  thumb|right|300px|location of the altiplano in south america   the altiplano (spanish for "high plain"), andean plateau or bolivian plateau, in west-central south america, where the andes are at their widest, is the most extensive area of high plateau on earth outside of tibet. the bulk of the altiplano lies within bolivian and peruvian territory while its southern parts lie in chile and argentina. the altiplano plateau hosts several cities like puno, oruro, potosÃ­, cuzco and la paz, the administrative seat of bolivia. northeastern altiplano is more humid than the southwestern, the latter of which hosts several salares, or salt flats, due to its aridity. at the bolivia-peru border lies lake titicaca, the largest lake in south america. the altiplano was the site of several pre-columbine cultures including the tiawanaku and the inca empire. spain conquered the region in the 16th century. major economic activities in the altiplano include mining, llama and vicuÃ±a herding, and services in the cities. == location == the altiplano is an area of inland drainage (endorheism) lying in the central andes, occupying parts of northern chile and argentina, western bolivia and southern peru. its height averages about 3,750 meters (12,300 feet),the use of solar energy for improving the living conditions in altiplano/argentina slightly less than that of the tibetan plateau. unlike conditions in tibet, the altiplano is dominated by massive active volcanoes of the central volcanic zone to the west, such as ampato (6288 m), tutupaka (5,816 m), parinacota (6348 m), guallatiri (6071 m), paruma (5,728 m), uturunku (6,008 m) and licancabur (5,916 m), and the cordillera real in the north east with illampu (6,368 m), huayna potosi (6,088 m), janq'u uma (6,427 m) and illimani (6,438 m).andes map the atacama desert, one of the driest areas on the planet, lies to the southwest of the altiplano; to the east lies the humid amazon rainforest. the altiplano is noted for hypoxic air caused by very high elevation. == history == at various times during the pleistocene epoch, both the southern and northern altiplano were covered by vast pluvial lakes. remnants are lake titicaca, straddling the peruâbolivia border, and poopÃ³, a salt lake that extends south of oruro, bolivia. [[salar de uyuni
Endorheic_basins Landforms_of_Argentina Landforms_of_Peru Montane_ecology Natural_regions Physiographic_sections Plateaus_of_South_America Regions_of_South_America