Cordillera

For the department of Paraguay, see Cordillera Department.

A cordillera is an extensive chain of mountains or mountain ranges, that runs along a coastline (e.g. the Andes). It comes from the Spanish word cordilla, which is a diminutive of cuerda, or "cord". This term may be encountered in various scientific fields, but it has historically been used particularly in the field of physical geography.^[1]

Notable cordilleras

• Arctic Cordillera, the mountain ranges along northeastern edge of the Arctic Archipelago and the northeasternmost part of the Ungava Peninsula in Labrador and Quebec, Canada
• American Cordillera, the mountain ranges forming the western backbone of North America and South America
• Annamese Cordillera (Annamite Range), Laos and eastern Vietnam
• Baetic Cordillera, Spain
• Central Cordillera (New Guinea Highlands)
• Cordillera Cantábrica, Asturias and Cantabria (including the Picos de Europa)
• Cordillera Central, several mountain ranges
• Cordillera Occidental, Andes, Colombia and Ecuador
• Cordillera Occidental, Peru
• Cordillera Oriental, several mountain ranges
• Pacific Cordillera, an alternate name for the Western Cordillera in North America, usually used in Canada. This term is sometimes also mis-used for the Pacific Coast Ranges.
• Mexican Cordillera, consisting of the Juarez Segment, the Huayacocotla Segment, the Victoria Segment, and the Nuevoleones Cordillera
• Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), encompassing the Cordillera Central mountains of the Philippines
• Cordillera de los Andes, South America
• Cordillera de la Costa (Chilean Coast Range)
• Cordillera de la Costa (Venezuelan Coastal Range)
• Cordillera de Mérida, Venezuela
• Gran Cordillera Region (Northern Philippines)
• East Australian Cordillera
• Southern Pacific Cordillera, Mindanao, Philippines

Other uses

• Cordillera (1964 film), a 1964 Filipino film.
• Cordillera Department, a district of Paraguay.
• Cordillera Province (Bolivia), of the Santa Cruz department in Bolivia.
• Cordillera, Colorado, an unincorporated community in the United States.
• Cordillera, a fictional South American country in the novel High Citadel by Desmond Bagley.

Footnotes

1. ^ The Encyclopedia Americana: a library of universal knowledge, page 687 (Encyclopedia Americana Corp., 1918): "It is used particularly in physical geography, although in geology also it is sometimes applied...."