Lifeline of a lake: since Bolivia and Peru share a common border with Lake Titicaca, both are working together to preserve the beauty of this natural wonder and enhance the lives of its inhabitants.

• Author: Busque, Jordi

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Few borders in the world show as much cultural similarity on both sides as the one between Peru and Bolivia. In the Andean highlands, Lake Titicaca is the geographic accident that joins these two countries whose cultures have evolved together for most of history. This is one of the clearest examples of an artificial border; there is no change of culture or scenery when you cross to the other side.

Lake Titicaca is a unique place on the American continent for several reasons. For one thing, if you consider Venezuela's Lake Maracaibo part of a Caribbean gulf, Titicaca is the lake with the largest volume of water in South America. It is also known for its altitude--12,467 feet above sea level--and for the way in which its extraordinary environment has forged the character of the area's inhabitants. Its geological origins go back to the Pleistocene period when an ancient inland sea called Lake Ballivian covered a large part of the highland plateau. Then, as a result of various geological processes and of evaporation, it lost some of its depth and became two lakes: Titieaca and Minchin. The latter, in turn, morphed into what is today known as Lake Poopo and the salt flats of Coipasa and Uyuni.

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The scientific origin of the area has its mythical counterpart in the creation story of the ancestral peoples who have lived in the area since the beginning of time. The pre-Inca Tiahuanaco civilization believed that the Sun and Viracocha both emerged from the mysterious depths of the lake and that Viracocha created heaven and earth. The Inca beheved that this was the birthplace of their civilization. This was the place where Manco Capac--one of the last Tiahuanacos and the founder of the Inca Empire--was born in the midst of an exodus, during a time when his people were fleeing Aymara invasions.

According to legend, the Sun and the Moon were both born from the waters of the lake. It is easy to imagine how people who watched the sun rise over this immense body of water might have thought this idea entirely reasonable.

The Inca civilization lasted for centuries until the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. Then, the empire was destroyed, but the spirit of the civilization hves on, in part, through the area's inhabitants who practice the Inca moral code even today. In Quechua this is summed up as: Ama suwa, area llulla, ama qilla--"thou shall not steal; thou shall not lie; thou shall not be lazy."

Currently, Lake Titicaca is fed primarily by the merging and melting of the gigantic glaciers of the Royal Andean Range. Since the lake is almost completely sealed off, it loses about 90 percent of its water through evaporation. Desaguadero River, which drains into Lake Poopo, accounts for the remaining 10 percent. The depth of Lake Titicaca varies at different points, but averages around 350 feet deep. It is actually two lakes, or sub-basins, connected by the Tiquina Strait.

The Peruvian and Bolivian sides are very similar, though the people who live on each skte like to tease each other about differences. One of the best known distinctive features of both sides is the classic dress of the cholitas. But the origin of the cholita dress isn't indigenous; it was imposed by King Carlos III after the uprising of Jose Gabriel Tupac Amaru in 1781. In fact, it is eighteenth century traditional Spanish attire. The braids were imposed by the Viceroy of Toledo to tell the Indians apart from the mestiza and Spanish women. The bowler hat was adopted later, in the early twentieth century when, due to a shipping error, a large number of men's hats were sent to La Paz. The salesman, desperate to avoid losses, talked young women into buying them by promising them that the hat would bring fertility.

The population is spread out in clusters along the sides of the lake, and in the handful of islands that dot the lake's surface. None of the islands has paved roads, nor is that necessary since there are no motorized vehicles on any of them. On the eastern shore, on Bolivia's side, is the lost city of Copacabana. Though small in size, it is the primary urban hub on the Bolivian side of the lake and a historic center for religious pilgrimage.

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