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Label this on your map!

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The Gulf of Mexico is a body of water that lies between Mexico and Florida.

It is an extension of the Atlantic Ocean.

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Gulf Of Mexico - How Big Is Gulf Of Mexico Actually?

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6 Facts you didn't know about the Gulf of Mexico

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See the Gulf of Mexico in Google Earth!

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It is located between Cuba and South America

Major trade route

• Popular tourist area

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Caribbean Sea - How Big Is The Caribbean Sea Actually?

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The Atacama Desert is in Chile at a high elevation in the Andes Mountains.

It’s known as the driest place on earth.

There is very little annual rainfall; some parts of the Atacama Desert have never had any rain.

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Deepest sea in the World “Caribbean Sea”#caribbeansea#insideatlas#facts #geography #sea #caribbean

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Find the Caribbean Sea in Google Earth!

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Pirates of the Caribbean Music & Ambience | Main Themes and Pirate Ship Ambience

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The Sierra Madre Mountains are in Mexico and contains some of the highest mountains and volcanoes in Latin America.

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Exploring Mexico's Northern Mountain Ranges

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Or if you're feeling adventurous, you can try Earth anyway by choosing an option below.

Learn more about Google Earth.

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1. Sierra Madre Occidental – runs along the western side of Mexico, parallel to the Pacific Ocean.

2. Sierra Madre Oriental – runs along the eastern side of Mexico, parallel to the Gulf of Mexico.

3. Sierra Madre del Sur – located in the southern part of Mexico, closer to the Pacific coast.

Together, these mountain ranges shape Mexico’s geography, climate, and where people live.

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It's there as soon as I emerge from El Loa Airport-a vision so colossal that I find myself taking an unconscious step backwards, as if this will somehow help me to fit the entire thing into my field of vision. Licancabur returns my stare, a peak of such conical perfection that it might almost be the model volcano-an idealized poster image to which less symmetrical fire mountains can aspire. It rears to an astonishing 19,420 feet (5,919 meters), a geographical god among mortals, the rest of the Atacama Desert praying at its broad feet.

I'm so entranced by its majesty that, for two minutes, that crucial word "desert" loses its meaning. But for a vague rumor of snow around the volcano's pursed summit mouth, I would swear my position was somewhere stormily tropical-some verdant mid-Pacific island or other such enclave where magma-born krakens typically rise from the ground. And yet, all around me, orange dust is swirling, cloaking my boots, sticking to my face-the first reminder that this is not a place of shirt-soaking humidity or deep jungle foliage. This is a realm of sand and rock, baked by the arrogant forcefulness of an unfettered sun.

The Atacama Desert is a conflicted prospect-unflinchingly flat in parts, yet fringed by the last, westernmost outriders of the Andes; a 49,000-square-mile (78,850 square kilometer) pocket that sits at an elevation of 7,900 feet (2,408 meters) yet manages to be one of the most persistently dry corners of the planet (receiving only 15 millimeters of rainfall a year), an inhospitable context for human life that's sustained busy settlements for millennia-barren and yet beautiful.

You could argue that it's Chile at its most alluring. True, in a country that supports the grassy expanses of Patagonia and the glaciers and forests of Torres del Paine National Park, that's quite a statement. Not least because, with a slight redrawing of Latin borders, the Atacama would not be Chilean at all. Wedged as it is into a 600-mile strip in the extreme north of the state, its salt plains and boulders push firmly against the borders of Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru. Yet this merely supplies it with a remoteness that adds to its charm. The Atacama Desert is Chile at its most serrated; Chile without a safety net.

Or, at least, that's the theory. When I arrive at the Alto Atacama Desert Lodge & Spa, I could barely feel more comfortable. Tucked into a gulch just outside the local "capital," San Pedro de Atacama, this luxury hideaway might feasibly be missed by the unobservant passerby; its adobe-walled suites all but camouflaged by the sandstone ridges framing them. Within, there's a little spa, a gourmet house restaurant, and a cluster of swimming pools gasping in the morning heat (maybe as much water as can be seen in any one spot in this arid zone).

Over three days, I use the Alto Atacama as a base for forays into the wilderness. The hotel's daily guided tours sneak guests out through the piercing rays to sample the starkness of their surroundings in small doses. And it soon becomes obvious that, while at first glance only volcanic titans would seem to be at home here, the Atacama Desert has witnessed the ascent and retreat of a long parade of communities-flinty souls carving out a living amid the unforgiving stones. On a low bluff immediately above the hotel, a tumbledown fortress recalls the Licanantay people who constructed it in the 12th century-and the marauding Incas who took it from them in the 15th. These warriors, too, were swept away, by the Spanish conquistadors who barrelled into the region in the 1540s, changing the language of a continent and leaving a mark that's still visible in San Pedro de Atacama, where compact plazas and squat whitewashed churches still talk of Madrid.

The tale goes back further, to the dim recesses of the eighth century B.C., when the mud-brick village of Tulor (the oldest archaeological site in Chile) stumbled into being under this fierce sky. And to the relatively recent past of A.D. 200, when Calima tribesmen painted their existence onto the clay of a narrow gully-a chorus line of shepherds and sheep, each scratchy line singing through the centuries of stubborn survival in this harsh environment.

It is, though, precisely this harsh environment that speaks most loudly of the Atacama Desert's magnificence. Another excursion takes me into the Valle del Arcoiris-"Rainbow Valley" revealing its colors in cobalt, gypsum, and lamprophyre, illuminating the flanks of a forgotten river course in a blend of green, blue, pink, and yellow, as if some geological graffiti artist has been in residence. Valle de la Luna proves aptly named-very much a "Moon Valley" in its extraterrestrial appearance, all cracked earth and unfriendly terrain, pillars of salt torturing the thirsty soil. Valle de la Muerte is also appropriately christened-"Death Valley" issuing a palpable threat to onlookers in its waterless chasms and ravines.

It's easy, in such a setting, to peer downwards, at the dirt and desolation below your feet. It's only as the day ends I remember to look up. For all its sharp teeth, the Atacama Desert bathes in a soft glow every evening, revelling in its status as one of the globe's stargazing hotspots. Everything that makes midday so ferocious-the desiccated air, the lack of cloud cover, the lung-tugging altitude-allies itself to a near-complete absence of light pollution to produce gloriously clear night skies. In fact, so perfect are conditions that the European Southern Observatory operates two bases here: La Silla Observatory and Paranal Observatory, windows on worlds beyond worlds.

Astronomical interest isn't, however, limited to the professionals. The Alto Atacama features its own high-powered telescope, concealed a short walk from the accommodation complex so as to shut out even this meager possibility of luminous interruption. After dinner I find myself padding through the dusk to its hidden platform, where six lounge chairs are arranged around the device's metal torso. I'm not alone-five other guests are also here, each as eager as me to scan the heavens. Nor do I feel alone when my turn comes. The sky, through the lens, is twitching with dots and dabs of white, incomprehensible in its enormity. As I crane my neck, I become aware of something on the periphery of my eyeline. There it is again: Licancabur, black against the constellations-a silent guardian of ageless authority.

Four Ways To Take This Trip

Journey Latin America offers group tours, self-driven excursions, and private trips to Chile. The itineraries cover the length of the country and provide a mix of adventure and cultural experiences.

High Lives Travel runs trips for visitors to the Atacama Desert, through Chile's wine country, and up into the Andes. The group also curates trips specifically focused on wellness.

The Hotel Alto Atacama Desert Lodge & Spa functions as the perfect home base from which travelers can explore the Atacama. Settled amidst the desert's red hills, the hotel offers comfortable rooms and plenty of excursions.

Located in the Atacama Desert, Tierra Atacama Hotel and Spa, a National Geographic Unique Lodge, is a stunning figment of glass and adobe that blends with its natural surroundings and features guest rooms with mountain and volcano views.

Four Chilean Stargazing Spots

The European Southern Observatory, which operates La Silla Observatory and Paranal Observatory, offers visitors a chance to see the stars in the Atacama Desert.

The Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, located near Vicuña, 300 miles north of Santiago, offers free two-hour tours on Saturdays, which must be organized in advance.

Also near Vicuña, Mamalluca Observatory is open for two-hour tours enabling guests to search the skies for glimpses of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn.

A neighbor of Mamalluca, the Pangue Observatory runs two-hour tours, along with a variety of stargazing programs for visitors.

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It's there as soon as I emerge from El Loa Airport-a vision so colossal that I find myself taking an unconscious step backwards, as if this will somehow help me to fit the entire thing into my field of vision.

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The Panama Canal is a man-made waterway in Central America that connects the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, making trade and travel much faster.

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The Panama Canal is a man-made feature  that is a major “shortcut” that allows ships to travel between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

The Panama Canal is nearly 50 miles long.

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The Panama Canal is important because it provides a shortcut for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, saving thousands of miles of travel around South America. This makes global trade faster, cheaper, and more efficient.

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The Panama Canal is an 82-kilometer-long artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, acting as a vital global shipping route. Using a system of locks, ships are raised to and lowered from the level of Gatun Lake, which sits on a mountain range at the canal's center.

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The Andes Mountains run 4,500 miles along the west coast of South America and are the longest continuous mountain range in the world.

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Table of Contents

Where are the Andes Mountains located?

How did the Andes Mountains get their name?

How did the Andes Mountains form?

What is the highest point in the Andes Mountains?

What is the highest altitude people reside at in the Andes Mountains?

Andes Mountains, also called the Andes, Spanish Cordillera de los Andes or Los Andes, mountain system of South America and one of the great natural features on Earth.

The Andes consist of a vast series of extremely high plateaus surmounted by even higher peaks that form an unbroken rampart over a distance of some 5,500 miles (8,900 kilometres)-from the southern tip of South America to the continent's northernmost coast on the Caribbean. They separate a narrow western coastal area from the rest of the continent, affecting deeply the conditions of life within the ranges themselves and in surrounding areas. The Andes contain the highest peaks in the Western Hemisphere. The highest of them is Mount Aconcagua (22,831 feet [6,959 metres]) on the border of Argentina and Chile ( see Researcher's Note: Height of Mount Aconcagua).

The Andes are not a single line of formidable peaks but rather a succession of parallel and transverse mountain ranges, or cordilleras, and of intervening plateaus and depressions. Distinct eastern and western ranges-respectively named the Cordillera Oriental and the Cordillera Occidental-are characteristic of most of the system. The directional trend of both the cordilleras generally is north-south, but in several places the Cordillera Oriental bulges eastward to form either isolated peninsula-like ranges or such high intermontane plateau regions as the Altiplano (Spanish: "High Plateau"), occupying adjoining parts of Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, and Peru.

Some historians believe the name Andes comes from the Quechuan word anti ("east"); others suggest it is derived from the Quechuan anta ("copper"). It perhaps is more reasonable to ascribe it to the anta of the older Aymara language, which connotes copper colour generally.

Physical features

There is no universal agreement about the major north-south subdivisions of the Andes system. For the purposes of this discussion, the system is divided into three broad categories. From south to north these are the Southern Andes, consisting of the Chilean, Fuegian, and Patagonian cordilleras; the Central Andes, including the Peruvian cordilleras; and the Northern Andes, encompassing the Ecuadorian, Colombian, and Venezuelan (or Caribbean) cordilleras.

Geology

The Andean mountain system is the result of global plate-tectonic forces during the Cenozoic Era (roughly the past 65 million years) that built upon earlier geologic activity. About 250 million years ago the crustal plates constituting the Earth's landmass were joined together into the supercontinent Pangaea. The subsequent breakup of Pangaea and of its southern portion, Gondwana, dispersed these plates outward, where they began to take the form and position of the present-day continents. The collision (or convergence) of two of these plates-the continental South American Plate and the oceanic Nazca Plate -gave rise to the orogenic (mountain-building) activity that produced the Andes.

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Many of the rocks comprising the present-day cordilleras are of great age. They began as sediments eroded from the Amazonia craton (or Brazilian shield)-the ancient granitic continental fragment that constitutes much of Brazil-and deposited between about 450 and 250 million years ago on the craton's western flank. The weight of these deposits forced a subsidence (downwarping) of the crust, and the resulting pressure and heat metamorphosed the deposits into more resistant rocks; thus, sandstone, siltstone, and limestone were transformed, respectively, into quartzite, shale, and marble.

Approximately 170 million years ago this complex geologic matrix began to be uplifted as the eastern edge of the Nazca Plate was forced under the western edge of the South American Plate (i.e., the Nazca Plate was subducted), the result of the latter plate's westward movement in response to the opening of the Atlantic Ocean to the east. This subduction-uplift process was accompanied by the intrusion of considerable quantities of magma from the mantle, first in the form of a volcanic arc along the western edge of the South American Plate and later by the injection of hot solutions into surrounding continental rocks; the latter process created numerous dikes and veins containing concentrations of economically valuable minerals that later were to play a critical role in the human occupation of the Andes.

The intensity of this activity increased during the Cenozoic Era, and the present shape of the cordilleras emerged. The accepted time period for their rise had been from about 15 million to 6 million years ago. However, through the use of more advanced techniques, researchers in the early 21st century were able to determine that the uplift started much earlier, about 25 million years ago. The resultant mountain system exhibits an extraordinary vertical differential of more than 40,000 feet between the bottom of the Peru-Chile (Atacama) Trench off the Pacific coast of the continent and the peaks of the high mountains within a horizontal distance of less than 200 miles. The tectonic processes that created the Andes have continued to the present day. The system-part of the larger circum-Pacific volcanic chain that often is called the Ring of Fire-remains volcanically active and is subject to devastating earthquakes.

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Andes Mountains | Definition, Map, Plate Boundary, & Location

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Andes Mountains, also called the Andes, Spanish Cordillera de los Andes or Los Andes, mountain system of South America and one of the great natural features on Earth. The Andes consist of a vast series of extremely high plateaus surmounted by even higher peaks that form an unbroken rampart over a distance of some 5,500 miles (8,900 kilometres)-from the southern tip of South America to the continent's northernmost coast on the Caribbean.

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Latin America is a large land that includes most of the countries in the three regions of Mexico, Central America, and South America.

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The physical features in Mexico and Central America are:

Gulf of Mexico

Sierra Madre Mountains

Panama Canal

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The physical features in the Caribbean Islands are:

the Caribbean Sea

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The physical features in South America are:

Andes Mountains

Atacama Desert

Amazon Rainforest

Amazon River

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South America: Physical Features - Map Quiz Game - Seterra

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The South American continent is dominated by Brazil, which in turn is dominated by the massive Amazon rainforest that takes up most of its area. There are, however, many other physical features and different types of environments in the 13 countries that make up the continent. Southern Chile and Argentina, for example, have a temperate climate similar to much of Europe or North America, and there is also a desert and the towering Andes mountain range.

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The Engineering Marvel of the Panama Canal

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Why is the Atacama Desert so Unique? #GeographyFacts #AtacamaDesert #UniqueGeography

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The Driest Place on Earth – Atacama Desert!

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The Pacific Ocean is the world’s largest ocean.

It borders Latin America’s west coast.

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The Longest Mountain Range in the World!

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The Longest Mountain Range in the World!

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The Amazon rainforest is the world's largest and most biodiverse tropical rainforest, located in South America and spanning nine countries, primarily Brazil.

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The Amazon Rainforest spreads across much of northern South America and covers 1/3rd of the continent.

It is the largest tropical rainforest in the world.

Is home to over 40,000 plants, 1,000 different species of birds, and 2.5 million different kinds of insects.

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Learn how rainforests are important to our biodiverse environments!

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Famous Rainforests

There are rainforests in Africa, Asia, Australia, and Central and South America. The biggest rainforest is the Amazon rainforest. It's about the size of the contiguous United States, which doesn't include Alaska or Hawaii. More than half of it is in Brazil, but parts are in several other South American countries, including Ecuador and Bolivia. The next biggest rainforest is the Congo in Africa. Parts of the Congo can be found in several other countries too, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon.

Most rainforests are found along or near the Equator, where it tends to be hot. But some rainforests grow in temperate regions where it's cooler. Hoh Rainforest in Olympic National Park on the Pacific northwest coast of North America is an example of a temperate rainforest. Like tropical rainforests, temperate rainforests get lots of, well, rain.

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Think About Nature    10M views   2 week ago 

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10 MOST DANGEROUS ANIMALS OF AMAZON RAINFORESTS!

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The Amazon River stretches 4,000 miles (primarily across Brazil) to the Atlantic Ocean.

It is the second-longest river in the world and carries the greatest volume of water of any river in the world.

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Explore the world of data with Atlas. Discover the most interesting spatial data and maps from around the world.

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Amazon Rainforest - History of Amazon Forest - Amazon Jungle is Called Lungs of the Earth

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Amazon River Expedition For Kids | Immerse In Wildlife, Culture, And Beyond

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Label this on your map!

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The Atlantic Ocean is the world’s second-largest ocean.

It borders South America’s east coast.

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Latin America Physical Features | Blooket

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View a Blooket question set to see the questions and their answers. Also, you can host, favorite, report, or duplicate a set here.