The Puna de Atacama or Atacama Plateau''Atacama Plateau''
article at the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

'' website is an arid high

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

, in the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

of northern

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

(15%) and northwest of

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

(85%).Historia de la relacciones exteriores de la Argentina

Geomorphologist Geomorphology () is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features generated by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or near Earth's surface. Geomorphologists seek to understand why ...

Walther Penck based his ''Grossfalt''

landform A landform is a land feature on the solid surface of the Earth or other planetary body. They may be natural or may be anthropogenic (caused or influenced by human activity). Landforms together make up a given terrain, and their arrangement ...

association on Puna de Atacama.

Geography

The plateau's elevation averages above sea level, and it spans an area of . In Argentina, Puna's territory is extended in the provinces of

Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Salta Province, the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the List of cities in Argentina, 7th most-populous ...

Jujuy San Salvador de Jujuy (), commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital and largest city of Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Department. It lies near ...

, and western Catamarca. In Chile, it is included in the regions of

Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. Once claimed by Bolivia follo ...

and north-eastern Atacama. In December 2023, scientists, for the first time, reported a recently discovered area on the current planet

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

, particularly in the Puna's territory, which may be similar to ancient Earth, and the related environment of the first life forms on Earth - as well as - similar to possibly hospitable conditions on the planet

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

during earlier Martian times.

International borders

Before the

War of the Pacific The War of the Pacific (), also known by War of the Pacific#Etymology, multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Treaty of Defensive Alliance (Bolivia–Peru), Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought over Atacama Desert ...

(1879–1883), the region belonged to

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

. In 1898, it was ceded to Argentina in exchange for recognition of

Tarija Tarija or San Bernardo de la Frontera de Tarixa is a city in southern Bolivia. Founded in 1574, Tarija is the largest city and capital and municipality within the Tarija Department, with an airport ( Capitán Oriel Lea Plaza Airport, (TJA)) of ...

as part of Bolivia. Chile, which had annexed the Litoral Province from Bolivia, declared the exchange illegal. The border was defined in 1899 after the

Puna de Atacama dispute The Puna de Atacama dispute, sometimes referred to as Puna de Atacama Lawsuit ( Spanish: ''Litigio de la Puna de Atacama''), was a border dispute involving Argentina, Chile and Bolivia in the 19th century over the arid high plateau of Puna de At ...

. Of the 75,000 km² in dispute, 64,000 (85%) were awarded to Argentina and 11,000 (15%) to Chile.

References

Plateaus of the Andes Atacama Desert Plateaus of Argentina Plateaus of Chile Landforms of Argentina Landforms of Antofagasta Region Landforms of Atacama Region Landforms of Salta Province Landforms of Jujuy Province Landforms of Catamarca Province Natural regions of South America Puna de Atacama {{Atacama-geo-stub

Geography

International borders

See also

References