Chipaya belongs to the Uru-Chipaya language group which was first documented in the early colonial period (mid 16th century) on the high plateaus called Altiplano in the Southern Central Andes (in what today is Bolivia and Peru) along what has been called the “aquatic axis” (Wachtel), extending from Lake Titicaca, along the Desaguadero River, to the shores of Lake Poopó, as well as north of Lake Coipasa, and in some other areas south of it.