Water from the high plateau does not flow to the Atlantic or the Pacific. Instead, it collects in Lake Titicaca, and then flows into Lake Poopo. The level of this lake has fallen below its outlet. Now water can escape only through evaporation, or, when the water is high, it overflows into a swamp. The name Andes is believed to have come from anti, the Quechuan word for copper.
Much copper is found in the mountains.
The Andes also contain gold, silver, tin, lead, iron, platinum, and quicksilver. Many kinds of wild animals live in the mountains, including squirrellike chinchillas, condors, deer called huemul, and members of the camel family called vicuna. Llamas and alpacas, which were tamed in prehistoric times, graze in the Central Andes in the high grasslands called puna or paramos. Below the grasslands, farmers have removed many forests. They have created large terraces and irrigation systems, and they grow such crops as potatoes, corn, and coffee.