DEFINITION OF LAKE TITICACA

Sitting at 12,500 feet (3,815 m) above sea

level along the border between Peru and Bolivia in the South

American Andes, Lake Titicaca is the world’s highest lake

navigable to large vessels. The lake basin is situated between

Andean ranges on the Altiplano plateau and is bordered to

the northeast by some of the highest peaks in the Andes in

the Cordillera Real, where several mountains rise to more

than 21,000 feet (6,400 m). Covering 3,200 square miles,

Lake Titicaca is the largest freshwater lake in South America,

although it is divided into two parts by the Strait of Tiquina.

The body of water north of the Strait is called Chucuito in

Bolivia and Lake Grande in Peru, and south of the strait the

smaller body of water is called Lake Huinaymarca in Bolivia

and Lake Pequeno in Peru. Most of the lake is 460–600 feet

(140–180 m) deep, but it reaches 920 feet (280 m) deep near

the northeast corner of the lake. The lake is fed by many

short tributaries from surrounding mountains and is drained

by Desaguadero River that flows into Lake Poopo. However,

only 5 percent of water loss is through this single outlet—the

remainder is lost by evaporation in the hot dry air of the Altiplano.

Lake levels fluctuate on seasonal and several longer

time cycles, and the water retains a relatively constant temperature

of 56°F (14°C) at the surface but cools to 52°F

(11°C) below a thermocline at 66 feet (20 m). Salinity ranges

from 5.2 to 5.5 parts per thousand.

Lake Titicaca, translated variously as Rock of the Puma

or Craig of Lead, has been the center of culture since pre-Inca

times (600 years before present [b.p.]), and its shoreline is

presently covered by Indian villages and terraced rice fields.

Some of the oldest civilizations are preserved in ruins around

Lake Titicaca, including those at Tiahuanaco, on the southern

end of the lake, and others on the many islands in the

lake. Ruins of a temple on Titicaca Island mark the spot

where Inca legends claim that Manco Capac and Mama

Ocllo, the founders of the Inca dynasty, were sent to Earth by

the Sun.

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