The region is within the Norte Grande ("Far North") natural region. It combines deserts, green valleys, the steep and volcanic Andes mountains, and the Altiplano (high plain) to the east. A narrow coastal strip of low-lying land no more than wide separates the Pacific's Nazca plate from the Andes. Its Parinacota volcano is the region's highest elevation at and is on the northern border with Bolivia in Lauca National Park.