The Inca Empire is the largest empire in the world, larger than the Ottoman Empire and the Ming Empire in China. It stretches for 5,000 kilometers along the Andes and includes over 12 million people from Colombia to Chile. It lacks written language, but it has a highly efficient military structure and a wealthy and productive society centered around the capital, Cusco, in Peru. Trade and agriculture are based on the labor of man and llamas, which are raised in the hundreds of thousands, thanks to their ability to move across mountainous terrain. The Spanish are impressed by the quality and quantity of the llamas: after a defeat in battle, the Incas abandon 15,000 llamas into the hands of the incredulous Spanish.
