Bolivia

Four times the size of the state of Colorado, one of South America's most isolated and untraveled countries is a magnificent land of snow-capped peaks, high desert plateaus, fertile valleys, lush cloud forests, dense jungle and arid plains. With an equally diverse population, more than half of Bolivia's 9.7 million citizens are indigenous and speak either Aymara or Quechua.

Most of Bolivia's population resides in the Altiplano. The region is bordered to the west by Nevado Sajama (21,390'), Bolivia's highest mountain, and to the east by the towering, ice-clad Cordillera Real and was once covered by water. The Uyuni and Coipasa salt flats in the south are remnants of an immense, prehistoric inland sea called Lago Tauca. Titicaca, the world's highest navigable lake at 12,505' and birthplace of both the Tiahuanaco and Inca civilizations, remains. It was the center of Andean culture 2,000 years ago and its shores harbor communities whose customs are unchanged as well as the impressive Tiahuanaco ruins.

The subtropical Yungas valleys form the transition from the mountains to the rainforest. Here the Andes plunge into densely forested gorges at the headwaters of the Amazon Basin. It is a dramatic, beautiful realm of tropical vegetation where ancient cultures built some of the most impressive stone highways in South America. The Highlands has the country's most hospitable living conditions. This region is composed of fertile, rolling hills that favor intense agriculture and support growing population centers like Cochabamba and colonial Sucre. The sparsely populated scrubland called Gran Chaco in Bolivia's southeastern corner is a hostile, virtually impenetrable land of thorny trees, cacti and native flora and fauna.

Although known for its mountains, 70% of Bolivia's territory is Amazon Basin. The region boasts the remote national parks, Isiboro-Securé, Noel-Kempff Mercado and Madidi. Containing swampland, low jungle and dense rainforest, they protect the region's abundant flora and fauna as well as various indigenous groups such as the Yuracares, Chiriguanos, Chiquitanos, and Garavos.