The Inca or Inca Empire was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. To the territory of the same one it was denominated Tawantinsuyu and to the period of its dominion is known to him, in addition, like incanato and / or incario. It flourished in the Andean region of the subcontinent between the 15th and 16th centuries, as a consequence of the apogee of the Inca civilization. It covered nearly two million square kilometers between the Pacific Ocean and the Amazon rainforest, from the vicinity of Pasto (Colombia) to the north to the Maule River (Chile) to the south.
The geographical region inhabited by the empire It was the Andean region, due to the presence of the Andes, is characterized by the diversity of its ecology: desert coasts, tropical landscapes, dry and cold highlands that at first glance seem one of the environments less conducive to the life of man. However, the men who inhabited it have shown over many centuries, to be able not only to survive in such circumstances, but also to dominate the geographical environment and create a series of flourishing civilizations. The most famous of these was the Inca empire, which occupied a vast territory of South America, comprising the present or parts of the territories of the Republics of Peru, Ecuador, western Bolivia, northern Argentina, northern Chile and the extreme southwestern Colombia.