Altiplano
South American tableland
The Altiplano is the vast high plateau in the central Andes, spanning portions of Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina.
It sits at roughly 12,000 feet elevation and includes Lake Titicaca, the world's highest navigable lake.
The region supports distinctive cultures adapted to extreme altitude, including Aymara and Quechua communities.
Life on the Altiplano requires acclimatization to the thin air. (Lowercase altiplano is any high plateau.)
Highest large lake
Titicaca
Highest large lake
summit
Peak or diplomatic gathering
basin · vastness · horizon · windswept · treeless · arid · cold desert
isolated
Separated from others
- desolateBleak and abandoned
- wildernessUncultivated, uninhabited natural region
- inaccessibleCannot be reached
secluded · outpost · frontier · sparse · pristine · untouched · solitude · harsh · barren · rugged
- South AmericaArgentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador
- Andean Culturellama, alpaca, quinoa, Quechua, panpipes
- BoliviaLa Paz, Santa Cruz, Lake Titicaca, Simon Bolivar, Quechua
- Cold Desertscold desert, Gobi Desert, polar desert, Antarctic, Gobi
- Dry PlateausGreat Basin
- Plateausmesa, tablelands, Pamirs, Tibet, highland
Altiplanolowland
Low-elevation flat land
coastal plain · sea level · depression · floodplain · Death Valley
Altiplanotrench
Long narrow excavation
basin · canyon floor · graben · trough · ocean basin