Rocky Mountains are popularly called as " Rockies" are great chain of rugged mountain ranges which is present in western North America and it extends from central New Mexico to the Northeastern British Columbia, which covers a distance of about 3220 kilometers.

Rocky Mountains - Borders

The borders of the Rocky mountains are

i)Great Plains on the east

ii)Great Basin and the Rocky Mountain Trench,which is a valley that runs from northwestern Montana to northern British Columbia on the west

Rivers

The rivers that rise form the rocky mountains includes

i)The Arkansas

ii)Colorado

iii)Columbia

iv)Missouri

v)Rio Grande

vi) Saskatchewan and

vii)Snake river

The Rockies are be divided mainly into four principal sections and these includes Southern, Central, Northern, and Canadian.

Southern Rockies

The Southern Rockies, are the sections which includes the system's broadest and highest regions,and it extendsfrom central New Mexico, through Colorado,and then to the Great Divide, or Wyoming, Basin, in southern Wyoming.The Rocky Mountain National Park are present in this section. This northern section mainly consists of two northern-southern belts of mountain ranges with several basins, or parks, between the belts.

In this Northern section, the component parts in the east includes

i)Sangre de Cristo

ii)Laramie mountains and

iii)The Front Range

and with respect to west it includes

i)The San Juan Mountains

ii)The Sawatch and

iii)Park ranges

When it comes to the Southern Rockies it includes the chain's loftiest point,i.e. the Mount Elbert, which is 14,433 feet high,and it is located in central Colorado and the image is shown below.

In this section more than 50  peaks of the Rockies are above the height of 14,000 feet and thye are also present  in Colorado include Longs Peak (4345 m/14,255 ft high) and Pikes Peak 14,110 feet

Central Rockies

The Central Rockies are present in

i)Northeastern Utah

ii)Western Wyoming

iii)Eastern Idaho and

iv)Southern Montana

The mountains which they encompass, includes the

i)Bighorn

ii)Beartooth and

iii)Uinta mountains

the rivers includes

i)Absaroka

ii)Wind River

iii)Salt River

iv)Teton

v)Snake River and

vi)Wasatch ranges.

In this section the Uinta Mountains is the only major portion of the Rockies and it extends east-west rather than that of north-south.When it comes to parks these includes

i)Grand Teton

ii)Yellowstone national parks and the peaks here includes

i)Gannett Peak - 13,804 feet

ii)Grand Teton - 13,771 feet and

iii)Fremont Peak - 13,730 feet

Northern Rockies

The Northern Rockies are usually in the  northern Idaho, western Montana, and the northeastern Washington.In this Northern rockies it includes the Sawtooth, Cabinet,Salmon River, and the various mountains includes Clearwater mountains and the Bitterroot Mountains.In this section the highest peak includes the Glacier National Park - Granite Peak and it is 12,799 feet high and Borah Peak 12,662 feet high.The Granite peak is shown in the image below

Canadian Rockies

The Canadian Rockies, located in southwestern Alberta and eastern British Columbia, are composed of a relatively narrow belt of mountain ranges that terminates at the Liard River lowland in northeastern British Columbia. The peaks of the section, which takes in Banff, Jasper, Kootenay, Waterton Lakes, and Yoho National Parks, include

i)Mount Robson  which is 12,972 feet

ii)Mount Columbia which is 12,294 feet  and

iii)The Twins  which is 12,251 feet

Here the slopes generally are very steep, and there are numerous glaciers.

When it comes to the population,the Rockies are sparsely populated and it contains only few cities.The main economic resources of the mountains includes minerals like coal, copper, gold, iron ore, lead, molybdenum, petroleum and natural gas, silver, and zinc.

Apart for these the important mining centers includes

i)Leadville and Climax in Colorado

ii)Atlantic City, Wyoming

iii)Kellogg, Idaho

iv)Butte, Montana and

v)Fernie and Kimberley, British Columbia

The forest products in this region includes mainly lumbering and they are mainly concentrated in the Northern and Canadian Rockies.Majority of the population of sheep and cattle are raised in the Rockies of Colorado, Wyoming, and also in Montana.

This chain has many centers for outdoor recreation and it is also a important place for tourism

• Written by Raaghavan Krishnamurthy.
• In category General Reference.
• 15 years ago.

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