Language
As mentioned above, the identity of Quechua communities is primarily based on language affiliation. However, while Quechua is spoken primarily by the people of Ollagüe and San Pedro Estación, in Alto Loa, it is spoken little by the self-identified Quechua communities of Tarapacá. Still, Quechua was the lengua franca of the Inca Empire, and is spoken today from Ecuador to southern Peru. In the Bolivian Altiplano and Northern Chile, Quechua is still spoken in some indigenous communities whose historic origins include groups that were moved by the Inca Empire during its conquest of those Andean territories.