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A major fold mountain range of western North America, stretching about 4,800 km from Canada to the southwestern United States.
The Rocky Mountains, commonly called the Rockies, are the principal mountain system of western North America. They extend roughly 4,800 kilometres from British Columbia and Alberta in Canada southwards through the western United States to New Mexico. They are fold mountains, formed by compression of the Earth's crust, and are much older in origin than the coastal ranges to their west. The range carries the Continental Divide of the Americas along much of its length, making it the great watershed of the continent, and it is the source region of several of North America's largest rivers.
Type: PhenomenonLocation — western North America, running through Canada (British Columbia, Alberta) and the United States (Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico)
Length — approximately 4,800 kilometres from north to south
Highest peak — Mount Elbert in Colorado, at about 4,401 metres
Type — fold mountains, raised by crustal compression during the Laramide orogeny
The Continental Divide of the Americas runs along the range, separating Atlantic-bound from Pacific-bound drainage
Source of major rivers including the Missouri, Colorado, Rio Grande, Columbia, Arkansas and Athabasca
Home to protected areas such as Yellowstone National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, and Banff and Jasper in Canada
Frequency: A standard world geography item in SSC and Railway General Awareness, and occasionally in UPSC Prelims mapping questions.
A continental divide is the line of high ground that separates river systems flowing to different oceans. Rain falling on one side of the Continental Divide of the Americas eventually reaches the Pacific Ocean; rain falling a few metres away on the other side reaches the Atlantic, via the Gulf of Mexico or the Arctic. The Rocky Mountains carry this divide through North America, which is why so many major rivers begin there and flow in opposite directions. This is also why the range matters far beyond its own area: water policy, irrigation and hydropower across a large part of the continent depend on snowpack accumulating in these mountains and melting through the year.
The ridge of a roof — the same rainfall runs off into two entirely different drains depending on which side it lands.
North America
Canada and the United States
4,800 km
Mount Elbert, Colorado — about 4,401 m
Fold mountains
The Laramide orogeny, a period of mountain building tens of millions of years ago
Missouri and Arkansas rivers
Rise on the eastern side of the divide and drain towards the Mississippi system and ultimately the Atlantic via the Gulf of Mexico
Colorado and Columbia rivers
Rise on the western side and flow towards the Pacific, supporting major irrigation and hydropower systems
Yellowstone National Park
Situated in the Rockies, known for geothermal features including geysers and hot springs
Banff and Jasper National Parks
In the Canadian Rockies of Alberta, known for glaciers, lakes and alpine wildlife
The Rockies belong to the same broad category as the Himalayas, the Alps and the Andes — young fold mountains raised by crustal compression, as distinct from ancient block or residual mountains such as the Aravallis. Their ecological importance rests on wildlife adapted to high-altitude and forested conditions: grizzly bears, elk, moose, bighorn sheep and mountain goats among them. Their economic importance rests on water. Snowpack in the range acts as a natural reservoir, storing winter precipitation and releasing it through spring and summer, which is why reduced snowfall in the Rockies translates directly into water stress across large agricultural regions far downstream — a pattern climate studies watch closely.
Western North America; Canada and the United States
About 4,800 km long; fold mountains from the Laramide orogeny
Highest peak: Mount Elbert, Colorado, about 4,401 m
Carry the Continental Divide of the Americas
Source of the Missouri, Colorado, Rio Grande, Columbia and Arkansas
Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain NP in the US; Banff and Jasper in Canada
In western North America, extending from British Columbia and Alberta in Canada southwards through the western United States to New Mexico, over roughly 4,800 kilometres.
Mount Elbert in Colorado, at about 4,401 metres. Note that North America's highest peak, Denali in Alaska, lies in a different range.
The line of high ground separating rivers that flow towards the Pacific from those flowing towards the Atlantic. It runs along the Rocky Mountains through North America.
The Missouri, Colorado, Rio Grande, Columbia, Arkansas and Athabasca among others — flowing in opposite directions depending on which side of the Continental Divide they rise.