The largest artery in the human body, carrying blood away from the heart, is the aorta.
The aorta begins at the left ventricle, the heart’s main pumping chamber, and carries oxygen-rich blood into systemic circulation. It first rises as the ascending aorta, curves through the aortic arch, and then travels downward through the chest and abdomen as the descending aorta. Near the pelvis, it divides into the common iliac arteries.
Branches from the aorta supply the heart itself, the brain and upper limbs, the abdominal organs, and the lower body. Its thick, elastic walls expand with each heartbeat and recoil between beats, helping maintain continuous blood flow and pressure.
The pulmonary artery is a common source of confusion: it is an artery because it carries blood away from the heart, but it carries oxygen-poor blood to the lungs. The vena cava is a vein, returning blood to the heart. The carotid arteries are important branches supplying the head and neck, but they are not the body’s largest artery.