Topographic map of Bolivia showing (east to west) plains of Sub-Andean Zone in red, Cordillera Oriental (Bolivia)">Eastern Cordillera in white, Altiplano">Cordill.html" ;"title="Geology of Bolivia#Lowlands and Sub-Andean zone">Sub-Andean Zone in red, Cordillera Oriental (Bolivia)">Eastern Cordillera in white, Altiplano in gray, and Western Cordillera in white The Cordillera Occidental or Western Cordillera of Bolivia is part of the Andes (that is also part of the American Cordillera), a mountain range characterized by volcanic activity, making up the natural border with

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and starting in the north with Juqhuri and ending in the south at the

Licancabur Licancabur () is a prominent, stratovolcano on the Bolivia–Chile border in the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes. It is capped by a wide summit crater which contains Licancabur Lake, a Volcanic crater lake, crater lake that is among the hig ...

volcano, which is on the southern limit of Bolivia with

. The border goes through the innominated point located at two-thirds of elevation of

's northeastern slope at the southwestermost point of Bolivia at 22° 49' 41" south and 67° 52' 35" west. The climate of the region is cold and inadequate for animal and plant life. Its main feature is its ground, in which are large quantities of metallic minerals including

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

, and others. The range consists of three sections: * The northern section, in which you can find the highest peaks in Bolivia, tallest of which is the volcano Sajama at 6,542 meters. Sajama is perennially covered in snow. It contains the volcanoes Pomerape and

Parinacota Parinacota (in Hispanicized spelling), Parina Quta or Parinaquta ( Aymara, ''parina'' flamingo, ''quta'' lake, "flamingo lake", other Hispanicized spellings ''Parinaccota, Parinajota'') may refer to: Lakes * Parinaquta (Carabaya), in Peru, Puno ...

(called Payachata collectively), the latter being a dormant volcano with a cone of snow similar to

Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano located on the Japanese island of Honshu, with a summit elevation of . It is the highest mountain in Japan, the second-highest volcano on any Asian island (after Mount Kerinci on the Indonesian island of Sumatra), a ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. * The central section, situated between

Uyuni Uyuni ( Aymara, ''uyu'' pen (enclosure), yard, cemetery, ''-ni'' a suffix to indicate ownership, "the one that has got a pen", "the one with a pen") is a city in the southwest of Bolivia. Uyuni primarily serves as a gateway for tourists visiting ...

and

Coipasa __NOTOC__ Lago Coipasa is a lake in Sabaya Province, Oruro Department, Bolivia. At an elevation of 3657 m, its surface area is 806 km². It is located on the western part of Altiplano, 20 km north of Salar de Uyuni and south of the main ...

. Its most prominent summit is the

Ollagüe Ollagüe () or Ullawi () is a massive andesite stratovolcano in the Andes on the Bolivia–Chile border, within the Antofagasta Region of Chile and the Potosí Department, Potosi Department of Bolivia. Part of the Central Volcanic Zone of the A ...

(Ullawi) volcano on the border with Chile. * The southern section, characterized by volcanic activity and by having sandstorms and fog, taking into account

, which is 5,920 meters high (but only two-thirds of the northeastern slope of the volcano belong to Bolivia up to 5415 meters). The lakes

Laguna Colorada __NOTOC__ Laguna Colorada (''Red Lagoon'') is a shallow salt lake (geography), salt lake in the southwest of the altiplano of Bolivia, within Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve and close to the border with Chile, notable for the Red, r ...

and

Laguna Verde Laguna Verde, the Spanish-language form of ''green lagoon'' or ''green lake'', may refer to: Bolivia *Laguna Verde (Bolivia), a salt lake in Potosi Department *Laguna Verde (Beni), a lake in Beni Department *Laguna Verde (Comarapa), a lake in Comar ...

can be found on Licancabur, so named because of their respective colors.

References

Mountain ranges of Bolivia Mountain ranges of Chile Mountains of Arica y Parinacota Region Landforms of Oruro Department Landforms of Potosí Department {{AricaParinacota-geo-stub

See also

References