The 'Cordillera Blanca' (
Spanish for "White Range") is a
mountain range in
Peru. It is part of the larger
Andes range and includes 50 peaks over 5500 m (18,040 feet) tall in an area 13 miles wide and 112 miles long.
The highest mountain in Peru,
Huascarán (6768 m), is located here.
Huascarán National Park, established in 1975, encompasses almost the entire range of the Cordillera Blanca.
In 1966, the
Alpamayo mountain was declared "the most beautiful mountain in the world" by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (
UNESCO).
Snow melt from the Cordillera Blanca has provided Peru with its year-round water supplies, while 80% of Peru's power comes from
hydroelectricity. With
global warming, the area of permanent ice pack shrank by about a third between the 1970s and 2006
[1]
Notes
1. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6412351.stm (BBC News), James Paint, "Peru's alarming water truth" 12 March 2007.
List of peaks
★
Huascarán South (6768 m)
★
Huascarán North (6655 m)
★
Huandoy Center (6395 m)
★
Chopicalqui (6354 m)
★
Hualcan (6122 m)
★
Chacraraju (6112m)
★
Pucahirca (6046m)
★
Alpamayo (5947m)
★
Nevado Pisco (5752m)
External links
★
Map of Cordillera Blanca
★
Map of Cordillera Huayhuash