Puno Geography

Located in southeastern Peru, Puno is bordered by Bolivia to the east, the Madre de Dios Region to the north, and the Cusco and Arequipa Regions to the west. The city’s geography and layout is unique, as it is situated in the narrow strip of available land between the shores of Lake Titicaca and the mountains surrounding the city. There is less than 2 miles / 3kilometers distance of flat land between the shores and the foothills, causing the growing city to continue to expand upwards onto the hillsides, sprawling along every available or barely habitable plot of land on which a dwelling can be built.

Two mountain ranges, the Carabaya Cordillera to the north and the Maritime or Volcanic Cordillera to the south, line this otherwise flat territory.

Lake Titicaca is recognized as one of the highest commercially navigable lakes in the world, so large that locals proudly boast that it has its own waves. The lake’s deep blue waters stretch across more than 3,100 square miles and two different countries, not counting the surface area of the lake’s 30+ natural and man-made islands.

Altitude: 12,506 ft/ 3812 m
Terrain: Highland plateau surrounded by Andean foothills