The Inca Empire built the road network centered on Cuzco and stretching across the Andes.
Known in Quechua as Tawantinsuyu, the Inca Empire was the largest state in pre-Columbian America. Its political and religious center was Cuzco, in present-day Peru. At its greatest extent, the empire covered parts of modern Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, and Colombia.
The Qhapaq Ñan, or Inca road system, connected highlands, valleys, deserts, and coastal regions. Estimates of its total length vary, but the network extended for more than 30,000 kilometers. Roads supported military movement, administration, trade, and communication. Relay runners called chasquis carried messages between way stations, while storehouses supplied travelers and armies.
The Inca used quipu, knotted-cord devices, for record keeping, though scholars still debate the full range of information they encoded. The empire was conquered by Spanish forces led by Francisco Pizarro in the 1530s, after internal conflict and a devastating smallpox epidemic had weakened it. Machu Picchu is one of its best-known surviving sites.