Cotopaxi

Related Category: Latin American and Caribbean Physical Geography

(kōtōpăk´sē), active volcano, 19,347 ft (5,897 m) high, N central Ecuador. A symmetrical snowcapped cone in the Andes, it is one of the highest volcanoes in the world. It is continuously active, and frequent eruptions have caused severe damage. Cotopaxi was first scaled by Wilhelm Reiss in 1872.