Precordillera

Precordillera is a Spanish geographical term for hills and mountains lying before a greater range, similar to foothills. The term is derived from cordillera (mountain range)—literally "pre-mountain range"—and applied usually to the Andes.^[1]

Precordillera, Province of Mendoza, Argentina

Some places usually called precordillera are:

• Andean mountains east of the main ranges of Andes in Argentina. It is separated from the much higher Frontal Cordillera to the west by Uspallata Valley in Argentina.^[2] Precordillera mountains reach around 3,000 m a.s.l. in Sierras de Villavicencio.^[2]
• Used all over Chile from north to south as a morphological unit lying just between the Andes and the Intermediate Depression.

See also

• Geological history of the precordillera terrane
• Cuyania – Ancient microcontinent now part of Argentina