The Inca Empire built the road system centered on the city of Cusco in the Andes.
Known as the Qhapaq Ñan, or Inca road system, this network connected the empire’s administrative centers, agricultural zones, mines, and military outposts. It extended for tens of thousands of kilometers across difficult terrain in present-day Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina.
The roads crossed deserts, high mountains, valleys, and tropical landscapes. Engineers used stairs, retaining walls, tunnels, suspension bridges, and paved sections to make routes usable. Way stations called tambos supported travelers, officials, and messengers.
The Inca had no wheeled transport system for ordinary travel, but runners called chasquis carried messages rapidly along the roads. The network helped the state govern a vast territory without a writing system based on an alphabet. The Qhapaq Ñan became a multinational UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014.