A plateau is a plateau that is located at a high altitude.
The term altiplano , also mentioned as plateau , refers to a plateau that is located at a very high altitude and is characterized by having an important extension. The usual thing is that the plateau is located between two mountain ranges that are not so old, taking into account the geological eras.
The highlands have their origin from the non-simultaneous appearance of two mountain chains that are parallel. Between both chains, once they rise, plateaus are generated through the accumulation of sediments or volcanic-type materials . These plateaus are the highlands.
Andean plateau
The Andean plateau , for example, develops between southern Peru, northern Chile, western Bolivia and northwest Argentina. With an average altitude of 3,800 meters above sea level , this plateau has significance from a historical point of view because it was the place of settlement of important pre-Columbian cultures .
In the Andean plateau there are several regions protected by natural relevance. The Lake Titicaca National Reserve and Sajama National Park in Bolivia and the Llullaillaco and Lauca national parks in Chile are among these spaces. If we focus on the Bolivian highlands, we can say that on said plateau there are about sixty municipalities in the departments of Potosí , Oruro and La Paz .
The Las Vicuñas National Reserve , the Isluga Volcano National Park or the Eduardo Abaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve are other of the most significant enclaves of this Andean plateau. An enclave in which, among other curiosities, we can highlight that the birth of the Tiahuanaco culture, the domestic cultivation of potatoes and even the domestication of animals such as the llama were allowed.
Precisely that animal predominates in this enclave, where the most significant fauna is also made up of the field mouse, the suri, the fox, the Andean flamingo, the quirquincho or the condor.
The Andean plateau extends across regions of Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and Chile.
The High
The largest city on the Andean plateau is none other than El Alto , which is located in the territory of Bolivia and has approximately 1,180,000 inhabitants.
El Alto belongs to the department of La Paz and is located about 4,150 meters above sea level.
Other highlands
The Armenian Plateau , for its part, extends across several regions of Turkey , Iran and Azerbaijan , in addition to the entire surface of Armenia . Its surface area is around 400,000 square kilometers .
In Spain there is the so-called Altiplano of Granada , which houses what are the regions of Baza and Huéscar . It has important plateaus with more than 1,000 meters above sea level as well as a notable practically desert plain. In this territory, towns such as Benamaurel take on special relevance to highly valuable landscape spaces such as the Sierra de Castril Natural Park and the Sierra de Baza Natural Park .
It is considered that one of the first men to inhabit Europe lived on this plateau millions of years ago and it also has the particularity of maintaining caves that were the residence of Andalusian individuals. Caves that today have been converted into tourist accommodation.