The Andean Glacier and Water Atlas

source of mineral resources and agricultural land. Agriculture and mining have long traditions in the region, and continue to play a significant role in several of the national economies (Borsdorf & Stadel, 2015). Between 15 and 17 per cent of total cropland within the Andean countries is located within the Andes mountains, with the larger proportion of mountain cropland being in the north: Peru, Colombia and Ecuador (Devenish & Gianella, 2012). Chile is one of the major copper producing countries (Romero, Smith, & Vasquez, 2009) and also home to the world’s largest open pit copper mine, Chuquicamata. Argentina, Peru and Bolivia also hold important deposits of silver, gold, tin, copper, and zinc (Borsdorf and Stadel, 2015). Several of the Andean countries have considerable potential for hydropower development and are increasingly utilizing this potential (IHA, 2018).

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