Tahuantinsuyo is the name given by the Incas to the territory that encompassed their empire in the middle of the fifteenth century until the Spanish conquest in the sixteenth century. It was located in the Andean region of South America and its people grew into an empire by assimilating or subjugating the surrounding regions. The name tauantin suyu in Quechua means "four regions", as it was formed by the Chinchay Suyu, the Anti Suyu, the Coya Suyo and the Cunti Suyu.