Cordilleras

Cordilleras (from Spanish chain or ridge) is a word used in America, especially in South America, to denote the various chains of mountains. Thus in North America the Rocky Mountains are Cordilleras, in South America the Andes, and in Central the Cordilleras proper extend from Darien to North Mexico, rising from the Isthmus of Panama to the high plateaux of Mexico, which are 17,000 ft. and upwards in height.