Tierra templada

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Tierra templada (Spanish for temperate land) is a pseudoclimatological term used in Latin America to refer to places within that realm which are either located in the tropics at a moderately high elevation, or are marginally outside the astronomical tropics, producing a somewhat cooler overall climate than that found in the tropical lowlands, the zone of which is known as the tierra caliente.

In countries situated close to the equator, the tierra templada typically commences at an altitude of approximately 750 meters (roughly 2,500 feet), and extends to about 1,850 meters (or 6,000 feet), where the still cooler tierra fria begins. These thresholds become lower as the latitude increases.

Despite the English translation of its name, the tierra templada is not considered "temperate" by climatologists, for most of the areas so designated have average temperatures in their coldest months of above 18°C (64.4°F), thus making them tropical under climate classification schemes such as that of Vladimir Köppen. In the aforementioned scheme, many locations within the tierra templada are sometimes designated Afb or Awb, with the b denoting the fact that the warmest month has an average temperature of below 22°C (71.6°F), meaning that all twelve months of the year have averages of between 18°C and 22°C. Chinchina, Colombia is an example of a place which would be labelled Afb, as it has abundant rainfall year-round, while the climate of San José, Costa Rica would fall under Awb since the latter city's rainfall regime consists of a wet summer and a dry winter.

In the tierra templada, coffee is grown extensively as a cash crop, with grains such as wheat and corn being cultivated for subsistence purposes - in contrast to the warmer tierra caliente, where tropical fruits predominate.

It is considered to be the most habitable and spring like.