Cordillera de los Frailes

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River valley in the Cordillera de los Frailes

The Cordillera de los Frailes is a mountainous region in the central parts of the Bolivian Andes.

The Cordillera de los Frailes is a mountainous region in the northwestern part of the department of Potosí on the border of the department of Chuquisaca. The Cordillera de los Frailes basically consists of two parts: the western part is a large volcanic field, whose origin can be dated to the Miocene epoch, 5 to 23 million years ago; the eastern section, the so-called Maragua syncline, consists of a north- south running chain of rocks of sedimentary rocks whose origin can be dated to the Paleocene in front of 55 to 65 million years ago, or even up in the even older Cretaceous.

The Cordillera de los Frailes ranges in the northwest to about the Poopó Lake and is bordered to the north by the line Challapata - Macha - Ravelo, to the south by the line Rio Mulato - Potosí - Betanzos.

The Cordillera de los Frailes has less to high elevations than the southern subsequent Cordillera de Lípez or the north then Cordillera Azanaques. The highest elevation is the Nuevo Mundo (also: Jatun Mundo Khori Huarani ) ( 5438 m ) on the border to the Cordillera de Lípez, and the Jatun Wila Kkollu ( 5214 m).

Due to its inland location arise in the Cordillera de los Frailes few rivers of national importance. The most important river in the Cordillera de los Frailes is the Pilcomayo River, which crosses the region from northwest to southeast.