Editing Inca road system (section)

{{For|the [[Frank Zappa]] song|Inca Roads (song)}}
{{Short description|Transportation system of the Inca empire}}
{{Infobox road
| name              = Inca road system
| alternate_name    = ''Qhapaq Ñan''
| image             = Qapaq Nan at Mosollaqta lake DSC 2822.jpg
| image_notes       = Section of the Inca road
| map               = Inca road system.jpg
| map_notes         = Extent of the Inca road system
| length_km         = 40000
| time_period       = [[Pre-Columbian era|Pre-Columbian South America]]
| embedded          = 
  {{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site
  |child = yes
  |Official_name = Qhapaq Ñan, Andean Road System
  |ID = 1459
  |Year = 2014
  |Criteria = Cultural: ii, iii, iv, vi
  |Area = 11,406.95 ha
  |Buffer_zone = 663,069.68 ha}}
}}
{{Inca civilization}}

The '''Inca road system''' (also spelled '''Inka road system''' and known as ''Qhapaq Ñan''<ref group="note">Qhapaq=rich, powerful, opulent, wealthy, privileged; ñan=road, way, path, route. Source "Diccionario quechua - español - quechua" Gobierno Regional Cusco - Cusco – Second edition, 2005</ref> meaning "royal road" in Quechua<ref name="martinez">Martínez Martínez, Guadalupe (2010). Qhapaq Ñan: el camino inca y las transformaciones territoriales en los Andes Peruanos - Arqueología y Sociedad, Nº 21, 2010 – www.revistasinvestigacion.unmsm.edu.pe/index.php/Arqueo/article/download/12277/10985</ref>) was the most extensive and advanced transportation system in pre-Columbian South America. It was about {{convert|40,000|km|mi}} long.<ref name="D'Altroy2002a">{{cite book |last=D'Altroy |first=Terence N. |title=The Incas |publisher=Blackwell Publishers Inc |year=2002 |isbn=0-631-17677-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/incasthepeopleso00tere }}</ref>{{rp|242}} The construction of the roads required a large expenditure of time and effort.<ref name=Thompson1966>{{cite journal|last=Thompson|first=Donald E.|author2=John V. Murra|title=The Inca Bridges in the Huanuco Region|journal=Society for American Archaeology|date=July 1966|volume=31|series=5|issue=1}}</ref>{{rp|634}}

The network was composed of formal<ref name="krzano">Krzanowski Andrzej. Observaciones acerca de la construcción y el trazado de algunos tramos del camino inca en los Andes peruanos - Kraków, Poland - http://www.farkha.nazwa.pl/contributions/pcnwa/cnwa/CNWA2.4.pdf</ref> roads carefully planned, engineered, built, marked and maintained; paved where necessary, with stairways to gain elevation, bridges and accessory constructions such as [[retaining wall]]s, and water drainage systems. It was based on two north–south roads: one along the coast and the second and most important inland and up the mountains, both with numerous branches.<ref>{{Cite book | title=History of the Inca realm | year=1999 | publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]| location=Cambridge, England| isbn=0-521-63759-7 | page=60}}</ref>
It can be directly compared with the [[Roman roads|road network built during the Roman Empire]], although the Inca road system was built one thousand years later.<ref name="mattos"/> 
The road system allowed for the transfer of information, goods, soldiers and persons, without the use of wheels, within the [[Inca Empire|Tawantinsuyu]] or Inca Empire throughout a territory covering almost {{convert|2,000,000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}<ref name="raffino">Raffino, Rodolfo et al.  Rumichaca: el puente inca en la cordillera de los Chichas (Tarija, Bolivia) – in "Arqueologia argentina en los incios de un nevo siglo" pags 215 to 223</ref> and inhabited by about 12 million people.<ref name="colapso">"Colapso Demografico en la población de la colonia" - https://historiaperuana.pe/periodo-colonial/virreinato/la-poblacion-en-el-virreinato/</ref>

The roads were bordered, at intervals, with buildings to allow the most effective usage: at short distance there were relay stations for ''[[chasqui]]s'', the running messengers; at a one-day walking interval ''[[tambo (Incan structure)|tambos]]'' allowed support to the road users and flocks of [[llama]] pack animals. Administrative centers with warehouses, called [[qullqa]]s, for re-distribution of goods were found along the roads. Towards the boundaries of the Inca Empire and in newly conquered areas [[pukara]]s (fortresses) were found.<ref name="martinez"/>

Part of the road network was built by cultures that precede the Inca Empire, notably the [[Wari culture]] in the northern central Peru and the [[Tiwanaku]] culture in Bolivia.<ref name="martinez" /> Different organizations such as [[UNESCO]] and [[International Union for Conservation of Nature|IUCN]] have been working to protect the network in collaboration with the governments and communities of the six countries ([[Colombia]], [[Ecuador]], [[Peru]], [[Bolivia]], [[Chile]] and [[Argentina]]) through which the Great Inca Road passes.

In modern times some remnant of the roads see heavy use from tourism, such as the [[Inca Trail to Machu Picchu]], which is well known by trekkers. 

A 2021 study found that its effects have lingered for over 500 years, with wages, nutrition and school levels higher in communities living within 20 kilometers of the Inca Road, compared to similar communities farther away.<ref>[https://voxeu.org/article/long-term-effects-inca-road Voxeu.org: "Long-term effects of the Inca Road"]</ref>