Altiplano

There are on the plateau many towns and several cities, including El Alto and Oruro in Bolivia, Juliaca and Puno in Peru.

Today, major economic activities in the Altiplano include mining, llama and vicuña herding, and services (in its cities).

The Altiplano is an area of inland drainage (endorheism) lying in the central Andes, occupying parts of northern Chile, western Bolivia, southern Peru and northwest Argentina.

Unlike conditions in Tibet, the Altiplano is dominated by massive active volcanoes of the Central Volcanic Zone to the west, such as Ampato (6288 m), Tutupaca (5,816 m), Parinacota (6348 m), Guallatiri (6071 m), Paruma (5,728 m), Uturunku (6,008 m) and Licancabur (5,916 m), and the Cordillera Real in the north east with Illampu (6,368 m), Huayna Potosí (6,088 m), Janq'u Uma (6,427 m) and Illimani (6,438 m).

Several mechanisms have been put forth for the formation of the Altiplano plateau; hypotheses try to explain why the topography in the Andes incorporates this large area of low relief at high altitude (high plateau) within the orogen: At various times during the Pleistocene epoch, both the southern and northern Altiplano were covered by vast pluvial lakes.

[citation needed] The coldest temperatures occur in the southwestern portion of the Altiplano during the winter months of June and July.

A map of the endorheic river basins that characterize the altiplano. In the north is Lake Titicaca and the Desaguadero River system; in the south is the Salar de Uyuni salt flat. The non-endorheic altiplano extends southward into Argentina and Chile.
La Paz , Bolivia , is the second-largest city located in the Altiplano (after El Alto )
Volcanoes in Sajama National Park ( Parinacota and Pomerape )
A rock sculpted by wind erosion (or Aeolian processes ) in the Bolivian Altiplano.
The Bolivian Altiplano at about 4,250 m (14,000 feet). The snow-covered peaks of the Cordillera Real rise in the background.