Bolivia: Physical Geography

Bolivia sits in the center of South America and, along with Paraguay, is one of only two landlocked countries on the continent. Its terrain divides into three broad zones: the Andean highlands in the west, a belt of sub-Andean valleys, and extensive lowland plains in the east, which together cover more than half of national territory.

The Andean zone contains two parallel ranges: the Cordillera Occidental, a chain of dormant volcanoes anchored by Nevado Sajama at 6,542 meters, the country's highest point, and the Cordillera Oriental, home to the glaciated peaks of Illimani and Illampu, each about 6,424 meters. Between the two ranges lies the Altiplano, a high plateau that holds Lake Titicaca, shared with Peru and often described as the world's highest navigable lake, at an elevation of roughly 3,811 meters. Titicaca drains south through the Desaguadero River into the shallower Lake Poopo. On the eastern Andean slopes, the warm, forested Yungas valleys descend toward the lowlands, and farther south the eastern slopes of the Cordillera Central shelter the valleys and basins around Sucre and Cochabamba.

East of the Andes, Bolivia's lowlands are drained by two major river systems: tributaries of the Amazon, including the Mamore and Beni rivers, in the north and center, and the Paraguay, Pilcomayo, and Bermejo rivers, part of the Rio de la Plata basin, in the southeast. The Gran Chaco occupies the dry lowlands near the Paraguayan border, while the forested Serranias Chiquitanas rise in the eastern lowlands. In the southwestern highlands, the Salar de Uyuni, the world's largest salt flat at more than 9,000 square kilometers, forms a stark white expanse left behind by a long since evaporated prehistoric lake.