Even though the area has rather extreme climate conditions, some areas can have 35°C (63°F) difference between day and night temperatures, 70% of Bolivian population lives in this zone. The legislative capital of the country, La Paz lies here, so does the old mining town of Potosi and other mining town of Oruro, now know for its carnival. Altiplano was the birthplace of the bygone cultures of Tiwanaku and Inca. It is also the place where you will find one of the largest salt flats in the world; Salar de Uyuni, surrounded by volcanos and fantastic rocks formations, and of course you will find here the famous Lake Titicaca.
The Altiplano is used extensively for agriculture, however for its harsh climate and luck of irrigation it is used usually only in summer months where it is irrigated by rainfall. Crops such as potatoes, quinua, broad beans and wheat are the main agricultural products.
The Valleys
The Bolivian valley stretches from north to south between the East Cordillera and the last foothills which divide it form eastern plains and lowlands. This zone has roughly three distinct climatic zones; northern – where the Andes fall down to Amazonian lowlands; southern where the Andes fall down to dry plain called Grand Chaco, and entreandean where there are valleys among the numerous Andean ridgelines. The whole region is distinguished by very rugged geography. Especially in the north, in the region of La Paz, where there is more humidity, and where in a passage of only several kilometres there are extreme differences in altitude. In the altitudes of 2000 m, start so called cloud forests, which are fed by the humidity brought to the slopes of Andes form the Amazon jungles. The humid warm air is a perfect environment for moss, orchids and ferns. As the altitude rises, the thickness of the soil layer decreases. With worsening conditions for growth the plant life is scarcer and dwarfed, eventually in the altitude of around 3500 m, dwarfed trees and bushes with boulders covered with lichen form a kind of miniature type of landscape. In lower altitudes there are plantations of coca, coffee, bananas and citrus trees.
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