cordillera

The Cordillera Central, or Central Highlands, of the Dominican Republic is a heavily wooded mountain range in the east of the country, close to the border with Haiti. It has many peaks rising to more than 3,048 m/10,000 ft, and the Pico Duarte, at 3,175 m/10,416 ft, is the highest point in the Caribbean.

Group of mountain ranges and their valleys, all running in a specific direction, formed by the continued convergence of two tectonic plates (see plate tectonics) along a line. The term is applied especially to the principal mountain belt of a continent. The Andes of South America are an example.

The whole western section of North America, including the Rocky Mountains and the coastal ranges parallel to the contact between the North American and the Pacific plates, is called the Western Cordillera.

Cordillera

Department in the Oriental region of west-central Paraguay, bounded to the west and the north by the Paraguay and Mandivurá rivers; area 4,948 sq km/1,910 sq mi; population (1996) 194,826. The capital is Caacupé. In the southwest is the lake Ypacaraí.