Cordillera

A cordillera is a chain or network of mountain ranges, such as those running along the west coast of the Americas, with the term coming from the Spanish cordilla, a diminutive of cuerda, meaning rope. The concept is used mainly in physical geography for large mountain systems like the American Cordillera, which includes the Andes, and these systems typically show complex structures produced by folding, faulting, and volcanic activity, with volcanic peaks and narrow snow-covered ridges rising above inhabited valleys, basins, and plateaus at varying elevations.