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the name applied to several mountain ranges in the Andes, in South America.
The Cordillera Central in northern Peru is situated between the valleys of the Maran̄on and Huallaga rivers and has elevations of up to 4,700 m. The Cordillera Central in Bolivia is located to the east of Lago de Poopó and is sometimes called the Eastern Cordillera. These two ranges are tectonically linked by other ranges of the Andes, including the Cordillera Vilcabamba, the Cordillera de Vilcanota, and the Cordillera Real.
The Cordillera Central in Colombia is situated between the Magdalena and Cauca rivers. The range, which has elevations of up to 5,750 m, has exhibited volcanic activity in ancient and modern times.
a system of echelon-like mountain ranges of medium elevation on the Meseta, in Spain and Portugal. The system includes such ranges as the Sierra de Gredos and the Sierra de Guadarrama. The Cordillera Central is approximately 400 km long and has elevations of up to 2,592 m (Mount Almanzor). The mountains are composed primarily of granites and gneisses. The divides have gentle slopes, but the flanks are steep and strongly dissected. Up to 1,500 m there are forests of pine, oak, and chestnut; at higher elevations there are meadows and shrub thickets.