''Tierra caliente'' is an informal term used in Latin America to refer to places with a distinctly
tropical climate
Tropical climate is the first of the five major climate groups in the Köppen climate classification identified with the letter A. Tropical climates are defined by a monthly average temperature of or higher in the coolest month, featuring hot te ...
. These are usually regions from 0 to 3,000 feet above sea level.
[Zech, W. and Hintermaier-Erhard, G. (2002); Böden der Welt – Ein Bildatlas, Heidelberg, p. 98.]
The Peruvian geographer Javier Pulgar Vidal used the altitude of 1,000 m as the border between the tropical rain forest and the subtropical cloud forest (''
Yunga fluvial'').
[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.]
Most tierra caliente regions are along coastal plains, but some interior basin regions also fit the label.
Agriculture
Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...
in those areas is dominated by tropical crops, such as
banana
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...
s and
sugar cane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...
.
See also
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Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
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Altitudinal zonation
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Tierra Caliente (Mexico), a low-elevation area in southwestern Mexico
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Tierra templada, ecoregion border: 2,500 ft or 1,000 m (Javier Pulgar Vidal)
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Tierra fría, ecoregion border, 6,000 ft or 2,300 m (Javier Pulgar Vidal)
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Tierra helada, ecoregion border, treeline: 12,000 ft or 3,500 m (Javier Pulgar Vidal)
Literature
Altitudinal life zones of Peru
Climate of South America
Geography of Mesoamerica
Spanish words and phrases
Geography of South America
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