The Alps are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately 1,200 km/750 mi across 8 Alpine countries. The Caucasus Mountains are the higher, and the Urals longer, but both lie partly in Asia. The Alpine region contains about a 100 peaks higher than 4,000 m/13,123 ft known as the "four thousanders." Mont Blanc (4,810 m/15,781 ft), that spans the French-Italian border, is the highest mountain in the Alps.
The Alpine region has a strong cultural identity. The traditional farming, cheese-making, and woodworking still exists in Alpine Villages. Industry began to grow early in the 20th century and expanded greatly after World War II to become dominant by the end of the century. At present the region is home to 14 million people and has 120 million annual visitors.
Col de L'Iseran at 2,764 m/9,068 ft above sea level, is the highest paved pass in the Alps, located in France, near the border with Italy.
The term Alpine states refers to the territory of 8 countries associated with the Alpine region: Austria, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Slovenia, and Switzerland. In a narrow sense, the term "Alpine States" is applied to Austria (28.7% of the total area), Italy (27.2%), and France (21.4%), which represent more than 77% of the Alpine territory and more than 3/4 of the Alpine population. However, the Alpine share of the larger Italian and French state territories only amounts to 17% and 7% respectively. From a strictly national point of view, and with the exception of micro-states Liechtenstein and Monaco, the Alps are dominant in only 2 countries: Austria (65.5% of its territory) and Switzerland (65%).
The Andean States are the group of nations in South America that are defined by sharing a common geography, the Andes Mountain Range, which was spread during the times of the Inca Empire.
The Andes are the longest continental mountain range in the World. They are a continual range of Highlands along the Western Coast of South America. It is about 7,000 km/4,300mi long, about 200 to 700 km/120 to 430mi wide, and of an average height of about 4,000 m/13,000 ft.
Politically speaking, Argentina and Chile are usually not considered part of the Andean States because they lack a strong Andean heritage, because they are culturally more oriented towards Europe, and because they are not members of the Andean Community of Nations.
The Andes occupy the Western part of South America, stretching through the following countries:
Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile.
When grouped as "the Andean States," the emphasis is on the mountainous regions of these countries. For example, the Argentine pampas are not part of the Andean Region, but Western Argentina is part of the Andean region, and has cultural continuities with its Andean neighbors.
Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia are part of the Andean Community (a trade grouping), an each contains Amazon Rain-Forest and Amazonian indigenous people as well as Andean mountains.
The Andes holds a great deal of mountain passes and as an example we mention these two:
The Black Water Pass (Paso de Agua Negra) is a pass which connects Argentina and Chile. The highest point of this pass is at 4,780 m/15,680 ft. In March 2015, Argentina officially approved an expansion consisting of 14 km tunnel below the pass. Also planned for the deepest part of the tunnel is the Black Water Experiment Site (Agua Negra Deep Experiment Site [ANDES]), an underground laboratory. Because all currently deep underground laboratories are located in the Northern Hemisphere, a Southern Hemisphere site offer a considerable amount of benefits. Combined with Neutrino Detectors, a longer baseline would allow more accurate localization of sources in neutrino Astronomy.
Neutrinos are omnipresent in Nature such that in just one second, tens of billions of them "pass through every square centimeter of our bodies without us ever noticing. They are extremely difficult to detect. In a neutral current interaction, the Neutrino enters and then leaves the detector after having transferred some of its energy and momentum to a target particle.
The International Pass of the Liberators (Paso International de Los Libertadores) also called Christ The Redeemer, is a mountain pass between Argentina and Chile. From the Argentine side the route to the pass is slow, gentle incline until entering a tunnel at approximately 3,200 m/10,500 ft elevation. On the Chilean side the slope has a far higher grade, and the road descends down a long series of switchbacks to make the descend. Opened in 1980, the tunnel is 3,080 m/10,105 ft, long, and serves as an important land crossing between the two countries. At the middle of the tunnel is the national border.
Ticlio or Anticona is a mountain pass and the highest point of the central road of Peru (km 120), in the Andean mountains, reaching a height of 4,818 m. The railway was opened in 1893 and from 1921 it was the junction for the now-closed branch to Morococha. The railway is a busy freight line but there are now no regular passengers services. On the railway approach to Ticlio from the direction of Lima eight tunnels were necessary in a stretch of less than 3.2 km/2 mi.
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