Andean world

The Andean world, Andean cultural area or Andean America is a cultural area in existence since pre-Columbian times located in the central region of the Andes mountain range, where the most complex societies of South America developed, the Andean civilizations. Its approximate extent goes from the center-south of Chile and Mendoza in Argentina, north up to the south of Colombia. To the north, it overlaps in part with what is known as the Intermediate Area.
The concept of the Andean area was discussed in the mid-20th century. Bennet and Bird established an area of co-tradition in the Andean region primarily focused on the Central Andes and the existence of an "Intermediate" area located north of the Cajamarca basin in Peru. This approach, valid for Peruvian archaeology, does not encompass all the complex societies that emerged in the Andes before the Spanish conquest. In this regard, the macro-Andean approach postulated by Luis Lumbreras in 1981 emerged, which established what is now known as the Andean cultural area. This cultural area is
the consequence of an interdependence relationship caused by an agricultural-based lifestyle; therefore, it is not applicable to pre-agricultural stages nor will it be for social levels based, for example, on industry. A factor that unites all the peoples of this area, according to Lumbreras, is that their relationship with the environment is resolved through a constant cycle of sea - mountain range - tropical forest, which shapes an integrative economic rationality transverse to the geographic axis of the Andes.
However, there are differences and varying degrees of complexity in the social and political development of the cultures within the Andean area, expressed in sub-areas.
Politically, the most of the Andean world was unified under the Inca and the Spanish empires both of which engaged in policies of colonization and population transfers. These empires left linguistic legacies in terms of the dispersal of Imperial Quechua and Spanish languages in the Andean world.

Subareas

The boundaries of these cultural subareas do not coincide with the borders of modern Andean republics.
;Northern extreme: Includes the Andean basins of the Magdalena and Cauca, the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, the Colombian coast, and part of western Venezuela. Regional Colombian cultures developed here, including the Quimbaya, Tairona, San Agustín, Tierra Adentro, and Chibcha. This subarea is where ceramics may have been invented in South America. The ecosystem of páramo predominates.
;Northern Andean area: Primarily composed of Ecuadorian territory, the southwestern corner of Colombia, and the northernmost part of Peru. Known cultures include the ancient Valdivia culture, with one of the oldest ceramics in the Americas, and the Mayo-Chinchipe culture. The Manteña-huancavilca civilization and the Milagro culture in the coastal regions, and the late kingdoms of Caranqui-Cayambe and Cañar are also part of this subarea. The development of the Vicus culture, however, is deeply connected to the next subarea.
;Central Andean area: Located in Peru. The high Andean regions are dominated by the puna ecosystem, and the coast is arid. It is considered along with the central-southern area as the most culturally developed region. It includes a vast history where cultures such as Caral-Supe, Chavín, Moche, Nazca, Recuay, Wari, Chimú, Chachapoya, and Inca, among many others, stand out.
;Central-southern Andean area : Includes the southernmost part of Peru, Bolivia, northern Chile, and part of northeastern Argentina. Its high Andean zone is dominated by the Collao Plateau. The coastal region is the driest in South America. It is home to the Chinchorro culture, Pucará, the Atacama cultures, Tiwanaku, and the Aymara kingdoms.
;Southern Andean area: Occupies central Chile and much of the Argentine Northwest.
;Southern extreme: Occupies what has traditionally been identified as the Araucanía.

Culture

Andean culture is a collective term used to refer to the indigenous peoples of the Andes mountains especially those that came under the influence of the Inca Empire. Cultures considered Andean include:

This term is also used to describe the Hispanic based cultures of the Andes, which through the interaction of the Spaniards with the Andean Natives formed into a distinct group of cultures incorporating both Hispanic and Indigenous cultural traits, although such a definition excludes the contribution of other human groups and ethnicities inhabiting in the Andean mountains, such as non Andean indigenous groups, African diaspora in the Americas or Asian immigrants. These cultures include: