Cordilleras

Cordilleras, or Cordillera, extensive mountain range or system of ranges. The name was first applied by the Spanish in South America to the Andean system of ranges as Las Cordilleras de los Andes. Later it was extended to the continuation of the Andes through Central America and Mexico and then to the principal mountain axis of the North American continent, the systems stretching north through the western United States, British Columbia, and Alaska. Physical geographers designate this part of North America as the Cordilleran region and the corresponding South American elevations as the Andean. The Cordilleran region (the western Cordilleras) includes the Sierra Nevada, the Coast and Cascade ranges, and the Rocky Mountains.