6th A

                                            ROCKY MOUNTAINS

The Rocky Mountains (or the Rockies) are a major mountain range in western North

America.

The Rocky Mountains strech more than 3,00 miles (4,830 km) from northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States.

Whithin the North American Cordilera, the Rockies are somewhat distinct from the Pacific Coast Ranges and the Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada which all lie further to the west.

The Rocky Mountains were formed from 80 million to 55 million years ago by the Laramide orogeny.

Since then by water and glaciers have sculped the mountain range into dramatic valleys and peaks.At the end of the last ice age, humans started to innabit the mountain range.After Europeans, such as Sir Alexander Mackencie and the Lewis and Clark expedition, started to explore the range, minerals and furs drove the initial economic exploitation of the mountains, althouch the range it self never became densey populated.

Currently, much of the mountain range of the mountain range is protected by public parks and forest lands, and is a popular tourist destination, specially for hiking,camping,muontaineric,fishing, hunting, mountain,biking,sking and snowboarding.

                                                                                                                  Marta Serra