The center of origin for tobacco, meaning the place where its genetic origin meets its initial cultivation, lies in the Andes region encompassing Peru and Ecuador.
While it's impossible to pinpoint a single "inventor" country for tobacco in the modern sense of the word, archaeological and genetic evidence points to the Peruvian/Ecuadorian Andes as the region where tobacco cultivation first began. Estimates for this initial cultivation range from 5000-3000 BC. It's important to understand that the indigenous populations of this region were the first to cultivate and utilize tobacco plants long before the concept of modern nation-states existed. Therefore, attributing the "invention" to a single modern country isn't entirely accurate. Instead, the area encompassing parts of modern-day Peru and Ecuador is the most accurate answer.
