their high speed and density, causing large scale destruction and fatalities,[48] and can be generated both by volcanic and meteorological processes.

[45] An endorheic area that receives meltwater from the volcano also exists northeast from Coropuna, on Pampa Pucaylla[60] where the lake of the same name lies.

[1] The region is characterised by high plateaus separated by deep canyons, including some of the world's deepest gorges[55] that reach depths of 600–3,000 m (2,000–9,800 ft).

[86] Perennial snow fields are present on Coropuna, sometimes making it hard to measure the true extent of glaciation or glacier retreat.

[123] Before the first human settlement of the area,[124][125] the ice cap on Coropuna was much larger than today, with its surface exceeding 500 km2 (190 sq mi)[126] and its glaciers descending to much lower elevations.

[131] Glaciers in Peru are important sources of water for local communities and for hydropower generation, especially during the dry season; their shrinkage is thus of concern.

[147] A 2003 study by Bryan G. Mark and Geoffrey O. Seltzer estimated that about 30 per cent of the dry season runoff in the Cordillera Blanca comes from glaciers.

[171] The beginning of Coropuna's growth has variously been placed over 5 million years ago,[172] during the Pliocene[173] or late Miocene, but most of its structure developed during the Quaternary.

[195] There is no evidence of Holocene tephras in peat bog drill cores[76] and volcanism at Coropuna since the last ice age has been primarily effusive.

[16] Six hot springs are found on Coropuna, mostly on the southeastern foot,[196] such as at Acopallpa, Antaura/Antauro, Viques, Ccollpa/Collpa, Buena Vista and Aguas Calientes and, on its northern flank, at Huamaní Loma.

[168] The volcano had been considered a potential site for geothermal power production,[202] but research published in 1998 concluded that the available energy of the Coropuna area was insufficient.

It uses data such as the composition of hot spring waters[207] and the shape of the volcano as estimated by satellite images,[208] GPS and geodesy,[209] as well as information from five seismic stations.

[216] The terrain around the volcano has one of the greatest topographic reliefs in the world and a number of towns lie on the floor of the Majes valley, right down to the Pacific Ocean where the district capital Camaná[40] with 20,000 inhabitants is situated.

[185] Although there is no evidence of past mudflows of such size, lahars could reach as far as the coast,[217] affecting a number of towns[218] and infrastructure such as roads, antennas and small hydropower plants[30] in the provinces Condesuyos, Castilla and Camaná.

[233] Most of the region is covered by puna grassland, with the exception of isolated Polylepis woods to the southwest of the volcano, plus other different vegetation types to the west and southeast.

[29] Insects such as beetles and hymenopterans, birds such as the Andean condor,[97] fish, and mammals such as the alpaca, llama[236] and vicuña occur in the region.

[237] The mountain has several distinct vegetation belts: Numerous archaeological sites lie on Coropuna, especially at the southern and northern bases of the volcano and on its western slope.

[242] Evidence of the presence of hunter-gatherers near Coropuna first appear in the archaeological record in the caves of Cavalca and Pintasayoc, respectively north and south of the volcano.

[245] The first human activity at Coropuna in the Cuncaicha cave north of the volcano began 12,300 – 11,100 years ago,[246] shortly after the final retreat of glaciers from the mountain.

[6] The mountain was considered to be an abode of the dead[268] – a large village where holy people received the souls of the departed, who lived there in the afterlife,[6][269] and that could be accessed through caves.

[6] An enduring Franciscan influence from a colonial-era Cusco friary, the "pious among today's Peruvian peasantry" revere a "Flying" St Francis of Assisi, who is believed to await the souls of the dead on top of Coropuna.

[7] Coropuna is normally ascended from Laguna Pallarcocha, from where a route along the western rib and glacier slopes leads up to a fore-summit and then to the main summit.