Quechua, also called Runasimi in Southern Quechua, is an indigenous language family that originated in central Peru and thereafter spread to other countries of the Andes. Derived from a common ancestral "Proto-Quechua" language, it is today the most widely spoken pre-Columbian language family of the Americas, with the number of speakers estimated at 8–10 million speakers in 2004, and just under 7 million from the most recent census data available up to 2011. Approximately 13.9% of Peruvians speak a Quechua language.
Aymara is an Aymaran language spoken by the Aymara people of the Bolivian Andes. It is one of only a handful of Native American languages with over one million speakers. Aymara, along with Spanish and Quechua, is an official language in Bolivia and Peru. It is also spoken, to a much lesser extent, by some communities in northern Chile, where it is a recognized minority language.
Puquina is a small, putative language family, often portrayed as a language isolate, which consists of the extinct Puquina language and Kallawaya, although it is assumed that the latter is just a remnant of the former mixed with Quechuan. Puquina speakers are last mentioned in the early nineteenth century.
Kichwa is a Quechuan language that includes all Quechua varieties of Ecuador and Colombia (Inga), as well as extensions into Peru. It has an estimated half million speakers.
Southern Quechua, or simply Quechua, is the most widely spoken of the major regional groupings of mutually intelligible dialects within the Quechua language family, with about 6.9 million speakers. Besides Guaraní it is the only indigenous language of America with more than 5 million speakers. The term Southern Quechua refers to the Quechuan varieties spoken in regions of the Andes south of a line roughly east–west between the cities of Huancayo and Huancavelica in central Peru. It includes the Quechua varieties spoken in the regions of Ayacucho, Cusco and Puno in Peru, in much of Bolivia and parts of north-west Argentina. The most widely spoken varieties are Cusco, Ayacucho, Puno (Collao), and South Bolivian.
The languages of Bolivia include Spanish; several dozen indigenous languages, most prominently Aymara, Quechua, Chiquitano, and Guaraní; Bolivian Sign Language. Indigenous languages and Spanish are official languages of the state according to the 2009 Constitution. The constitution says that all indigenous languages are official, listing 36 specific languages, of which some are extinct. Spanish and Quechua are spoken primarily in the Andes region, Aymara is mainly spoken in the Altiplano around Lake Titicaca, Chiquitano is spoken in the central part of Santa Cruz department, and Guarani is spoken in the southeast on the border with Paraguay and Argentina.
Rodolfo Cerrón Palomino is a Peruvian linguist who has crucially contributed to the investigation and development of the Quechuan languages. He has also made outstanding contributions to the study of the Aymara, Mochica and Chipaya languages.
Spanish is the language that is predominantly understood and spoken as a first or second language by nearly all of the population of Argentina. According to the latest estimations, the population is currently greater than 45 million.
Spanish is the de facto official and administrative language of Chile. It is spoken by 99.3% of the population in the form of Chilean Spanish, as well as Andean Spanish. Spanish in Chile is also referred to as "castellano". Although an officially recognized Hispanic language does not exist at the governmental level, the Constitution itself, as well as all official documents, are written in this language.
The Uru language, more specifically known as Iru-Itu, and Uchumataqu, is an extinct language formerly spoken by the Uru people. In 2004, it had 2 remaining native speakers out of an ethnic group of 140 people in the La Paz Department, Bolivia near Lake Titicaca, the rest having shifted to Aymara and Spanish. The language is close enough to the Chipaya language to sometimes be considered a dialect of that language.
The Kallawaya are an indigenous group living in the Andes of Bolivia. They live in the Bautista Saavedra Province and Muñecas Province of the La Paz Department but are best known for being an itinerant group of traditional healers that travel on foot to reach their patients. According to the UNESCO Safeguarding Project, the Kallawaya can be traced to the pre-Inca period as direct descendants of the Tiwanaku and Mollo cultures, meaning their existence has lasted approximately 1,000 years. They are known to have performed complex procedures like brain surgery alongside their continuous use of medicinal plants as early as 700 AD. Most famously, they are known to have helped to save thousands of lives during the construction of the Panama Canal, in which they used traditional plant remedies to treat the malaria epidemic. Some historical sources even cite the Kallawayas as the first to use quinine to prevent and control malaria. In 2012, there were 11,662 Kallawaya throughout Bolivia.
The aguayo, or also quepina is a rectangular carrying cloth used in traditional communities in the Andes region of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Aymara and Quechua people use it to carry small children or various other items in it on their backs. It is similar to a lliklla and sometimes regarded as a synonym. It is often striped, and is hand woven with wool that is later dyed with bright colors.
Amazonian Kichwas are a grouping of indigenous Kichwa peoples in the Ecuadorian Amazon, with minor groups across the borders of Colombia and Peru. Amazonian Kichwas consists of different ethnic peoples, including Napo Kichwa and Canelos Kichwa. There are approximately 419 organized communities of the Amazonian Kichwas. The basic socio-political unit is the ayllu. The ayllus in turn constitute territorial clans, based on common ancestry. Unlike other subgroups, the Napo Kichwa maintain less ethnic duality of acculturated natives or Christians.
Machu Such'i Qhuchi or Machu Such'i Q'uchi is a mountain in the Apolobamba mountain range in the Bolivian Andes, about 5,679 metres (18,632 ft) high. It is situated near the Peruvian border in the La Paz Department, Franz Tamayo Province, Pelechuco Municipality, east of Such'i Lake.
Kimsa Chata, also spelled Kimsachata, is a 4,735-metre-high (15,535 ft) mountain in the Andes in Bolivia. It is located in the Chilla-Kimsa Chata mountain range south-east of Wiñaymarka Lake, the southern part of Lake Titicaca. It lies in the La Paz Department, Ingavi Province, Tiwanaku Municipality, about 15 km south of the archaeological site of Tiwanaku and the village of the same name. Kimsa Chata is situated between the mountains Nasa Puqi in the north and Chuqi Ch'iwani in the south.
Kimsa Chata is a 5,245-metre-high (17,208 ft) mountain in the Andes of Bolivia. It is located in the Oruro Department, Sabaya Province, Sabaya Municipality, Negrillos Canton. It lies south-east of the mountain Qillwiri, east of Lliscaya, north-east of Taypi Qullu and north-west of the Laram Pukara, near the border with Chile.
The Chilla-Kimsa Chata mountain range is situated in Bolivia south east of Wiñaymarka Lake, the southern part of Lake Titicaca, in the La Paz Department, Ingavi Province. The range is named after one of highest mountains, the Kimsa Chata complex rising up to 4,735 metres (15,535 ft) about 15 km south of Tiwanaku.
Kimsa Chata is a mountain in the Cordillera Real in the Andes of Bolivia, about 5,056 metres (16,588 ft) high. It is located in the La Paz Department, Los Andes Province, Batallas Municipality, Kirani Canton. It is situated south-west of the mountains Wila Lluxi, Warawarani and Phaq'u Kiwuta, between the mountain Qala T'uxu in the north and the lake Q'ara Quta in the south.
Kimsa Chata is a group of three mountains in the Andes of Bolivia. It is located in the Oruro Department, Sajama Province, in the north of the Turco Municipality. It is situated north-east of the mountains Yaritani and Wankarani. The northern peak is 4,809 metres (15,778 ft) high. The two other peaks of the groups lie south-east of it.
Kimsa Chata is a group of three mountains in the Wansu mountain range in the Andes of Peru. Its central peak reaches 5,091 metres (16,703 ft) above sea level. It is situated in the Arequipa Region, La Unión Province, Huaynacotas District. Kimsa Chata lies at the Yana Wanaku valley southeast of Hatun Pata.
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