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The Andes is the longest mountain range in the world at 4500 mi long. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. The mountain range spans seven countries — Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.
The range is also known for its volcanoes, ruins of long-ago civilizations (like Machu Picchu) and the source of a malaria treatment.
The Andes were formed by tectonic movement. The Pacific Ocean tectonic plate has been pushed under the South America plate, pushing up the Andes mountains that now run all along the west side of South America.
Since the Andes lie along a major plate boundary, earthquakes and volcano eruptions are common there. Click here to see the most recent activity in the Andes.
Because the Andes act as a large wall between the Pacific Ocean and the continent, they have a tremendous impact on climate in the region. The northern part of the Andes is typically rainy and warm, and the weather is also wet in the eastern part of central Andes, and the area to the southwest. To the west, the dry climate is dominated by the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. The mountains form a rain cover over the eastern plains of Argentina, which have extremely dry weather.
The Incas managed to live in the Andes of Peru until the 15th century. When, like the Aztecs, they were wiped out by disease from European invaders. Their civilization, Machu Picchu, was largely undiscovered, except for a few descendants. But on July 24, 1911, locals led Yale University professor Hiram Bingham to Machu Picchu, at an elevation of 7,710 feet (2,350 m) in the Peru portion of the mountain range, and he discovered their lost civilization.
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