The Andean States are a group of nations in South America defined by sharing a common geography (the Andes mountain range) or culture such as the Quechua language and Andean cuisine that was extended mainly during the time of the Inca Empire, but also before and after the Incas.
Andean America includes the Andean countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile. Its continental framework is the Andean mountain range. This mountain range dominates the nations of Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia. Chile and Venezuela are more marginal and form the extremes of the Andean area. The Andes constitute one of the largest mountain systems in the world. This chain of mountains arose from the collision of the Pacific plate with the South American plate.
The Andes are part of the Circle of Fire of the Pacific for its volcanism. The average line of altitude exceeds 3,500 m above sea level and has summits higher than 6,000 m: Acongagua (7,023 m), Ojos del Salado (6,908 m), Huascarán (6,768 m), Lluillaillaco (6,750 m) and Sajama (6,520 m). The average width of the Andes is 300 km, in the central section the width is 750 km; they have more than 8,500 km in an almost straight line.
The Andes are defined on the Colombian-Ecuadorian border in three alignments separated by sinking pits. In this knot the Western Cordillera and the Cordillera Central are defined in Colombian territory, forming a rough orographic knot known as the Colombian Massif, from which the Eastern Cordillera emerges and from where the Magdalena and Cauca rivers are born. The valley of Magdalena, wide and deep, separates the Eastern Cordillera from the Central.
The Cauca Valley separates the Central and Western Cordillera. In Antioquia (Colombia) the Central mountain range widens. Both mountain ranges gradually disappear towards the Atlantic plains. The Eastern Cordillera, 200 km wide and 1,300 km long, separates the count and the Magdalena valley from the eastern plains. It has an average height of about 3,000 m. The Cordillera Oriental, near the Venezuelan border, forms the orographic knot of Santurbán, with two large branches that enclose the basin of Lake Maracaibo.
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