READING

​​"VALORAMOS LAS RIQUEZAS NATURALES, EL MEJOR LEGADO DE NUESTRO PATRIMONIO CULTURAL"

SESSION 3: ​READING

​Lake Titicaca is the largest freshwater lake in South America and the highest of the world's large lakes. Titicaca is one of less than twenty ancient lakes on earth, and is thought to be there million years old. Lake Titicaca sits 3 810 m above sea level and is situated between Peru to the west and Bolivia to the east. Peruvian part is located in Puno department, in Puno and Huancane provinces.

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​It covers 3 200 square miles (8 300 square km) and extends in a northwest-to-southeast direction for a distance of 120 miles (190 km). It is 50 miles (80 km) across at its widest point. A narrow strait, Tiquina, separates the lake into two bodies of water.  The smaller, in the southeast, is called Lake Huinaymarca in Bolivia and lake Pequeño in Peru.

​​Lake Titicaca lies between Andean ranges in a vast basin (about 22 400 square miles - 58 000 square km in area) that comprises most of the Altiplano (High Plateau) of the northern Andes. In the snow-covered Cordillera Real on the north-eastern (Bolivian) shore of the lake, some of the highest peaks in the Andes rise to heights of more than 21 000 feet (6 400m).

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​​Titicaca's level fluctuates seasonally and over a cycle of years. During the rainy season (summer, from December to March) the level of the lake rises, normally to recede during the dry winter months. The average level is 3.810 m.a.s.l.