Geographic HistoryMap of the Inca Empire
On the Geographic History map, the Inca Empire appears from 1468 to 1541. It reaches its largest mapped extent in 1488: about 1.7 million km² across 37 provinces.
The Inca Empire, Tawantinsuyu, was the largest state in the Americas before Columbus, stretching along the Andes from Ecuador to central Chile. Its rulers in Cusco governed without writing, keeping records on knotted cords called quipu and moving armies and goods along a vast road network. Weakened by civil war, it was conquered by Francisco Pizarro's Spanish force from 1532, although resistance in Vilcabamba lasted until 1572.
Mapped area over time
The Inca Empire on the world maps
Largest other states in 1488
| State | Mapped area |
|---|---|
| Ming | 3.9 million km² |
| Kazakh Khanate | 1.7 million km² |
| Aq Qoyunlu | 1.6 million km² |
| Sibir | 1.6 million km² |
| Muscovy | 1.5 million km² |
| Oirat Horde | 1.4 million km² |
| Mongolia | 1.4 million km² |
| Mamluk Sultanate | 1.1 million km² |
About this map
Territory comes from the Chronas historical dataset used by the Geographic History app. Areas are approximate, computed from about 2,400 province shapes, and describe this map rather than official historical figures - border data for the ancient and medieval world is necessarily a reconstruction.
Every year has a map
Drag a timeline across 2,500 years in the free Geographic History app - every province, ruler and battle, also offline.
