Qhapaq Ñan is the ancient road network built and expanded across the Andes by the Inca Empire.
The name is Quechua and is commonly translated as “royal road” or “principal road.” The network connected the Inca capital of Cusco with administrative centers, military sites, religious locations, and settlements across the empire. It extended through present-day Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
The roads used different engineering solutions for difficult terrain. Builders created stone-paved routes, stairways, drainage channels, retaining walls, suspension bridges, and causeways across mountains, deserts, valleys, and high plateaus. Way stations called tambos supported messengers, officials, travelers, and armies. Chasquis, or relay runners, carried messages rapidly through the system.
The Inca state incorporated and improved earlier roads made by Andean societies, so Qhapaq Ñan was not created entirely from nothing during one reign. UNESCO recognized the vast cultural route as a World Heritage Site in 2014 through a multinational nomination. The surviving sections show how infrastructure helped the Inca administer an exceptionally diverse mountain empire.