The longest mountain range in the world, the Andes stretch 7,000 km (4,300 mi) through a variety of South American environments, from the glaciated equitorial high peaks of the Peruvian Cordilleras, through the barren volcanoes of the Atacama desert, the lush temperate rainforests of the Chile and Argentina's Lakes Districts, to the windswept southern towers of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego.