Editing Andes (section)

==Human activity==
{{See also|Cultural periods of Peru|Inca Empire|Viceroyalty of Peru}}
{{more citations needed section|date=January 2011}}

The Andes Mountains form a north–south axis of cultural influences. A long series of cultural development culminated in the expansion of the [[Inca civilization]] and [[Inca Empire]] in the central Andes during the 15th century. The Incas formed this civilization through [[imperialism|imperialistic]] [[militarism]] as well as careful and meticulous governmental management.<ref>D'Altroy, Terence N. The Incas. Blackwell Publishing, 2003</ref> The government sponsored the construction of [[Aqueduct (watercourse)|aqueducts]] and [[roads]] in addition to pre-existing installations. Some of these constructions still exist today.
[[File:Church_Heart_of_the_Andes.jpg|thumb|[[Frederic Edwin Church]], ''Heart of the Andes,'' 1859.]]
Devastated by European diseases and by [[Inca Civil War|civil war]], the Incas were defeated in 1532 by an alliance composed of tens of thousands of allies from nations they had subjugated (e.g. [[Huanca people|Huancas]], [[Chachapoyas culture|Chachapoyas]], [[Cañari]]s) and a small army of 180 Spaniards led by [[Francisco Pizarro]]. One of the few Inca sites the Spanish never found in their conquest was [[Machu Picchu]], which lay hidden on a peak on the eastern edge of the Andes where they descend to the Amazon. The main surviving languages of the Andean peoples are those of the [[Quechua languages|Quechua]] and [[Aymara language]] families. [[Woodbine Parish]] and [[Joseph Barclay Pentland]] surveyed a large part of the Bolivian Andes from 1826 to 1827.

===Cities===
In modern times, the largest cities in the Andes are [[Bogotá]], with a metropolitan population of over ten million, and [[Santiago]], [[Medellín]], [[Cali]], and [[Quito]]. [[Lima]] is a coastal city adjacent to the Andes and is the largest city of all Andean countries. It is the seat of the [[Andean Community of Nations]].

[[La Paz]], Bolivia's seat of government, is the highest capital city in the world, at an elevation of approximately {{convert|3650|m|0|abbr=on}}. Parts of the La Paz conurbation, including the city of [[El Alto]], extend up to {{convert|4200|m|0|abbr=on}}.

Other cities in or near the Andes include [[Bariloche]], [[San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca|Catamarca]], [[San Salvador de Jujuy|Jujuy]], [[Mendoza, Argentina|Mendoza]], [[Salta, Argentina|Salta]], [[San Juan, Argentina|San Juan]], [[San Miguel de Tucumán|Tucumán]], and [[Ushuaia]] in Argentina; [[Calama, Chile|Calama]] and [[Rancagua]] in Chile; [[Cochabamba]], [[Oruro, Bolivia|Oruro]], [[Potosí]], [[Sucre]], [[Tarija]], and [[Yacuiba]] in Bolivia; [[Arequipa]], [[Cajamarca]], [[Cusco]], [[Huancayo]], [[Huánuco]], [[Huaraz]], [[Juliaca]], and [[Puno]] in Peru; [[Ambato, Ecuador|Ambato]], [[Cuenca, Ecuador|Cuenca]], [[Ibarra, Ecuador|Ibarra]], [[Latacunga]], [[Loja, Ecuador|Loja]], [[Riobamba]], and [[Tulcán]] in Ecuador; [[Armenia, Colombia|Armenia]], [[Cúcuta]], [[Bucaramanga]], [[Duitama]], [[Ibagué]], [[Ipiales]], [[Manizales]], [[Palmira, Valle del Cauca|Palmira]], [[Pasto, Colombia|Pasto]], [[Pereira, Colombia|Pereira]], [[Popayán]], [[Rionegro]], [[Sogamoso]], [[Tunja]], and [[Villavicencio]] in Colombia; and [[Barquisimeto]], [[La Grita]], [[Mérida, Mérida|Mérida]], [[San Cristóbal, Táchira|San Cristóbal]], Tovar, [[Trujillo, Trujillo|Trujillo]], and [[Valera]] in Venezuela. The cities of [[Caracas]], [[Valencia, Carabobo|Valencia]], and [[Maracay]] are in the [[Venezuelan Coastal Range]], which is a debatable extension of the Andes at the northern extremity of South America.

{{Gallery
| height       = 160
| width        = 200
|File:La Paz Skyline.jpg|[[La Paz]], Bolivia is the highest capital city in the world
|File:Santiago depois da chuva (11).JPG|[[Santiago de Chile]]
|File:Cerros orientales Bogota.jpg|[[Bogotá]]
|File:FACHADA ASAMBLEA NACIONAL. QUITO, 20 DE FEBRERO 2020. 01.jpg|[[Quito]]
|File:Mérida3.jpg|View of  [[Mérida, Mérida|Mérida, Venezuela]]
}}

===Transportation===

Cities and large towns are connected with [[Asphalt concrete|asphalt]]-paved roads, while smaller towns are often connected by dirt roads, which may require a [[four-wheel-drive]] vehicle.<ref name="andesmap">{{Cite web |url=http://andes.zoom-maps.com/ |title=Andes travel map |access-date=20 June 2010 |archive-date=24 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100924154519/http://andes.zoom-maps.com/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The rough terrain has historically put the costs of building [[highway]]s and [[railroad]]s that cross the Andes out of reach of most neighboring countries, even with modern [[civil engineering]] practices. For example, the main crossover of the Andes between Argentina and Chile is still accomplished through the [[Paso Internacional Los Libertadores]]. Only recently{{When|date=June 2024}} have the ends of some highways that came rather close to one another from the east and the west been connected.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1159492-jujuy-apuesta-a-captar-las-cargas-de-brasil-en-transito-hacia-chile |title=''Jujuy apuesta a captar las cargas de Brasil en tránsito hacia Chile'' by Emiliano Galli |newspaper=La Nación |publisher=La Nación newspaper |access-date=22 July 2011 |date=7 August 2009}}</ref> Much of the transportation of passengers is done via aircraft.

There is one railroad that connects Chile with Peru via the Andes, however, and there are others that make the same connection via southern Bolivia.

There are multiple highways in Bolivia that cross the Andes. Some of these were built during a [[Chaco War|period of war]] between Bolivia and [[Paraguay]], in order to transport Bolivian troops and their supplies to the war front in the lowlands of southeastern Bolivia and western Paraguay.

For decades, Chile claimed ownership of land on the eastern side of the Andes. These claims were given up in about 1870 during the [[War of the Pacific]] between Chile and the allied Bolivia and Peru, in a diplomatic deal to keep Peru out of the war. The [[Chilean Army]] and [[Chilean Navy]] defeated the combined forces of Bolivia and Peru, and Chile took over Bolivia's only province on the Pacific Coast, some land from Peru that was returned to Peru decades later. Bolivia has been completely [[landlocked]] ever since. It mostly uses [[seaport]]s in eastern Argentina and [[Uruguay]] for international trade because its diplomatic relations with Chile have been suspended since 1978.

Because of the tortuous terrain in places, villages and towns in the mountains—to which travel via [[motorized vehicle]]s is of little use—are still located in the high Andes of Chile, Bolivia, Peru, and [[Ecuador]]. Locally, the relatives of the [[camel]], the [[llama]], and the [[alpaca]] continue to carry out important uses as pack animals, but this use has generally diminished in modern times. [[Donkey]]s, [[mule]]s, and horses are also useful.

===Agriculture===
[[File:Peruvianterracefarmers.jpg|thumb|Peruvian farmers sowing maize and beans]]
{{See also|Andean agriculture|Incan agriculture|Vertical archipelago}}

The ancient peoples of the Andes such as the Incas have practiced [[irrigation]] techniques for over 6,000 years. Because of the mountain slopes, [[Andén|terracing]] has been a common practice. Terracing, however, was only extensively employed after Incan imperial expansions to fuel their expanding realm. The [[potato]] holds a very important role as an internally consumed staple crop. [[Maize]] was also an important crop for these people, and was used for the production of [[chicha]], important to Andean native people. Currently,{{When|date=June 2024}} [[tobacco]], [[cotton]], and [[coffee]] are the main export crops. [[Coca]], despite eradication programs in some countries, remains an important crop for legal local use in a mildly stimulating [[herbal tea]], and illegally for the production of [[cocaine]].

===Irrigation===
[[File:Women irrigators in the Andes.jpg|thumb|Irrigating land in the Peruvian Andes]]

In unirrigated land, [[pasture]] is the most common type of land use. In the rainy season (summer), part of the rangeland is used for cropping (mainly potatoes, barley, broad beans, and wheat).

Irrigation is helpful in advancing the sowing data of the summer crops, which guarantees an early yield in periods of food shortage. Also, by early sowing, maize can be cultivated higher up in the mountains (up to {{cvt|3800|m|||}}). In addition, it makes cropping in the dry season (winter) possible and allows the cultivation of frost-resistant vegetable crops like [[onion]] and [[carrot]].<ref>W. van Immerzeel, 1989. ''Irrigation and erosion/flood control at high altitudes in the Andes.'' Published in Annual Report 1989, pp. 8–24, International Institute for Land Reclamation and Improvement, Wageningen, The Netherlands. On line: [https://www.waterlog.info/pdf/andes.pdf]</ref>

===Mining===
[[File:Huasos Maulinos - Rugendas.jpg|thumb|left|Chilean [[huaso]]s, 19th century]]
The Andes rose to fame for their mineral wealth during the [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Spanish conquest of South America]]. Although Andean Amerindian peoples crafted ceremonial jewelry of gold and other metals, the [[Mineralization (geology)|mineralizations]] of the Andes were first mined on a large scale after the Spanish arrival. [[Potosí]] in present-day [[Bolivia]] and [[Cerro de Pasco]] in Peru were among the principal mines of the Spanish Empire in the New World. [[Río de la Plata]] and [[Argentina]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.argentine-embassy-uk.org/docs_eng/links/links_information_argentina.shtml |title=Information on Argentina |website=Argentine Embassy London}}</ref> derive their names from the silver of Potosí.

Currently, mining in the Andes of [[Chile]] and [[Peru]] places these countries as the first and second major producers of [[copper]] in the world. [[Peru]] also contains the 4th-largest goldmine in the world: the [[Yanacocha]]. The Bolivian Andes principally produce [[tin]], although historically silver mining had a huge impact on the [[Price revolution|economy]] of 17th-century Europe.{{fact|date=May 2025}} In Chile in the higher portions of the Andes there are only mining districs dominated by large-scale mining, while medium and small-scale mining is more common at lower altitudes.<ref>{{Cite report |title=Distritos productivos para el desarrollo de la minería chilena |url=https://www.sonami.cl/v2/publicaciones/distritos-productivos-desarrollo-mineria-chilena/ |trans-title=Productive districts for the development of mining in Chile|language=es |year=2025 |publisher=[[Sociedad Nacional de Minería|Centro de Estudios y Documentación Mineros de SONAMI]].}}</ref>

There is a long history of mining in the Andes, from the Spanish [[silver]] [[Mining|mines]] in [[Potosí]] in the 16th century to the vast current [[porphyry copper deposit]]s of [[Chuquicamata]] and [[Escondida]] in Chile and [[Toquepala mine|Toquepala]] in Peru. Other metals, including iron, gold, and tin, in addition to non-metallic resources are important. The Andes have a vast supply of lithium; Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile have the three largest reserves in the world respectively.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lithium: What Role Does Tesla Play In The Demand For This Precious Metal? - Commodity.com |url=https://commodity.com/precious-metals/lithium/ |access-date=2023-03-09 |website=commodity.com |language=en-US}}</ref>