Editing Andes (section)

===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.