Indigenous Peoples in Latin America: Statistical July 16, 2020
Information
Carla Y. Davis-Castro
This report provides statistical information on indigenous peoples in Latin America. Data and
Research Librarian
findings vary, sometimes greatly, on all topics covered in this report, including populations and

languages, socioeconomic data, land and natural resources, human rights and international legal
conventions. For example, Figure 1, shows three estimates for the indigenous population of Latin

America. These estimates range from UNICEF’s 2009 estimate of the total indigenous population
of Latin America of 29.4 million; to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean’s (ECLAC’s) 2014
estimate of 44.7 million; to the World Bank’s (WB’s) 2015 estimate of 41.8 million (7.85% of the population).
Total Indigenous Population and Percentage of General Population of Latin America

Source: Graphic created by CRS using UNICEF and FUNPROEIB Andes’ (UNICEF) 2009 Atlas Sociolingüístico de Pueblos Indígenas en
América Latina; the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and World Bank’s (WB) 2015 Indigenous Latin America in
the twenty-first century: the first decade; and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean’s (ECLAC) 2014
Guaranteeing indigenous people’s rights in Latin America: Progress in the past decade and remaining challenges.
Notes: The ECLAC report includes a table titled “Latin America (17 countries): population of indigenous peoples according to
censuses and estimates, around 2010.” The World Bank report uses national censuses to provide demographic information and
notes “for countries without census data available for the end of the decade, the indigenous population was estimated by applying
the percentage of the last census to the 2010 projection of the national population.
Definitions of indigenous peoples also vary. The United Nations and many countries rely on self-identification of indigenous
peoples. In counting distinct groups, this report uses the term “indigenous groups” rather than “tribe,” “nation,” “ethnic
minority,” or “sociolinguistic group.”
Resource lists for each section (languages; socioeconomics; land, natural resources, and climate change; international
organizations; and human rights) are available in the appendix as well as a lists of national agencies that oversee indigenous
affairs in each Central American or South American country.

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Introduction
Congress has long been interested in the status of indigenous peoples abroad. In 1992, the 102nd
Congress enacted H.R. 5368 (P.L. 102-391) requiring the State Department’s annual human rights
report to “describe the extent to which indigenous people are able to participate in decisions
affecting their lands, cultures, traditions and the allocation of natural resources, and assess the
extent of protection of their civil and political rights.” Issues relating to indigenous peoples
periodically have been considered in hearings focused on such issues as environmental
protection, energy opportunities, and security cooperation.1
This report provides statistical information on indigenous peoples in Latin America, including
populations and languages, socioeconomic data, land and natural resources, human rights, and
international legal conventions. Resource lists for each section (languages; socioeconomics; land
and resources; international organizations; and human rights) are available in the tables of
Appendix A. Table B-1 lists national agencies that oversee indigenous affairs in each country.
Terms
Definitions of indigenous peoples vary. The United Nations (U.N.) has not adopted an official
definition, but instead relies on self-identification to categorize indigenous populations around the
world; many countries do the same. However, the U.N. web page dedicated to indigenous peoples
does state “indigenous peoples are inheritors and practitioners of unique cultures and ways of
relating to people and the environment. They have retained social, cultural, economic and
political characteristics that are distinct from those of the dominant societies in which they live.”2
The annex of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples states “indigenous
peoples have suffered from historic injustices as a result of, inter alia, their colonization and
dispossession of their lands, territories and resources.”
The Organization of American States’ (OAS) American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples repeats the U.N. Declaration language and adds “indigenous peoples are original, diverse
societies with their own identities that constitute an integral part of the Americas.” According to
OAS estimates, more than 50 million people of indigenous descent live in the Western
hemisphere. This report examines those living in Latin American and the Caribbean.
According to the Manual for National Human Rights Institutions that accompanied the U.N.
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, “indigenous peoples have argued against the
adoption of a formal definition at the international level, stressing the need for flexibility and for
respecting the desire and the right of each indigenous people to define themselves.… As a
consequence, no formal definition has been adopted in international law. A strict definition is seen
as unnecessary and undesirable.”3

1 For example: U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace
Corps, Narcotics and Terrorism, Environmental Protection in an Era of Dramatic Economic Growth in Latin America,
106th Cong., 2nd sess., July 25, 2000 (Washington, DC: GPO, 2000); U.S. Congress, House Committee on Foreign
Affairs, Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, U.S.–Mexico Security Cooperation: An Overview of the Merida
Initiative 2008–Present, 113th Cong., 1st sess., May 23, 2013 (Washington, DC: GPO, 2013); U.S. Congress, House
Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Energy Opportunities in South America,
115th Cong., 1st sess., May 17, 2017 (Washington, DC: GPO, 2017).
2 U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, “Indigenous Peoples at the UN,” at
https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/about-us.html.
3 United Nations, The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: A Manual for National Human
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In counting distinct groups, this CRS report uses the term “indigenous groups” rather than “tribe,”
“nation,” “ethnic minority,” or “sociolinguistic group.”
A 2019 United Nations report included sections titled “the need for disaggregated data” and “the
persistent invisibility of indigenous peoples” to address data limitations regarding indigenous
people around the globe. However, the report notes progress in Latin America: “only two
censuses included self-identification criteria in the 1990 round, but by the 2010 round such
criteria were present in 21 of them.”4 Despite some advances, the sources cited in this report
contain data limitations, which are discussed in Appendix A. The countries listed in each table or
graph may differ from others in this report based on the information available in the sources.
Population Data
Latin America is home to 29-45 million indigenous people according to several studies that
provided estimates for around 2010.5 The World Bank stated in a report that “official data on
indigenous people are not conclusive, as many technical and sociological difficulties persist in
census data collection. Other sources based on estimates and unofficial data refer to 50 million
indigenous inhabitants in Latin America (about 10 percent of the total population). For this report,
however, we will refer to the official—albeit imperfect—numbers provided by the national
censuses [41.81 million].”6 Figure 1 illustrates the total number of indigenous people and their
share of the total population according to three sources: a 2009 UNICEF report, a 2014 report
from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), and a 2015
World Bank Report. Census projections forecast indigenous population increases in many
countries in part due to populations that are younger on average than non-indigenous populations
and in part due to an increase in self-identification.7

Rights Institutions, HR/PUB/13/2, 2013, at
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/IPeoples/UNDRIPManualForNHRIs.pdf. For more information about the
United Nations, the International Labor Organization and the World Intellectual Property Organization, see CRS
Report R43614, Membership in the United Nations and Its Specialized Agencies, by Luisa Blanchfield and Marjorie
Ann Browne.
4 United Nations, The state of the world´s indigenous people: Implementing the United Nations Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 4th volume, ST/ESA/371, 2019, at https://social.un.org/unpfii/sowip-vol4-web.pdf.
5 In this report, Latin America includes Mexico, the land mass of Central America (Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador,
Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama), and the land mass of South America (Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana,
Suriname, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay). The exception is French Guiana,
which is an overseas department of France and is not included in this report.
6 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank, Indigenous Latin America in the Twenty-First
Century: the First Decade, 2015, pp. 6, 9, at
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/02/24863854/indigenous-latin-america-twenty-first-century-first-
decade, p. 24. Hereinafter: World Bank, 2015.
7 Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Guaranteeing indigenous people’s rights in Latin
America: Progress in the past decade and remaining challenges, November 2014, p. 40, at
https://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/37051/4/S1420782_en.pdf. Hereinafter: ECLAC, 2014.
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Figure 1. Total Indigenous Population and Percentage of General Population of Latin
America

Source: Graphic created by CRS using UNICEF and FUNPROEIB Andes’ (UNICEF) 2009 Atlas Sociolingüístico de
Pueblos Indígenas en América Latina; the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and World
Bank’s (WB) 2015 Indigenous Latin America in the twenty-first century: the first decade; and the Economic
Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean’s (ECLAC) 2014 Guaranteeing indigenous people’s rights in Latin
America: Progress in the past decade and remaining challenges.
Note: The ECLAC report includes a table titled “Latin America (17 countries): population of indigenous peoples
according to censuses and estimates, around 2010.” The World Bank report uses national censuses to provide
demographic information and notes “for countries without census data available for the end of the decade, the
indigenous population was estimated by applying the percentage of the last census to the 2010 projection of the
national population.
Table 1 shows a breakdown by country of indigenous populations and their share of the overall
population. CRS created the following tables from several sources; publication dates and
methodologies differed. The countries listed in each table may differ from others in this report
based on the information available in the sources.

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Table 1. Indigenous Populations and Percentages of General Population in Latin
America by Country
UNICEF 2009
ECLAC 2014
WB 2015 Indigenous
Country
Indigenous Population
Indigenous Population
Population (% of
(% of general pop.)a
(% of general pop.)b
general pop.)c
600,329
955,032
955,032
Argentina
(1.6%)
(2.4%)
(2.4%)
38,562
Belize
N/A
N/A
(16.6%)
5,358,107
6,216,026
4,115,226
Bolivia
(66.2%)
(62.2%)
(41%)
734,127
896,917
817,963
Brazil
(0.4%)
(0.5%)
(0.5%)
692,192
1,805,243
788,935
Chile
(4.6%)
(11%)
(4.6%)
1,392,623
1,559,852
1,532,678
Colombia
(3.3%)
(3.4%)
(3.3%)
65,548
104,143
104,143
Costa Rica
(1.7%)
(2.4%)
(2.4%)
830,418
1,018,176
1,018,176
Ecuador
(6.8%)
(7%)
(7%)
13,310
14,408
14,865
El Salvador
(0.2%)
(0.2%)
(0.2%)
4,487,026
5,881,009
5,880,046
Guatemala
(39.9%)
(41%)
(41%)
68,819
Guyana
N/A
N/A
(9.1%)
440,313
536,541
548,727
Honduras
(7.2%)
(7%)
(7.2%)
9,504,184
16,933,283
16,836,877
Mexico
(9.4%)
(15.1%)
(15%)
292,244
518,104
349,333
Nicaragua
(5.7%)
(8.9%)
(6%)
285,231
417,559
417,559
Panama
(10%)
(12.3%)
(12.2%)
108,308
112,848
112,848
Paraguay
(2%)
(1.8%)
(1.7%)
3,919,314
7,021,271
7,596,039
Peru
(13.9%)
(24%)
(26%)
6,601
Suriname
N/A
N/A
(1.5%)
115,118
76,452
Uruguay
N/A
(3.5%)
(2.4%)
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UNICEF 2009
ECLAC 2014
WB 2015 Indigenous
Country
Indigenous Population
Indigenous Population
Population (% of
(% of general pop.)a
(% of general pop.)b
general pop.)c
534,816
724,592
724,592
Venezuela
(2.3%)
(2.7%)
(2.8%)
29,373,208
44,791,456
41,813,039
TOTAL
(6.1%)
(8.3%)
(7.8%)
Source: Compiled by CRS using the fol owing sources: UNICEF and FUNPROEIB Andes’ (UNICEF) 2009 Atlas
Sociolingüístico de Pueblos Indígenas en América Latina; Economic Commission for Latin America and the
Caribbean’s (ECLAC) 2014 Guaranteeing indigenous people’s rights in Latin America: Progress in the past decade and
remaining challenges; and the World Bank Group’s (WB) 2015 Indigenous Latin America in the twenty-first century:
the first decade.
Notes:
a. UNICEF and FUNPROEIB Andes’ 2009 Atlas covered 25 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and
the population figures vary by country from 1999 to 2008.
b. ECLAC’s 2014 report covered 17 countries in Latin America with population figures “according to censuses
and estimates, around 2010.”
c. The World Bank’s 2015 report covered 16 countries in Latin America and the population figures vary by
country from 2001 to 2012 with some projections for 2010.
Figure 2 illustrates the range of estimates regarding the indigenous population as a percentage of
the general population in each country. Bolivia’s steep decrease in the indigenous population
reflects “reasons that probably have more to do with discrepancies in how the data were collected
between the last two censuses than with a real trend to negative growth,” according to the World
Bank.8 More generally, differences in data collection between censuses and across countries make
it difficult to estimate population increases.

8 World Bank, 2015, p. 10.
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Indigenous Peoples in Latin America: Statistical Information

Figure 2. Indigenous Population in Latin America as Percentage of General
Population by Country

Source: Graphic created by CRS using UNICEF and FUNPROEIB Andes’ (UNICEF) 2009 Atlas Sociolingüístico de
Pueblos Indígenas en América Latina; the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and World
Bank’s (WB) 2015 Indigenous Latin America in the twenty-first century: the first decade; and the Economic
Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean’s (ECLAC) 2014 Guaranteeing indigenous people’s rights in Latin
America: Progress in the past decade and remaining challenges.
Note: The sources note that figures are based on national censuses. For more details see Appendix A.
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Indigenous Groups and Languages
Following the International Year of Indigenous Languages in 2019 the United Nations declared
2022-2032 the International Decade of Indigenous Languages.9 Experts found that 4 in 10
indigenous languages are in danger of disappearing yet figures on indigenous groups and
languages vary among sources.10
Data on indigenous ethnic groups
“As for the number and distribution of ethnic groups, the issue is even more problematic and the regional
censuses might not be the best source, because ethnic frontiers rarely match national borders and no country
keeps track of cross-border populations. Also, different ethnic groups sometimes receive… names given to
several unconnected peoples…. On the other hand, a single group or linguistic family might receive different
names in different countries—such as the several groups of Maya peoples inhabiting a large area of southern
Mexico and Central America.”
-- World Bank’s Indigenous Latin America in the twenty-first century: the first decade11
Figure 3 shows the total number of indigenous groups in Latin America as identified by three
sources. A 2009 UNICEF report identified a total of 655 indigenous groups in Latin America.12
The 2014 ECLAC report cites 826 indigenous groups in Latin America although it does not
provide a country breakdown.13 Of these 826, about 200 indigenous groups live in voluntary
isolation, which is defined by an Inter-American Commission on Human Rights report as groups
that “do not maintain sustained contacts with the majority non-indigenous population.”14 The
World Bank’s 2015 report identifies 772 indigenous groups in Latin America.15

9 United Nations, “General Assembly Adopts 60 Third Committee Resolutions, Proclaims International Decade of
Indigenous Languages, Covering Broad Themes of Social Equality,” press release GA/12231, December 18, 2019, at
https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/ga12231.doc.htm
10 United Nations News, “Four in 10 indigenous languages at risk of disappearing, warn UN human rights experts,”
August 7, 2019, at https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/08/1043871
11 IBRD and World Bank, 2015, p. 24.
12 UNICEF and FUNPROEIB Andes, Atlas Sociolingüístico de Pueblos Indígenas en América Latina Vol. I, 2009, p.
68, at https://www.unicef.org/honduras/tomo_1_atlas.pdf. Hereinafter, UNICEF, 2009. This figures excludes 10
indigenous groups from Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, French Guiana, Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago, which
are not otherwise included in the report.
13 ECLAC, 2014, pp. 38-39.
14 Rapporteurship on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact in
the Americas: Recommendations for the full respect of their human rights, Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights, OEA/Ser.L/V/II. Doc.47/13, 2013, p. 4, at http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/indigenous/docs/pdf/report-indigenous-
peoples-voluntary-isolation.pdf.
15 IBRD and World Bank, 2015, p. 26. This figure excludes six indigenous groups from French Guiana.
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Figure 3. Total Number of Indigenous Groups in Latin America

Source: Graphic created by CRS using UNICEF and FUNPROEIB Andes’ (UNICEF) 2009 Atlas Sociolingüístico de
Pueblos Indígenas en América Latina; the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and World
Bank’s (WB) 2015 Indigenous Latin America in the twenty-first century: the first decade; and the Economic
Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean’s (ECLAC) 2014 Guaranteeing indigenous people’s rights in Latin
America: Progress in the past decade and remaining challenges.
Note: These figures exclude French Guiana and Caribbean island nations.
According to several sources, indigenous languages number fewer than the number of indigenous
groups across the region as some languages are spoken by more than one group and some groups
have lost their indigenous language (see Figure 4). The 2015 World Bank report found 558
indigenous languages across 20 countries of Latin America,16 while a 2009 UNICEF report found
551 languages across the same 20 countries.17 Of these 551, the latter report found that 111
languages are vulnerable to extinction although five (Quechua, Nahuatl, Aymara, Yucatan Maya,
and Ki’che’) had over a million speakers each. In 2019, the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL
International) reported 880 indigenous languages are spoken across the same 20 Latin American
countries.18
Figure 4. Total Number of Indigenous Languages in Latin America

Source: Graphic created by CRS using UNICEF and FUNPROEIB Andes’ (UNICEF) 2009 Atlas Sociolingüístico de
Pueblos Indígenas en América Latina; the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and World
Bank’s (WB) 2015 Indigenous Latin America in the twenty-first century: the first decade; and SIL International’s 2020
Ethnologue: Languages of the World (Twenty-third ed.).
Note: Numbers indicate the number of living indigenous languages. Not included are countries, primarily in the
Caribbean, whose only indigenous languages are sign languages and Creole languages based on European and
African languages.
Table 2 shows a breakdown of Latin America’s indigenous groups and languages by country
according to two sources. CRS created the table from several sources; publication dates and
methodologies differed. The countries listed in each table may differ from others in this report
based on the information available in the sources.

16 Ibid. This figure excludes six languages in French Guiana.
17 UNICEF, 2009, p. 81. This figure includes six languages in French Guiana.
18 Gary F. Simons (editor), Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Twenty-third edition, SIL International, 2020, at
https://www.ethnologue.com/.
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Table 2. Indigenous Groups and Languages of Latin America by Country
UNICEF 2009
Indigenous Groups
WB 2015 Indigenous
Country
(languages)a
Groups (languages)b
30
30
Argentina
(15)
(15)
4
4
Belize
(4)
(4)
36
114
Bolivia
(33)
(33)
241
241
Brazil
(186)
(186)
9
9
Chile
(6)
(6)
83
83
Colombia
(65)
(65)
8
8
Costa Rica
(7)
(7)
12
32
Ecuador
(12)
(13)
3
3
El Salvador
(1)
(1)
24
24
Guatemala
(24)
(24)
9
9
Guyana
(9)
(9)
7
7
Honduras
(6)
(6)
67
67
Mexico
(64)
(67)
9
9
Nicaragua
(6)
(6)
8
7
Panama
(8)
(7)
20
20
Paraguay
(20)
(20)
43
52
Peru
(43)
(47)
5
5
Suriname
(5)
(5)
0
0
Uruguay
(0)
(0)
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UNICEF 2009
Indigenous Groups
WB 2015 Indigenous
Country
(languages)a
Groups (languages)b
37
50
Venezuela
(37)
(37)
655
774
TOTAL
(551)
(558)
Source: Graphic created by CRS using UNICEF and FUNPROEIB Andes’ (UNICEF) 2009 Atlas Sociolingüístico de
Pueblos Indígenas en América Latina; and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and World
Bank’s (WB) 2015 Indigenous Latin America in the twenty-first century: the first decade.
Notes: This report uses “peoples” rather than “tribe,” “nation,” “ethnic minority,” or “sociolinguistic group.”
a. While UNICEF and FUNPROEIB Andes’ 2009 Atlas covered 25 countries in Latin America and the
Caribbean, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, French Guiana, Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago are not
otherwise included.
b. While the World Bank’s 2015 report covered 16 countries in Latin America, French Guiana is not included
in this report.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 15,000-19,000 indigenous language
speakers from Latin America reside in the United States.19
Indigenous languages also relate to issues such as biodiversity. A 2020 study states that “most of
the places with the highest concentration of biological diversity coincide with spaces inhabited by
indigenous peoples whose members continue to speak the language of their ancestors” and
highlights Mexico and Brazil.20 A 2012 study explored “the co-occurrence of linguistic and
biological diversity in regions containing many of the Earth’s remaining species…Results
indicate that these regions often contain considerable linguistic diversity, accounting for 70% of
all languages on Earth.”21 The study specifically notes Mesoamerica as a biodiverse hotspot with
more than 250 indigenous languages. Additional resources about indigenous groups and
languages can be found in Table A-1.
Socioeconomic Data
In a 2015 publication, the World Bank found that 43% of indigenous people in Latin America are
poor (living on less than $5.50 a day in 2011 purchasing power parity prices or PPP), and 24%
are extremely poor (living on less than $1.90 a day in 2011 PPP prices), more than twice the rates
for non-indigenous people. The report also documented education gaps were across the region.22
Drawing from another World Bank resource, Figure 5 compares rates of indigenous peoples

19 Language is a proxy for Latin American indigenous presence in the United States. See the U.S. Census Bureau,
2006-2008 American Community Survey, “Detailed Language Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English for the
Population 5 Years and Older by States: 2006-2008,” April 2010, at
https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2008/demo/2006-2008-lang-tables.html; see also U.S. Census Bureau, 2009-2013
American Community Survey, “Detailed Language Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English for the Population 5
Years and Over: 2009-2013,” October 2015, at https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2013/demo/2009-2013-lang-
tables.html.
20 Claudia Gafner-Rojas, “Indigenous languages as contributors to the preservation of biodiversity and their presence in
international environmental law,” Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy, (June 12, 2020).
21 L. J. Gorenflo, Suzanne Romaine, Russell A. Mittermeier, Kristen Walker-Painemilla, “Co-occurring linguistic and
biological diversity,” proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 109, no. 2 (May 2012), pp. 8032-8037.
22 IBRD and World Bank, 2015, pp. 12, 127, 9, 34-37.
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Indigenous Peoples in Latin America: Statistical Information

living on less than $5.50 a day compared to the general population in select countries of Central
and South America.
Figure 5. Rates of Indigenous People Living on Less than $5.50 a Day in Select Latin
American Countries

Source: Graphic created by CRS using data from the World Bank’s LAC Equity Lab web page “Ethnicity –
Poverty.”
Note: The World Bank notes that ethnic identity is based on self-reported data. The numbers presented are
based on a regional data harmonization effort comprised of the World Bank and the Center for Distributive,
Labor and Social Studies, which may differ from official statistics. Monetary values are reported in USD 2011
purchasing power parity (PPP) terms. Last updated October 2018.
The World Bank provides statistics on access to various services and opportunities for indigenous
peoples in select countries of Central and South America, last updated in October 2018. The
following graphs compare indigenous rates of access to these amenities compared with the
general population rates by country (Figure 6, electricity; Figure 7, internet; Figure 8, home
ownership; Figure 9, sewage; and Figure 10, water).
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Figure 6. Electricity Access Rates in Select Latin American Countries (2018)

Source: Graphic created by CRS using data from the World Bank’s LAC Equity Lab web page "Ethnicity -
Access to Services."
Note: The World Bank notes that ethnic identity is based on self-reported data. The numbers presented are
based on a variety of sources, which may differ from official statistics reported by governments and national
statistical offices. Last updated October 2018.
Figure 7. Internet Access Rates in Select Latin American Countries (2018)

Source: Graphic created by CRS using data from the World Bank’s LAC Equity Lab web page "Ethnicity -
Access to Services."
Note: The World Bank notes that ethnic identity is based on self-reported data. The numbers presented are
based on a variety of sources, which may differ from official statistics reported by governments and national
statistical offices. Last updated October 2018.
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Figure 8. Ownership of Dwelling Rates in Select Latin American Countries (2018)

Source: Graphic created by CRS using data from the World Bank’s LAC Equity Lab web page "Ethnicity -
Access to Services."
Note: The World Bank notes that ethnic identity is based on self-reported data. The numbers presented are
based on a variety of sources, which may differ from official statistics reported by governments and national
statistical offices. Last updated October 2018.
Figure 9. Sewage Access Rates in Select Latin American Countries (2018)

Source: Graphic created by CRS using data from the World Bank’s LAC Equity Lab web page "Ethnicity -
Access to Services."
Note: The World Bank notes that ethnic identity is based on self-reported data. The numbers presented are
based on a variety of sources, which may differ from official statistics reported by governments and national
statistical offices. Last updated October 2018.
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Figure 10. Water Access Rates in Select Latin American Countries (2018)

Source: Graphic created by CRS using data from the World Bank’s LAC Equity Lab web page "Ethnicity -
Access to Services."
Note: The World Bank notes that ethnic identity is based on self-reported data. The numbers presented here
are based on a variety of sources, which may differ from official statistics reported by governments and national
statistical offices. Last updated October 2018.
The World Bank also provides labor and education statistics for indigenous peoples in select
countries of Central and South America, last updated in October 2018. The following graphs
compare indigenous rates compared with general population rates by country (Figure 11, literacy;
Figure 12, school attendance; Figure 13, unemployment; and Figure 14, low-skill and high-skill
employment).
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Figure 11. Literacy Rates in Select Latin American Countries (2018)

Source: Graphic created by CRS using data from the World Bank’s LAC Equity Lab web page "Ethnicity - Socio-
demographics."
Note: The World Bank notes that ethnic identity is based on self-reported data. The numbers presented here
are based on a variety of sources, which may differ from official statistics reported by governments and national
statistical offices. Last updated October 2018.
Figure 12. School Attendance Rates in Select Latin American Countries (2018)

Source: Graphic created by CRS using data from the World Bank’s LAC Equity Lab web page "Ethnicity - Socio-
demographics."
Note: The World Bank notes that ethnic identity is based on self-reported data. The numbers presented here
are based on a variety of sources, which may differ from official statistics reported by governments and national
statistical offices. Last updated October 2018.
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Figure 13. Unemployment Rates in Select Latin American Countries (2018)

Source: Graphic created by CRS using data from the World Bank’s LAC Equity Lab web page "Ethnicity - Socio-
demographics."
Note: The World Bank notes that ethnic identity is based on self-reported data. The numbers presented here
are based on a variety of sources, which may differ from official statistics reported by governments and national
statistical offices. Last updated October 2018.
Figure 14. High & Low-Skill Occupation Rates in Select Latin American Countries
(2018)

Source: Graphic created by CRS using data from the World Bank’s LAC Equity Lab web page "Ethnicity - Socio-
demographics."
Note: The World Bank notes that ethnic identity is based on self-reported data. The numbers presented here
are based on a variety of sources, which may differ from official statistics reported by governments and national
statistical offices. Last updated October 2018.
The socioeconomic challenges faced by indigenous peoples also impact their health. In light of
COVID-19, the United Nations highlights that “indigenous peoples face limited access to quality
and culturally accessible health services, which already affect their health outcomes, such as high
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maternal mortality rates and lower life expectancy” and that “the pandemic is compounding the
precarious situation.”23 Widespread disease is not new to Latin American indigenous peoples:
“While figures for Latin America are unclear, mortality from influenza and H1N1 was between
four and seven times higher in indigenous populations…Latin America’s indigenous population
was reduced by 95 percent over 300 years through diseases spread by colonizers.”24
In the appendix, Table A-2 lists resources relating to the socioeconomic standing of indigenous
peoples in Latin America.
Land and Natural Resources
A 2017 World Resources Institute (WRI) report states “the precise amount of communal land is
not known, but many experts argue that at least half of the world’s land is held by Indigenous
Peoples and other communities. Some estimates are as high as 65 percent or more of the global
land area.” The WRI goes on to specify that “globally, Indigenous Peoples and local communities
have formal legal ownership of 10 percent of the land, and have some degree of government-
recognized management rights over an additional 8 percent.”25
The United Nations’ Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean’s (ECLAC)
2014 report Guaranteeing indigenous people’s rights in Latin America: Progress in the past
decade and remaining challenges states that “over the past decade, booming international demand
for primary goods (minerals, hydrocarbons, soybeans and other agricultural commodities) has
boosted economic growth in the countries of Latin America but has had its cost in the form of a
growing number of environmental, social and ethnic conflicts involving extractive industries
located in or near indigenous territories.”26
According a 2012 Forest Peoples Programme global report, “[A]n estimated 350 million people
live inside or close to dense forests, largely dependent on these areas for subsistence and income,
while an estimated range of 60 million to 200 million indigenous people are almost wholly
dependent on forests.”27 For the region of Mexico, Central and South America, the report
estimates 42-48 million indigenous peoples and 21-26 million forest peoples.28 Some but not all
indigenous peoples are also forest peoples. Some countries did not have population figures for
forest people. A 2018 Science article classifies drivers of global tree cover loss using satellite
imagery. In Latin America, deforestation accounts for over half of the tree cover loss, shifting
agriculture about a third, and, to a smaller degree, forestry, wildfire, and urbanization.29

23 UN Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Issues, “Indigenous Peoples and COVID-19 A Guidance Note for
the UN System prepared by the UN Inter- Agency Support Group on Indigenous Issues,” April 23, 2020, at
https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2020/04/Indigenous-peoples-
and-COVID_IASG_23.04.2020-EN.pdf
24 Martín de Dios, “The situation of Latin America’s indigenous population and the impact of COVID-19,” United
Nations Development Programme in Latin America and the Caribbean blog, May 14, 2020, at
https://www.latinamerica.undp.org/content/rblac/en/home/blog/2020/impacto-y-situacion-de-la-poblacion-indigena-
latinoamericana-ant.html
25 Peter Veit and Katie Reytar, “By the Numbers: Indigenous and Community Land Rights,” World Resources Institute,
March 20, 2017, at https://www.wri.org/blog/2017/03/numbers-indigenous-and-community-land-rights.
26 ECLAC, 2014, p. 50.
27 Sophie Chao, Forest Peoples: Numbers across the world, Forest Peoples Programme, p. 7, at
http://www.forestpeoples.org/sites/fpp/files/publication/2012/05/forest-peoples-numbers-across-world-final_0.pdf.
28 Ibid., pp. 9-10.
29 Philip G. Curtis, Christy M. Slay, Nancy L. Harris, Alexandra Tyukavina, Matthew C. Hansen, "Classifying drivers
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In the 2015 report Indigenous Peoples, Communities of African Descent, Extractive Industries,
the IACHR wrote that “through the implementation of its monitoring mechanisms, the
Commission has consistently received information evidencing the human, social, health, cultural
and environmental impacts of [extraction, exploitation, and development activities concerning
natural resources] on indigenous peoples and Afrodescendent communities. Many extractive and
development activities in the hemisphere are implemented in lands and territories historically
occupied by indigenous and Afro-descendent communities, which often coincide with areas
hosting a great wealth of natural resources.”30
Climate Change
Indigenous peoples are affected by climate change; they are also responding and adapting to it.
According to the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC)
established in 2008 as the caucus for indigenous participants in the U.N. Framework Convention
on Climate Change processes, indigenous peoples “play a critical role in climate change
mitigation and adaptation through their historic and effective role as stewards of much of the
world’s remaining forests.”31 The U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
states in a 2018 report that “the rate of tree cover loss is less than half in community and
indigenous lands compared to elsewhere. Where community rights to own their lands are legally
recognized, the difference is even greater. Worldwide, community lands hold at least a quarter of
aboveground tropical forest carbon.”32 A 2017 article cites that 80% of the world’s biodiversity
can be found within indigenous territories.33
The 2019 Global Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, produced by the
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES),
was carried out by over 100 experts analyzing over 15,000 scientific publications and a
“substantive body of indigenous and local knowledge.”34 Some of the key messages from this
report include “Nature is generally declining less rapidly in indigenous peoples’ land than in other
lands, but is nevertheless declining, as is the knowledge of how to manage it.”35 The same is said
of the decline in biodiversity.36 The report also found that “72 per cent of indicators developed by
indigenous peoples and local communities show ongoing deterioration of elements of nature

of global forest loss," Science, Vol. 361, Issue 6407, pp. 1108-1111, September 14, 2018, at
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/361/6407/1108. For more information about the Brazilian Amazon, see CRS In
Focus IF11306, Fire and Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, by Pervaze A. Sheikh et al. For more information
about illegal logging around the world, see CRS In Focus IF11114, International Illegal Logging: Background and
Issues, by Pervaze A. Sheikh, Lucas F. Bermejo, and Kezee Procita.
30 Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Communities of African Descent, Extractive
Industries, OEA/Ser.L/V/II, Doc. 47/15, December 31, 2015, at
http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/reports/pdfs/ExtractiveIndustries2016.pdf, p. 9.
31 International Indigenous Peoples' Forum on Climate Change, “About the International Indigenous Peoples' Forum on
Climate Change,” accessed on January 14, 2020, at https://iipfcc.squarespace.com/who-are-we-1
32 Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, “A Letter from the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples” in Cornered
by Protected Areas, 2018, at https://www.corneredbypas.com/
33 Linda Etchart, “The role of indigenous peoples in combating climate change,” Palgrave Communications, 3, article
no. 17085, (August 22, 2017).
34Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, “Summary for Policy Makers”
of the Global Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, 2019, p. 2. Hereinafter IPBES, 2019.
35 IPBES, 2019, p. 14.
36 IPBES, 2019, p. 31.
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important to them.”37 The report stresses that the “indigenous and local knowledge systems are
locally based, but regionally manifested and thus globally relevant.”38
A 2012 UNESCO publication “provides an overview of the published scientific literature relating
to the contribution of traditional/indigenous knowledge to our understanding of global climate
change” given that “indigenous knowledge has been widely recognized in fields such as
agroforestry, traditional medicine, biodiversity conservation, customary resource management,
applied anthropology, impact assessment, and natural disaster preparedness and response.”39
Table A-3 lists resources about indigenous peoples’ lands, natural resources, and climate change
in Latin America. While the titles may not exclusively focus on indigenous peoples, the
industries’ impact on indigenous people is a part of the analysis of each resource.
Human Rights and Multilateral Instruments
Various international human rights mechanisms protect the rights of indigenous peoples of Latin
America and the Caribbean. Table 3 identifies those countries that have ratified or voted in favor
of the following three multilateral instruments on indigenous peoples’ rights:
International Labor Organization’s Indigenous and Tribal Peoples
Convention, 1989 (No. 169).40 The convention includes sections on land;
recruitment and conditions of employment; vocational training, handicrafts and
rural industries; and social security and health; education and means of
communication.
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
(UNDRIP).41 The 2007 declaration covers such topics as self-determination or
autonomy; land and environment; employment; religion; language and media;
education; discrimination and violence; and health.
American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (ADRIP).42 The
2016 declaration approved by the Organization of American States includes
sections on human and collective rights; cultural identity; organizational and
political rights; and social, economic and property rights.

37 IPBES, 2019, p. 25.
38 IPBES, 2019, p. 32.
39 Douglas Nakashima, Kirsty Galloway McLean, Hans Thulstrup, Ameyali Ramos Castillo, and Jennifer Rubis,
Weathering Uncertainty: Traditional Knowledge for Climate Change Assessment and Adaptation, UNESCO and
United Nations University, 2012.
40 International Labor Organization, “Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169),” 1989, at
https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C169.
41 United Nations, “United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,” September 13, 2007, at
https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf.
42 Organization of American States, “American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,” June 15, 2016, at
https://www.oas.org/en/sare/documents/DecAmIND.pdf. For more information on the Organization of American
States, see CRS Report R42639, Organization of American States: Background and Issues for Congress, by Peter J.
Meyer.
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Table 3. Latin America and Multilateral Instruments on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights
Voted in favor of
Voted in favor of
Country
Ratified ILO No. 169a
adopting UNDRIP
adopting ADRIP
Argentina
X
X
X
Belize
--
X
X
Bolivia
X
X
X
Brazil
X
X
X
Chile
X
X
X
Colombia
X
Xb
Xc
Costa Rica
X
X
X
Ecuador
X
X
X
El Salvador
--
X
X
Guatemala
X
X
X
Guyana
--
X
X
Honduras
X
X
X
Jamaica
--
X
X
Mexico
X
X
X
Nicaragua
X
X
X
Panama
--
X
X
Paraguay
X
X
X
Peru
X
X
X
Suriname
--
X
X
Uruguay
--
X
X
Venezuela
X
X
X
Source: Compiled by CRS using the fol owing sources: ILO’s web page “Ratifications of C169 - Indigenous and
Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169),” the U.N. web page “United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous People,” and the OAS’ official publication of ADRIP.
Notes:
a. International Labor Organization, “Ratifications of C169 - Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989
(No. 169),” at
https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=1000:11300:0: NO:11300:P11300_INSTRUMENT_ID:312314.
b. From the region, only Colombia abstained from the vote. See U.N, Department of Economic and Social
Affairs, “United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People,” September 13, 2007, at
https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-
peoples.html.
c. In the footnotes, Colombia “breaks with consensus” on paragraphs within Articles XXIII, XXIX, and XXX.
See Organization of American States, “American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,” June 15,
2016, at https://www.oas.org/en/sare/documents/DecAmIND.pdf.
d. Cuba is not a voting member. See Organization of American States, “Member States,” accessed on April 22,
2019, at http://www.oas.org/en/member_states/default.asp.
The United Nations has a Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and in 2001 created the Special
Rapporteurship on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which promote the rights of indigenous
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peoples across the globe.43 In 1990, the Organization of American States created the
Rapporteurship on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to promote the rights of indigenous peoples
throughout the Western Hemisphere.44 Table A-4 provides additional resources about the work of
international organizations with indigenous peoples.
In a 2000 report, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) wrote “concern for
the human rights of indigenous peoples and their members has been a constant feature in the work
of the Commission.”45 The IACHR has tracked its work involving indigenous peoples. It hosts
multiple sessions per year to hold hearings regarding human rights issues affecting a particular
country or subregion of the Western Hemisphere. One of the categories for hearings is the rights
of indigenous peoples. Table 4 shows the number of IACHR events by country involving
indigenous peoples’ rights. It also shows the number of Inter-American Court of Human Rights
legal cases brought by indigenous peoples against countries.
Table 4. Human Rights Events and Legal Cases about the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples in the Inter-American System 1996-2020
Country
Events on the Rights
Legal Cases brought
of Indigenous Peoples
by Indigenous Peoples
Colombia
26
2
Peru
20
0
Guatemala
18
2
Ecuador
13
2
Mexico
13
1
Brazil
11
2
Nicaragua
9
2
Chile
9
2
Argentina
8
2
Panama
8
1
Bolivia
8
0
Honduras
7
2
Venezuela
5
1
Costa Rica
4
0
Paraguay
3
2
Belize
2
1
Suriname
1
2
Guyana
1
0
Regionala
33
N/A

43 U.N. Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights, “Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples,”
at https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/IPeoples/SRIndigenousPeoples/Pages/SRIPeoplesIndex.aspx.
44 Organization of American States, “Rapporteurship on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,” at
http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/indigenous/.
45 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, The Human Rights Situation of the Indigenous People in the
Americas, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.108, Doc. 62, October 20, 2000, at http://www.cidh.org/Indigenas/TOC.htm.
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Source: Table created by CRS using available data from the IACHR from sessions 91-175 (February 1996-March
2020). The first column data comes from the webpage “Hearings by Topic: Rights of Indigenous Peoples” and the
second column data comes from the webpage “Hearings by Topic: Petitions and Cases.”
Notes: IACHR events include topical hearings, petitions, and precautionary measures, which may or may not be
related to a legal case. Legal cases receive an identification number and are counted only once no matter how
many events are associated with it. Information is not available for all sessions, particularly before 1996.
a. The IACHR uses the regional category for hearings that span multiple countries. Where countries were
named along with the tag “regional,” the hearing was counted for all entities tagged.
In the appendix, Table A-5 lists publications that document various human rights issues
confronting indigenous peoples. CRS also publishes a number of reports with country-specific
information on indigenous peoples’ human rights issues.46

46 See CRS Report R43813, Colombia: Background and U.S. Relations, by June S. Beittel; CRS Report R42580,
Guatemala: Political and Socioeconomic Conditions and U.S. Relations, by Maureen Taft-Morales; CRS Report
R42917, Mexico: Background and U.S. Relations, by Clare Ribando Seelke and Edward Y. Gracia; and CRS Report
R44841, Venezuela: Background and U.S. Relations, coordinated by Clare Ribando Seelke.
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Appendix A. Data Sources and Resources Lists
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Fundación para la Educación en Contextos
de Multilingüismo y Pluriculturalidad (the Foundation for Education in Multilingual and
Multicultural Contexts or FUNPROEIB) gathered data in 21 Latin American and Caribbean
countries in 2009 for its report in two volumes titled Atlas Sociolingüístico de Pueblos Indígenas
en América Latina. The report notes the limitations of using national censuses.47
In 2014, the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
(ECLAC) gathered population data from 17 Latin American countries using national censuses for
Guaranteeing Indigenous People’s Rights in Latin America: Progress in the past Decade and
Remaining Challenges. The report notes that most countries ask people to self-identify as
indigenous with the exception of Peru, which asks people if they speak an indigenous language.48
In 2015, the World Bank gathered data in 16 countries using national censuses and household
survey data in order to publish Indigenous Latin America in the Twenty-First Century: the First
Decade.49 The report notes that the definition of who is indigenous has become increasingly
controversial and “underscores the complexity of identifying indigenous people across the region
and argues that the conditions of indigeneity vary over time and are, in some cases, context- and
country-specific.”50
The 2020 edition of Ethnologue documents language counts for each country and divides them
into indigenous and non-indigenous categories. Indigenous languages figures were used in Table
2 as non-indigenous is defined as “a language that did not originate in the country, but which is
now established there either as a result of its longstanding presence or because of institutionally
supported use and recognition.”51 Only living languages were included in the count, not
languages classified as extinct. Ethnologue’s “about” section provides details on the
methodology, language names, and status of usage.
The World Bank’s Latin America and Caribbean Equity Lab provides data on poverty, access to
services, education and labor (last updated in October 2018). The World Bank notes that ethnic
identity is based on self-reported data. Statistics may vary from official statistics reported by
governments as the World Bank uses SEDLAC, “a regional data harmonization effort that
increases cross-country comparability.”
The web page of the Inter-American Commission’s Human Rights Rapporteurship on the Rights
of Indigenous Peoples provides detailed information on hearings and court cases related to
indigenous peoples’ rights.
The data on drivers of forest loss in Latin America are from: Philip G. Curtis, Christy M. Slay,
Nancy L. Harris, Alexandra Tyukavina, Matthew C. Hansen, "Classifying drivers of global forest
loss," Science, Vol. 361, Issue 6407, pp. 1108-1111, September 14, 2018, at
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/361/6407/1108. There are multiple methodologies for each
driver of forest loss using map-based estimates and sample-based estimates.

47 UNICEF, 2009. pp. vii-ix.
48 ECLAC, 2014, pp. 34-36.
49 IBRD and World Bank, 2015, pp. 6, 9.
50 Ibid.
51 Gary F. Simons (editor), “Language Information,” Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Twenty-third edition, SIL
International, 2020, at https://www.ethnologue.com/about/language-info.
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For each table below, sources are listed in reverse chronological order with the year in
parentheses following the title. Multiple sources from the same year are listed alphabetically as
are sources without a publication date, such as websites. Some sources are global, with a section
dedicated to Latin America.
Table A-1. Resources on Indigenous Languages in Latin America
Title
Author
Resource Type
URL
Languages of the World,
Gary F. Simons (editor),
World language
http://www.ethnologue.co
Twenty-third edition
Ethnologue
encyclopedia with maps
m
(2020)
Celebrating Indigenous
Google Earth
Interactive website
https://earth.google.com/
Languages (2019)
web/data=CiQSIhIgYTY1
Y2U1NTk3MzE4MTFlOT
kzN2RjN2JkNTNhNDc1
ZGI
International Year of
United Nations
Website with map,
https://en.iyil2019.org/
Indigenous Languages
summary report and
(2019)
more
Atlas Sociolingüístico de
UNICEF and FUNPROEIB Report in Spanish only
https://www.unicef.org/ho
Pueblos Indígenas en
Andes
nduras/tomo_1_atlas.pdf;
América Latina,
https://www.unicef.org/ho
Volúmenes I and II (2009)
nduras/tomo_2_atlas.pdf
Source: Compiled by CRS.
Table A-2. Resources on Indigenous Socioeconomics
Title
Author
Resource Type
URL
Linking Indigenous
Organization for
Report on OECD
https://www.oecd-
Communities with
Economic Cooperation
member countries
ilibrary.org/urban-rural-
Regional Development
and Development
including Chile and
and-regional-
(2019)
Mexico with some
development/linking-
information on non-
indigenous-communities-
member countries
with-regional-
development_97353723-
en
State of the world`s
United Nations
Report with a chapter on
http://www.un.org/develo
indigenous peoples:
Latin America and the
pment/desa/indigenouspe
Education, 3rd volume
Caribbean
oples/wp-
(2017)
content/uploads/sites/19/2
017/12/State-of-Worlds-
Indigenous-
Peoples_III_WEB2018.pdf
Indigenous Latin America
International Bank for
Report covers statistical
http://documents.worldba
in the twenty-first
Reconstruction and
numbers, migration,
nk.org/curated/en/2016/0
century: the first decade
Development and the
development, poverty,
2/24863854/indigenous-
(2015)
World Bank
and education
latin-america-twenty-first-
century-first-decade
The state of the world´s
United Nations
Report with a chapter on
https://www.un.org/esa/so
indigenous people:
Latin America and the
cdev/unpfi /documents/20
Indigenous people´s
Caribbean
16/Docs-
access to health services,
updates/SOWIP_Health.p
2nd volume (2015)
df
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Indigenous Peoples in Latin America: Statistical Information

Title
Author
Resource Type
URL
Indigenous Peoples
U.S. Agency for
Website with policy, blog,
https://www.usaid.gov/indi
International
and more
genous-peoples
Development
LAC Equity Lab: A
World Bank
Regional economic data
http://www.worldbank.or
Platform for Poverty and
and maps
g/en/topic/poverty/lac-
Inequality Analysis
equity-lab1
Source: Compiled by CRS.
Table A-3. Resources on Indigenous Land, Natural Resources, and Climate Change in
Latin America
Title
Author
Resource Type
URL
Environmental
World Justice Project
Report
https://worldjusticeprojec
Governance in Latin
t.org/our-work/research-
America (expected spring
and-data/special-
2020, appears to be
reports/environmental-
delayed)
governance-latin-america
Authorized to Steal:
Center for International
Report covers
https://www.ciel.org/wp-
Organized Crime
Environmental Law
government oversight,
content/uploads/2019/07/
Networks Launder Il egal
laundering, supply chains
Authorized-to-Steal-July-
Timber from the Peruvian
and recommendations
2019.pdf
Amazon (2019)
Blood Gold in the
Jon Lee Anderson, The
Long article
https://www.newyorker.c
Brazilian Rain Forest
New Yorker
om/magazine/2019/11/11/
(2019)
blood-gold-in-the-
brazilian-rain-
forest?utm_campaign=aud
-
dev&utm_source=nl&utm
_brand=tny&utm_mailing
=TNY_Magazine_Daily_1
10419&utm_medium=em
ail&bxid=5d5c9101576f2c
67c471c6f8&cndid=29183
913&esrc=&mbid=&utm_
term=TNY_Daily
Global assessment report
Intergovernmental
Report with discussion of
https://ipbes.net/global-
on biodiversity and
Science-Policy Platform
indigenous peoples
assessment-report-
ecosystem services (2019) on Biodiversity and
integrated throughout
biodiversity-ecosystem-
Ecosystem Services
services
Global Report on the
Joji Carino, Loreto
Report with a section on
https://www.iwgia.org/ima
Situation of Lands,
Tamayo, Indigenous
Latin America and the
ges/documents/briefings/I
Territories and Resources Peoples Major Group for
Caribbean
PMG%20Global%20Repor
of Indigenous Peoples
Sustainable Development
t%20FINAL.pdf
(2019)
Rainforest Mafias: How
Human Rights Watch
Report on Brazilian public
https://www.hrw.org/repo
Violence and Impunity
and private actors, climate rt/2019/09/17/rainforest-
Fuel Deforestation in
change and public policy
mafias/how-violence-and-
Brazil’s Amazon (2019)
impunity-fuel-
deforestation-brazils-
amazon
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Title
Author
Resource Type
URL
Situation of Human Rights Inter-American
Report examines threats
http://www.oas.org/en/iac
of the Indigenous and
Commission on Human
to indigenous peoples,
hr/reports/pdfs/Panamazo
Tribal Peoples of the Pan-
Rights
challenges to their rights
nia2019-en.pdf
Amazon Region (2019)
and recommendations
Cornered by Protected
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz,
Website with resources
https://www.corneredbyp
Areas (2018)
Janis Alcorn, and Augusta
including report with case
as.com/
Molnar
studies of Panama and
Peru
Looted Amazon (2018)
Infoamazonia and Amazon Report covering mercury,
https://il egalmining.amazo
Georeferenced Socio-
protected areas,
niasocioambiental.org/?lan
Environmental
indigenous territories and
g=en
Information Network
conflicts
Organized Crime and
Global Initiative against
Report examining seven
https://globalinitiative.net/
Il egally Mined Gold in
Transnational Organized
South American countries organized-crime-and-
Latin America (2016)
Crime
il egal y-mined-gold-in-
latin-america/
Conservation and
Indian Law Resource
Report with three case
https://www.indianlaw.org/
Indigenous Peoples in
Center
studies in Guatemala,
sites/default/files/2015-01-
Mesoamerica: A Guide
Honduras, and Nicaragua
12_MesoamericaConserva
(2015)
tionGuide_ENG.pdf
Weathering uncertainty:
UNESCO and United
Report with chapter
https://unesdoc.unesco.or
traditional knowledge for
Nations University
dedicated to the Americas g/ark:/48223/pf000021661
climate change
3_eng
assessment and
adaptation (2012)
Amazonía Socioambiental
Amazon Geo-Referenced
Website with maps about
https://www.amazoniasoci
Socio-Environmental
the Amazon’s protected
oambiental.org/en/maps/
Information Network, a
areas, indigenous
consortium of civil society territories, deforestation
organizations from several and more (English,
countries
Spanish, Portuguese)
Environmental Justice
Autonomous University
Map with information
https://ejatlas.org/
Atlas
of Barcelona’s Institute of
about level of conflict,
Environmental Science
communities,
and Technology
commodities, companies,
and governmental
agencies involved, and
reference links
Indigenous peoples and
FAO Regional Office for
Website links to
http://www.fao.org/americ
food security in Latin
Latin America and the
additional documents
as/prioridades/pueblos-
America and the
Caribbean
indigenas/en/
Caribbean
International Indigenous

Website for caucus of
https://iipfcc.squarespace.c
Peoples Forum on
indigenous peoples
om/home
Climate Change
participating in United
Nations Framework
Convention on Climate
Change
Landmark Map
World Resources
Maps, data, country
https://www.landmarkmap
Institute, International
profiles
.org/
Land Coalition and others
Source: Compiled by CRS.
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Indigenous Peoples in Latin America: Statistical Information

Table A-4. Resources on International Organizations and Indigenous Peoples in Latin
America
Title
Author
Resource Type
URL
The state of the world´s
United Nations
Report covers
https://social.un.org/unpfi /
indigenous people:
Declaration
sowip-vol4-web.pdf
Implementing the United
implementation, official
Nations Declaration on
statistics, challenges and
the Rights of Indigenous
priorities
Peoples, 4th volume
(2019)
Indigenous Peoples and
World Intellectual
Website provides access
https://www.wipo.int/tk/e
Local Communities Portal
Property Organization
to publications and events n/indigenous/
Indigenous Peoples—OAS Organization of American
Website provides access
http://www.oas.org/en/top
States
to the Rapporteurship on
ics/indigenous_peoples.as
the Rights of Indigenous
p
Peoples of the Inter-
American Commission on
Human Rights, Summits of
the Americas, special
projects and more
Indigenous and tribal
International Labor
Website provides access
https://www.ilo.org/global/
peoples
Organization
to projects, publications
topics/indigenous-
and supervision of
tribal/lang--en/index.htm
conventions
United Nations for
United Nations’
Website provides access
https://www.un.org/devel
Indigenous Peoples
Department of Economic
to the Permanent Forum
opment/desa/indigenousp
and Social Affairs
on Indigenous Issues, the
eoples/
World Conference on
Indigenous Peoples,
expert group meetings,
the Special Rapporteur on
the rights of indigenous
peoples and more
Source: Compiled by CRS.
Table A-5. Resources on Indigenous Peoples’ Human Rights in Latin America
Title
Author
Resource Type
URL
Front Line Defenders
Front Line Defenders
Report about physical,
https://www.frontlinedefe
Global Analysis 2019
digital, legal and social
nders.org/sites/default/file
(2020)
attacks against human
s/global_analysis_2019_w
rights defenders
eb.pdf
Human Rights in the
Amnesty International
Report with subsection
https://www.amnesty.org/
Americas Annual Report
on indigenous peoples for
en/documents/amr01/135
2019 (2020)
each country
3/2020/en/
Indigenous World 2020
International Work
Annual reports from
https://www.iwgia.org/en/
Group for Indigenous
1986-2020 about
resources/indigenous-
Affairs
developments affecting
world
indigenous peoples,
organized by country
Congressional Research Service

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Indigenous Peoples in Latin America: Statistical Information

Title
Author
Resource Type
URL
Indigenous Navigator
Community-generated
Website and database
http://nav.indigenousnavig
(2018)
data, website supported
ator.com/
by the European Union
Indigenous Women and
Inter-American
Report with hearings,
http://www.oas.org/en/iac
Their Human Rights in
Commission on Human
cases, thematic and
hr/reports/pdfs/Indigenou
the Americas (2017)
Rights
country reports that
sWomen.pdf
document violations of
the human rights of
indigenous women
Guaranteeing indigenous
Economic Commission
Report covers
https://repositorio.cepal.o
people’s rights in Latin
for Latin America and the
sociopolitical context,
rg/bitstream/handle/11362
America: Progress in the
Caribbean
territorial rights, and
/37051/4/S1420782_en.pd
past decade and remaining
rights to well-being and
f
challenges (2014)
information
Business, Civic Freedoms
Business & Human Rights
Database of attacks on
https://www.business-
& Human Rights
Resource Centre
human rights defenders
humanrights.org/search-
Defenders Portal
from 2015 to present,
human-rights-defenders
which specifies indigenous
victims
Country Reports on
U.S. State Department
Annual report covers
https://www.state.gov/rep
Human Rights Practices

each country with section
orts-bureau-of-
“Discrimination, Societal
democracy-human-rights-
Abuses, and Trafficking in
and-labor/country-
Persons” that includes
reports-on-human-rights-
indigenous peoples
practices/

Source: Compiled by CRS.
Congressional Research Service

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Indigenous Peoples in Latin America: Statistical Information

Appendix B. National Agencies of Indigenous
Affairs
Table B-1. Principal National Agencies Overseeing Indigenous Affairs
Country
Agency (parent agency, office)
Website
Argentina
Secretaría de Derechos Humanos,
https://www.argentina.gob.ar/derec
Instituto Nacional de Asuntos
hoshumanos/inai
Indígenas
Bolivia
Ministerio de Culturas y Turismo,
http://www.minculturas.gob.bo/es/a
Viceministro de Interculturalidad &
rticulo/336-viceministro-de-
Viceministro de Descolonización
interculturalidad
http://www.minculturas.gob.bo/es/a
rticulo/17-viceministro-de-
descolonizacin
Brazil
Ministério da Mulher, da Família e
http://www.funai.gov.br/
dos Direitos Humanos, Fundação

Nacional do Índio; Ministério da
Agricultura, Pecuária e
http://www.agricultura.gov.br/
Abastecimento
Chile
Ministerio de Desarrol o Social,
http://www.conadi.gob.cl/
Corporación Nacional de
Desarrol o Indígena
Colombia
Ministerio del Interior,
https://www.mininterior.gov.co/misi
Viceministerio para la Participación
on/direccion-de-asuntos-indigenas-
e Igualdad de Derechos, Dirección
rom-y-minorias
de Asuntos Indígenas, ROM y
Minorías
Costa Rica
Comisión Nacional de Asuntos
http://www.conai.go.cr/
Indígenas
Ecuador
Consejo Nacional para la Igualdad
http://www.pueblosynacionalidades.
de Pueblos y Nacionalidades
gob.ec/
El Salvador
Ministerio de Cultura,
http://www.cultura.gob.sv/departam
Departamento de Pueblos Indígenas ento-de-pueblos-indigenas/
Guatemala
Ministerio Público, Secretaría de
https://www.mp.gob.gt/noticias/
Pueblos Indígenas
Guyana
Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’
https://moipa.gov.gy/
Affairs
Honduras
Secretaría de Desarrol o e Inclusión http://dinafroh.sedis.gob.hn/
Social, Dirección de Pueblos
Indígenas y Afrohondureños
Mexico
Instituto Nacional de los Pueblos
https://www.gob.mx/inpi
Indígenas; Secretaría de Cultura,
Instituto Nacional de Lenguas
Indígenas;
Congressional Research Service

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Indigenous Peoples in Latin America: Statistical Information

Nicaragua
Asamblea Nacional, Comisión de
http://legislacion.asamblea.gob.ni/Ta
Asuntos de los Pueblos Originarios,
blas%20Generales.nsf/InfoComision.
Afrodescendientes y Regímenes
xsp
Autonómicos; Comisión Nacional
de Demarcación y Titulación
Panama
Ministerio de Gobierno y Justicia,
http://www.mingob.gob.pa/viceminis
Viceministerio de Asuntos
terio-asuntos-indigenas/
Indígenas; Ministerio de Salud,
http://www.minsa.gob.pa/direccion/
Dirección de Asuntos Sanitarios
direccion-de-asuntos-sanitarios-
Indígenas
indigenas
Paraguay
Presidencia de la República,
http://www.indi.gov.py/
Instituto Paraguayo del Indígena
Peru
Ministerio de Cultura,
http://cultura.gob.pe/es/intercultural
Viceministerio de Interculturalidad,
idad/politicasindigenas
Dirección de Políticas indígenas
Uruguay
Ministerio del Interior, Área Étnico
https://www.minterior.gub.uy/index.
Racial
php?option=com_content&view=ar
ticle&id=3447
Venezuela
Ministerio del Poder Popular para
http://www.minpi.gob.ve/
los Pueblos Indígenas
Source: Compiled by CRS.

Author Information

Carla Y. Davis-Castro

Research Librarian

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