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Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...
, tierra fría ( Spanish for ''cold land'') are mountain locations where high
elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § ...
results in a markedly cooler
climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologi ...
than that encountered in the lowlands at a comparable
latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north ...
. The combination of low latitude and high altitude — typically between approximately 2,000 m (about 6,500 ft) and 3,500 m (about 11,500 ft)Zech, W. and Hintermaier-Erhard, G. (2002); Böden der Welt – Ein Bildatlas, Heidelberg, p. 98. in locations within 10° of the
equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can also ...
— produces a climate that falls into the same category as many
oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...
s found along the west coasts of the continents within the temperate zones — mild temperatures all year round, with monthly averages ranging from about 10°C (50°F) in the coldest months to about 18°C (64.4°F) in the warmest months (at places further poleward the range of altitudes where this climate exists becomes progressively lower). Common crops grown in the tierra fría are potatoes, wheat, barley, oats, corn, and rye. Beyond the ''tierra fría'' is a region known as the ''
suni The Suni (''Nesotragus moschatus'') is a small antelope. It occurs in dense underbrush from central Kenya to KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Suni are around high at the shoulder and weigh . They are usually reddish brown, darker on their back t ...
'', '' puna'', or ''
páramo Páramo () can refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrowe ...
s''; near the Equator this encompasses places with altitudes of between roughly 3,500 m (11,500 ft) and 4,500 m (15,000 ft), representing the
treeline The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snowp ...
and the
snow line The climatic snow line is the boundary between a snow-covered and snow-free surface. The actual snow line may adjust seasonally, and be either significantly higher in elevation, or lower. The permanent snow line is the level above which snow wil ...
respectively. Vegetation here resembles that found in the
tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mou ...
of the
polar Polar may refer to: Geography Polar may refer to: * Geographical pole, either of two fixed points on the surface of a rotating body or planet, at 90 degrees from the equator, based on the axis around which a body rotates *Polar climate, the cli ...
regions. Still higher is the '' tierra nevada'', where permanent snow and ice prevail. The Peruvian geographer Javier Pulgar Vidal ( Altitudinal zonation) used following altitudes: 2,300 m (end of the Cloud forest or '' Yunga fluvial''), 3,500 m (
Treeline The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snowp ...
) and 4,800 m ( Puna end).Pulgar Vidal, Javier: Geografía del Perú; Las Ocho Regiones Naturales del Perú. Edit. Universo S.A., Lima 1979. First Edition (his dissertation of 1940): Las ocho regiones naturales del Perú, Boletín del Museo de historia natural „Javier Prado“, n° especial, Lima, 1941, 17, pp. 145-161. Some of Latin America's largest cities are found in the tierra fria, most notably Bogotá, Colombia, altitude 2,640 m,
Mexico City, Mexico Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of Me ...
, altitude 2,240 m and Quito, Ecuador, altitude 2,850 m; all three cities are also the capitals of their respective countries.
Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...
in the region resembles that which is conducted in valley areas in the temperate zones, featuring such crops as
barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...
and
potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Uni ...
es.


See also

*
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
* Altitudinal zonation *
Tierra caliente ''Tierra caliente'' is an informal term used in Latin America to refer to places with a distinctly tropical climate. These are usually regions from sea level from 0–3,000 feet.Zech, W. and Hintermaier-Erhard, G. (2002); Böden der Welt – Ein Bi ...
* Tierra templada * Tierra helada *
Hill station A hill station is a town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plain or valley. The term was used mostly in colonial Asia (particularly in India), but also in Africa (albeit rarely), for towns founded by European colonialists as refuges ...


Literature

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tierra fria Altitudinal life zones of Peru Climate of South America Geography of Mesoamerica Spanish words and phrases Geography of South America Montane ecology