Lake Titicaca

Largest mountain lake; 42 man-made islands

Lake Titicaca (Spanish: Lago Titicaca; Quechua: Titiqaqa qucha ), with an area of 8,288 square kilometers, according to the Lake Maracaibo South America's second largest lake. It is located on the Altiplano, the high plateau of the Andes; the western part with 4916 km ² of the lake belongs to Peru, the eastern part with 3372 km ² to Bolivia. In terms of its area, it is the 18th largest natural lake in the world; its area is about 15.5 times as large as that of Lake Constance (including subsea ), and almost as large as Corsica. He is very dirty.

Geography

Lake Titicaca is the highest commercially navigable waters of the earth. It lies at an altitude of 3810 m above sea level, 178 km long and 67.4 km wide and has a maximum depth of 281 m. In the lake rise for several peninsulas, at the Copacabana peninsula, the narrow strait of Tiquina connects the southern part of the lake, Wiñaymarka, with the northern part, the Lago Chucuito.

More than 25 rivers flow into Lake Titicaca. The only effluent is the Río Desaguadero, which transports about ten percent of the excess water. The remaining water evaporates. There are a variety of large and small islands, of which house some relics of the Inca culture, such as the Isla del Sol.

Origin of the name

The origin of the name Titicaca, originally a name for the Island of the Sun, is not known for sure. It is based on two Aymara words: titi called " Big Cat " or "Puma" and kaka is called " gray ". (" Karka " = stone, rock ' Titi - Karka, " or " Cougar Rock " ) rose to the Earth According to legend the first Inca, Manco Capac, over a rock on the sunny island. This rock has ( with enough imagination considered ) the shape of the head of a wild cat. A lying cat is also seen when the map is upside down to the lake. On the other hand, Quechua is called titi "lead" or " livid ", Qaqa means "rock", or " leaden (lead- colored ) rock ."

Climate

Despite having 9 to 11 ° C is very low annual average temperature of the water, the Lake Titicaca is a large heat storage so that thrive around the lake potatoes, barley, corn and quinoa. The region around Lake Titicaca is considered to be the area of ​​origin of potato cultivation.

Life on Lake Titicaca

An important source of food for the population at Lake Titicaca has been the abundance of fish since time immemorial.

At one of the attractions of Lake Titicaca are the floating islands of the Urus. Originally, the Urus began to build floating islands to protect, for example, before the warlike Incas or to hide. The islands consist of cross- applied layers of totora reeds. Whenever an attack threatened, they pulled anchor and moved with their islands back to the lake. The Totora is an important source of livelihood. The boats for fishing and the mats for the construction of simple huts made ​​of it. Also in the diet plays a role.

The Urus are very proud of their traditional way of life and refuse strictly emigrate to the mainland. They have discovered tourism as a source of income and now allow visitors to visit the resiliently swaying islands.

On the belonging to Peru Taquile Island ( Quechua: Intika ) now live about 1600 Quechua. The people on the 5.5 km long and 1.6 km wide island was not discovered until late because she hid the arrival of strangers before this. Famous the islanders are today because of their knitting men. The Island is therefore also called "the island of knitting men ". Like on Urus is observed on Taquile a focus on day-trippers. As these, however, have left the island by 14 clock largely again, travelers who stay with a family on Taquile offers (Hotels, running water or electricity not exist) insights into the original life until the morning the day trippers the image of the island change again.

Another quechuasprachige island on the Peruvian side is Amantaní, 800 families live on the.

Also from the Peruvian side dominates the Capachica peninsula in the lake.

On the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca lie the sacred islands of Isla del Sol (Sun Island ) and Isla de la Luna (Moon Island). According to legend, appeared on the Isla del Sol, the white -bearded God and created the first Incas, Manco Capac and his sister-wife Mama Oclla. On both islands exist between small traditional villages many ancient ruins.

Fauna of Lake Titicaca

Lake Titicaca is the habitat of a number of rare and partly endemic species. Among the unusual species found here include

• The Titicaca grebe, a member of the family of grebes. What is unusual about this bird is that it is not airworthy because of its small wings. In case of danger, he flees with tiny steps over the water, although he violently flapping its wings, but is not able to rise into the air.
• The endemic Titicaca giant frog ( or Titicacaseefrosch ). This breathes primarily through its skin, which is therefore to increase the surface area very wrinkled.

Endemic in Lake Titicaca also live

• The Andenkärpflinge ( Orestias ), to which the now probably extinct Amanto heard and
• The Schmerlenwels Trichomycterus rivulatus.

Threat and protection of Lake Titicaca

The water quality of the lake increased substantially in recent years significantly. Julián Barra, president of the Peruvian autonomous region Titicaca makes more than 30,000 illegal mines on the lake and the tributaries responsible. The toxic waste water from the mines to flow untreated into the lake. 2006 included the Foreign Minister of Peru and Bolivia a memorandum to the assured for to start activities to prevent further contamination. Barra described the division of labor of the Peruvian Agriculture and Environment Ministry as counterproductive as they slowed targeted activities by bureaucracy.

The loss of vegetation surrounding the lake by overgrazing and erosion, reduction of aquatic vegetation, decreasing fish populations, and the contamination of the bay of Puno by biological wastewater are other environmental problems at the lake. When contamination is primarily concerned with the pollutants from waste water of the city of Puno and heavy metals from the nearby mines. The algae problem for Z. (as 20xx ) is limited even on the bay of Puno. The European Union is trying to improve the living conditions of local residents and to protect the resources, by supporting projects for water regulation by small dams on the Rio Desaguadero.

In 1978 the Peruvian government, the National Reserve Titicaca Puno one before. The entire lake is covered by the Ramsar Convention for protected wetlands.

Since 2000, the water levels of Lake Titicaca have fallen constantly and they are well below the recent average water level. Only in the period from April to November 2009, the water level dropped by 81 cm - to the lowest level since 1949, the reason for this decline lies in a shortened rainy season from six to three months and the decline of the Andean glaciers in the area of the Altiplano, which flows the. of Lake Titicaca dine.

The lake was named by the Global Nature Fund for Threatened Lake, 2012.