What is Quechua and Where do the Quechuan languages come from?

Quechua is a family of Native American languages spoken in the Andes Mountains of South America.

It includes the tongue spoken by the Incas in Peru before the Spanish conquistadors arrived. Quechuan languages are still spoken by Native Americans of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and other South American countries.

Many Quechuan words have passed into Spanish and from there into English. These include poncho, llama, puma, condor, and gaucho.