9781422286388

Bolivia

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kilometers), about the size of Texas and California combined. Its greatest north-south distance is 900 miles (1,448 km); its greatest east-west distance, 800 miles (1,287 km). Completely surrounded by its neighbors, Bolivia borders Argentina to the south, Chile and Peru to the west, Brazil to the north and east, and Paraguay to the southeast. Bolivia’s geography can be divided into four major areas: the Andean Highlands, the Valles (high valleys), the Yungas (lower valleys), and the trop- ical lowlands, referred to by the Spanish word for east, Oriente . The Andean Highlands Although two-thirds of Bolivia’s land lies to the east of the Andes, South America’s great mountain system, the majority of Bolivians live in the mountainous western third of the country, at elevations of up to 15,000 feet (4,500 meters). Three of Bolivia’s largest five cities are situated on the Altiplano Altiplano— high plain; a large, flat expanse of land in the Andes extending from Bolivia into southern Peru, northwestern Argentina, and northern Chile. cordillera— a mountain range, especially one that is part of a larger system of roughly parallel mountain ranges. Oriente— the lowlands in Bolivia east of the Andes (the Spanish word oriente means “east”). vicuña— a wild relative of the llama and alpaca that lives on the Altiplano. Words to Understand in this Chapter