Andes Flashcards
Location
The andes mountains run the lent of the west coast of south america, rising in the north in columbia and finishing in chile and argentina. They are the world’s longest mountain range, running for over 7000km and covering 6 countries.
Uses
The mountain slopes are used for a variety of farming practices. the best land can be found on the valley floors, but an ingenious system of terraces dug into the valley sides and held up by retaining walls has been used to bring the lands on the valley sides into food production. This is useful as it collects water and enriches the soil. Most farming is subsistence, with food grown for personal consumption, but there is some commercial farming. Llamas have been sed as a form of transportation, and alpacas have been used to produce find cloth.
The yanacocha gold mine in Peru is the second largest in the world. The nearby town of Cajamarca has grown from 30,000 when the mine started to 240,000 people in 2005. It brings alternative sources of jobs and receives a lot of foreign exchange. It does however only benefit the economic growth of the country and not local communities, and it is also disrupting the animals that used to live in the area.
Tourism
There are a lot of different activities to do in the Andes, such as trekking, mountaineering, skins and mountain biking. Tourism in Machu Picchu provides many jobs and opportunities to sell souvenirs, allowing the locals to have a higher standard of living with extra money. The economy benefits from entrance fees, for example each tourist pays $50 to travel along the Inca Trail, and this money can then be spent on preserving the area. Local culture and traditions can be share and experienced by the tourists, however they can also affect it negatively with clothing and different beliefs. Locals and people that are employed are often treated badly and have low wages.
