The Andes

         The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range along the western coast of South America.

         The Andes extend from north to south through South American countries such as Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile.

         The Andes range has many active volcanoes.

         The Mountains host large ore and salt deposits. Chile and Peru are the 1st and 2nd largest exporters of copper in the world.

         The climate in the Andes varies greatly. The southern section is rainy and cool, the central Andes are dry. The northern Andes are typically rainy and warm. The climate is known to change drastically in rather short distances.

         About 30,000 species of vascular plants live in the Andes with roughly half being endemic to the region, surpassing the diversity of any other hotspot.         Important crops that originated from the Andes are tobacco and potatoes.

A male Andean Cock-of-the-rock, a species found in humid Andean forests.

         The Andes is rich in fauna: with almost 3,500 species, of which roughly 2/3 are endemic to the region. The Andes is the most important region in the world for amphibians. The diversity of animals in the Andes is high, with almost 600 species of mammals, more than 1,700 species of birds, more than 600 species of reptile, and almost 400 species of fish.