Indigenous Peoples in Latin America: Statistical Information

February 13, 2020 – October 27, 2023 R46225

Indigenous Peoples in Latin America:
October 27, 2023
Statistical Information
Carla Y. Davis-Castro
This report provides statistical information on Indigenous peoples in Latin America. Data and
Senior 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, the figure below shows four estimates for the Indigenous population

of Latin America ranging from 41.8 million to 53.4 million. The statistics vary depending on the
source methodology, changes in national censuses, the number of countries covered, and the years examined.
Indigenous Population and Percentage of General Population of Latin America

Sources: Graphic created by CRS using the World Bank’s LAC Equity Lab webpage (last updated in July 2021); ECLAC and FILAC’s
2020 Los pueblos indígenas de América Latina—Abya Yala y la Agenda 2030 para el Desarrollo Sostenible: tensiones y desafíos desde una
perspectiva territorial; 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 ECLAC’s 2014 Guaranteeing Indigenous people’s rights in Latin America: Progress
in the past decade and remaining challenges.
Notes: The scope of the sources varies. The World Bank’s LAC Equity Lab webpage covers 14 Latin American countries. ECLAC
and FILAC’s report uses national censuses from 17 countries. The World Bank report uses national censuses from 16 countries to
estimate the population 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.” The ECLAC report
data cover 17 countries, and is based on censuses and estimates, from around 2010. The population percentage is based on the total
population calculated in each source.
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.”
This report presents data regarding Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
A compilation of selected informational resources, covering languages; socioeconomics; land, natural resources, and climate
change; international organizations; and human rights, is available in Appendix A. Appendix B lists 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
abroad periodically have been considered in hearings focused on such topics as environmental
protection, energy opportunities, and human rights.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. A compilation of informational resources on languages;
socioeconomics; land and resources; international organizations; and human rights are available
in Appendix A. National agencies that oversee Indigenous affairs in each country are listed in
Table B-1.
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.” This report
examines those living in Latin America.
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, Energy Opportunities in South America, 115th Cong., 1st sess., May
17, 2017 (Washington, DC: GPO, 2017); U.S. Congress, Tom Lantos Commission on Human Rights, The Rights of
Indigenous Peoples in the Americas, 116th Cong., 2nd sess., November 20, 2020 (Washington, DC: GPO, 2020).
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
Rights Institutions, HR/PUB/13/2, 2013, at https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/IPeoples/
(continued...)
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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 U.N. report notes “the persistent invisibility of Indigenous peoples” and “the need for
disaggregated data” to address data limitations regarding Indigenous people around the globe.
However, the U.N. report notes progress in Latin America: in the 1990 round, “only two censuses
included self-identification criteria… but by the 2010 round such criteria were present in 21 of
them.”4
Despite some advances in data collection, the sources cited in this report contain data limitations,
which are discussed in Appendix A. The countries listed in each table or graph of this report may
differ from others in this report based on the information available in the sources.
Population Data
There are various sources and methodologies for estimating the population of Indigenous peoples
in Latin America, including official sources based on national censuses and household surveys,
and other kinds of estimates such as population projections or data from non-governmental
sources. Latin America is home to an estimated 41.8 million to 53.4 million Indigenous people
according to several resources published since 2014.5 A 2015 World Bank report acknowledges
the gap that may exist between official and unofficial data: “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 World Bank
report, however, we will refer to the official—albeit imperfect—numbers provided by the national
censuses [41.81 million].”6
Census projections forecast increasing Indigenous populations 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 When the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the
Caribbean (ECLAC) published a report with the Development Fund for the Indigenous Peoples of
Latin America and the Caribbean (Spanish acronym FILAC) in 2020, the censuses reported over
53 million Indigenous people or 9.8% of the region’s total.8

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, 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.
8 United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and the Development Fund for the
Indigenous Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean (Fondo para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas de
América Latina y el Caribe), Los pueblos indígenas de América Latina—Abya Yala y la Agenda 2030 para el
(continued...)
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Indigenous Peoples in Latin America: Statistical Information

Figure 1 illustrates the total number of Indigenous people in Latin America and their share of the
total regional population according to four sources: a 2014 ECLAC report (with population data
from 2010), a 2015 World Bank Report (with population data from 2010), the World Bank’s LAC
Equity Lab using various resources from 2005-2020, and a 2022 ECLAC report using census data
from 2005-2020 to estimate populations in 2021.
Figure 1. Indigenous Population and Percentage of General Population of
Latin America

Sources: Graphic created by CRS using the U.N. Economic Commission on Latin American and the Caribbean’s
(ECLAC) 2022 The sociodemographic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean; World
Bank’s LAC Equity Lab (webpage last updated in August 2021); 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 ECLAC’s 2014 Guaranteeing Indigenous people’s rights in Latin America: Progress in the past decade and remaining
challenges.
Notes: The scope of sources varies. ECLAC’s 2022 publication covers 17 countries and is based on the self-
identifying Indigenous population, according to the latest census and estimates to 2021, with data varying by
country from 2005-2020. The World Bank’s LAC Equity Lab webpage covers 14 Latin American countries with
figures based on self-reported data from a variety of sources. The 2015 World Bank report uses national
censuses from 16 countries to estimate the population 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.” ECLAC’s 2014 covers 17 countries, and is based on the
population of Indigenous peoples according to censuses and estimates, around 2010. The population percentage
is based on the total population calculated in each source.
Table 1 shows a breakdown by country of Indigenous populations and their share of the national
population. CRS created the following tables from several sources; publication dates and
methodologies differed. The countries listed in each table may differ from other tables in this
report, based on the information available in the sources.

Desarrollo Sostenible: tensiones y desafíos desde una perspectiva territorial, 2020, at https://www.filac.org/wp-
content/uploads/2021/02/Los-Pueblos-Indigenas-de-America-lLatina-y-la-Agenda-2030-para-el-Desarrollo-
SostenibleAutosaved.pdf. Hereinafter ECLAC and FILAC, 2020.
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Table 1. Indigenous Populations and Percentages of General Population in
Latin America by Country
Indigenous Population (% of general population)
ECLAC 2022:
LAC Equity Lab
Indigenous pop.,
ECLAC 2014:
WB 2015:
2021: Indigenous
2021 estimates
Indigenous pop.
Indigenous pop.,
pop. based on
based on 2005-
Country
around 2010a
2010 estimateb
2005-2020 datac
2020 datad
955,032
955,032
926,003
1,094,540
Argentina
(2.4%)
(2.4%)
(2.3%)
(2.4%)
6,216,026
4,115,226
N/A
4,910,670
Bolivia
(62.2%)
(41%)
(41.5%)
896,917
817,963
821,629
1,069,967
Brazil
(0.5%)
(0.5%)
(0.4%)
(0.5%)
1,805,243
788,935
N/A
2,382,333
Chile
(11%)
(4.6%)
(12.4%)
1,559,852
1,532,678
1,905,617
2,255,697
Colombia
(3.4%)
(3.3%)
(4.3%)
(4.4%)
104,143
104,143
101,870
123,337
Costa Rica
(2.4%)
(2.4%)
(2.4%)
(2.4%)
1,018,176
1,018,176
1,020,330
1,252,193
Ecuador
(7%)
(7%)
(7%)
(7%)
14,408
14,865
13,730
13,037
El Salvador
(0.2%)
(0.2%)
(0.2%)
(0.2%)
5,881,009
5,880,046
6,481,762
7,956,939
Guatemala
(41%)
(41%)
(43.6%)
(43.6%)
536,541
548,727
601,823
784,913
Honduras
(7%)
(7.2%)
(7.2%)
(7.8%)
16,933,283
16,836,877
23,229,089
25,280,302
Mexico
(15.1%)
(15%)
(18.5%)
(19.4%)
518,104
349,333
187,840
422,250
Nicaragua
(8.9%)
(6%)
(3.6%)
(6.3%)
417,559
417,559
416,080
538,934
Panama
(12.3%)
(12.2%)
(12.2%)
(12.3%)
112,848
112,848
N/A
129,953
Paraguay
(1.8%)
(1.7%)
(1.8%)
7,021,271
7,596,039
6,383,284
8,673,449
Peru
(24%)
(26%)
(24.8%)
(26%)
76,452
N/A
158,560
83,644
Uruguay
(2.4%)
(4.8%)
(2.4%)
724,592
724,592
724,592
775,034
Venezuela
(2.7%)
(2.8%)
(2.7%)
(2.7%)
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Indigenous Population (% of general population)
ECLAC 2022:
LAC Equity Lab
Indigenous pop.,
ECLAC 2014:
WB 2015:
2021: Indigenous
2021 estimates
Indigenous pop.
Indigenous pop.,
pop. based on
based on 2005-
Country
around 2010a
2010 estimateb
2005-2020 datac
2020 datad
44,791,456
41,813,039
42,972,209
57,747,192
TOTALe
(8.3%)
(7.8%)
(8.29%)
(9.5%)
Sources: Compiled by CRS using the U.N. Economic Commission on Latin American and the Caribbean’s
(ECLAC) 2022 The sociodemographic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean; World
Bank’s LAC Equity Lab ( updated in August 2021); 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 ECLAC’s
2014 Guaranteeing Indigenous people’s rights in Latin America: Progress in the past decade and remaining challenges.
Notes:
a. ECLAC’s 2014 report covered 17 countries in Latin America with population figures “according to censuses
and estimates, around 2010.”
b. The World Bank’s 2015 report covered 16 countries in Latin America and the estimated population figures
vary by country from 2001 to 2012 with some projections for 2010.
c. The World Bank's LAC Equity Lab webpage provided data “based on a variety of sources” from 14
countries in Latin America with population figures reported by each country varying from 2005-2020. The
webpage was last updated in August 2021.
d. ECLAC’s 2022 report covered 17 countries in Latin American with “the self-identified Indigenous
population according to the most recent census and 2021 estimates,” which data varying by country from
2005-2020.
e. The total population percentage is based on the total population calculated by each source.
Figure 2 illustrates the range of estimates of the Indigenous population as a percentage of the
total 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.9 More generally, differences in data collection between censuses and across countries make
it difficult to estimate population changes.

9 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 Total Population
by Country

Sources: Graphic created by CRS using the U.N. Economic Commission on Latin American and the Caribbean’s
(ECLAC) 2022 The sociodemographic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean; World
Bank’s LAC Equity Lab with webpage last updated in August 2021; 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 ECLAC’s 2014 Guaranteeing Indigenous people’s rights in Latin America: Progress in the past decade and remaining
challenges.
Note: Data are not available for every country, from each source. The sources note that figures are largely
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.10 Experts observed that 4 in 10
Indigenous languages around the world are in danger of disappearing yet figures on Indigenous
groups and languages vary among sources.11
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...”
—World Bank’s Indigenous Latin America in the Twenty-First Century: The First Decade12
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 20 countries in
Latin America.13 The 2014 ECLAC report cites 826 Indigenous groups in Latin America although
it does not provide a country breakdown.14 Of these 826, the report notes that about 200
Indigenous groups live in voluntary isolation, which is defined by the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights as groups that “do not maintain sustained contacts with the
majority non-Indigenous population.”15 The World Bank’s 2015 report identifies 774 Indigenous
groups in 20 countries Latin America.16 The report adds “the total number of Indigenous peoples
is not conclusive or fixed; rather, it needs to be understood as a variable figure that is continually
changing as a result of new forms of indigenization, ethno-genesis, and legal recognition.”17

10 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.
11 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.
12 IBRD and World Bank, 2015, p. 24.
13 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 figure 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.
14 ECLAC, 2014, pp. 38-39.
15 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.
16 IBRD and World Bank, 2015, p. 26. This figure excludes six Indigenous groups from French Guiana.
17 Ibid., p. 24.
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Indigenous Peoples in Latin America: Statistical Information

Figure 3. Number of Indigenous Groups in Latin America

Sources: 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 ECLAC’s 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
no longer speak an Indigenous language (see Figure 4). A 2009 UNICEF report found 551
Indigenous languages spoken across 20 countries of Latin America while a 2015 World Bank
report found 558, and a 2023 publication by the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL
International) reported 891 Indigenous languages spoken across the same 20 Latin American
countries.18 Speakers of Nahuatl, K’iche,’ and Aymara number over one million each and over
five million people speak Quechua and Guarani.19 However, a 2021 SIL International graphic
shows that 13 Latin American countries categorize 50% or more of their Indigenous languages as
endangered.20
Figure 4. Number of Living Indigenous Languages in Latin America

Sources: 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 2023
Ethnologue: Languages of the World (Twenty-sixth ed.).
Note: Numbers do not include extinct 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.

18 UNICEF, 2009, p. 81. This figure includes six languages in French Guiana. IBRD and World Bank, 2015, p. 26. This
figure excludes six languages from French Guiana. Gary F. Simons (editor), Ethnologue: Languages of the World.
Twenty- edition, SIL International, 2021, at https://www.ethnologue.com/.
19 Gary F. Simons, (editor), Ethnologue: Languages of the World, twenty-sixth edition, SIL International, 2023, at
https://www.ethnologue.com/.
20 Ethnologue, “How many languages are endangered?” accessed October 4, 2023, at https://www.ethnologue.com/
guides/how-many-languages-endangered.
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Table 2 shows a breakdown of Latin America’s Indigenous groups and languages by country
according to three sources; the sources each have different publication dates and methodologies.
The countries listed in each table may differ from others in this report based on the information
available in the sources.
Table 2. Indigenous Peoples and Languages of Latin America by Country
UNICEF 2009

Indigenous Groups
WB 2015 Indigenous
SIL International 2023
Country
(languages)a
Groups (languages)b
(languages only)
30
30
—
Argentina
(15)
(15)
(14)
4
4
—
Belize
(4)
(4)
(5)
36
114
—
Bolivia
(33)
(33)
(39)
241
241
—
Brazil
(186)
(186)
(202)
9
9
—
Chile
(6)
(6)
(9)
83
83
—
Colombia
(65)
(65)
(83)
8
8
—
Costa Rica
(7)
(7)
(8)
12
32
—
Ecuador
(12)
(13)
(21)
3
3
—
El Salvador
(1)
(1)
(2)
24
24
—
Guatemala
(24)
(24)
(25)
9
9
—
Guyana
(9)
(9)
(11)
7
7
—
Honduras
(6)
(6)
(8)
67
67
—
Mexico
(64)
(67)
(284)
9
9
—
Nicaragua
(6)
(6)
(9)
8
7
—
Panama
(8)
(7)
(8)
20
20
—
Paraguay
(20)
(20)
(19)
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UNICEF 2009

Indigenous Groups
WB 2015 Indigenous
SIL International 2023
Country
(languages)a
Groups (languages)b
(languages only)
43
52
—
Peru
(43)
(47)
(91)
5
5
—
Suriname
(5)
(5)
(12)
0
0
—
Uruguay
(0)
(0)
(1)
37
50
—
Venezuela
(37)
(37)
(37)
TOTAL Groups
655
774
—
(Languages)
(551)
(558)
(891)
Sources: Compiled 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 2023
Ethnologue: Languages of the World (Twenty-sixth ed.).
Notes: This report uses the term “peoples” rather than “tribe,” “nation,” “ethnic minority,” or “sociolinguistic
group.”
a. While UNICEF 2009 report covered 25 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, Antigua and
Barbuda, Dominica, French Guiana, Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago are not included in this report as
the countries are not covered in other publications.
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, almost 20,000 speakers of Indigenous languages from
Latin America reside in the United States.21
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.22 Regarding the Amazonian region in South America, a 2021 report
describes how “the loss of linguistic diversity entails the disappearance of Indigenous knowledge
systems concerning environment and social organization, and parallels biodiversity loss.”23
Additional resources about Indigenous groups and languages can be found in Table A-1.

21 Languages counted by the U.S. Census Bureau are categorized as Aztecan, Sonoran, Misumalpan, Mayan languages,
Tarascan, Mapuche, Oto-Manguen, Quechua, Aymara, Arawakian, Chibchan, and Tupi-guarani. See the 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, last revised December 16, 2021 at
https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2013/demo/2009-2013-lang-tables.html.
22 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).
23 H. van der Voort, C. Rodríguez Alzza, T.D. Swanson, and M. Crevels, “Chapter 12 Languages of the Amazon:
Dimensions of Diversity,” United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Amazon Assessment Report
2021, 2021, p. 3.
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Socioeconomic Data
According to various sources, rates of poverty among Indigenous peoples in Latin America are
greater than those of the non-Indigenous people in the region. In a 2020 publication, the
International Labor Organization (ILO) found that 45.5% 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
7.1% are extremely poor (living on less than $1.90 a day in 2011 PPP prices), more than twice the
rates for non-Indigenous people in the region.24
Using the World Bank’s LAC Equity Lab, Figure 5 illustrates the rates of Indigenous peoples
living on less than $6.85 a day in 2017 PPP compared to the general population in select countries
of Central and South America.
Figure 5. Rates of Indigenous People Living on Less than $6.85 a Day in 2017 PPP 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 Universidad Nacional de La
Plata’s Center for Distributive, Labor and Social Studies, which may differ from official statistics. Monetary values
are reported in USD 2017 purchasing power parity (PPP) terms. The webpage was last updated May 2023.
Access to Services
A 2020 ILO report describes that “an important transformation is underway whereby many
Indigenous peoples have migrated from their traditional territories to urban areas” due to factors
such as “changing aspirations, employment opportunities in agriculture becoming scarce, poor
income generation opportunities, a lack of adequate infrastructure, as well as an increasing

24 International Labor Organization, Implementing the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention No. 169
Towards an Inclusive, Sustainable and Just Future, February 3, 2020, at https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—
dgreports/—dcomm/—publ/documents//wcms_735607.pdf, p.96. Hereinafter, ILO, 2020.
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resource scarcity related to climate change.”25 The ILO report finds that 52.2% of Latin America’s
Indigenous peoples are urban dwellers.26
The World Bank provides statistics on Indigenous peoples’ access to various services in select
countries of Central and South America, last updated in August 2021. The following graphs
compare Indigenous rates of access to the general population by country (Figure 6, electricity;
Figure 7, internet; Figure 8, home ownership; Figure 9, sewage; and Figure 10, water).
Figure 6. Electricity Access Rates in Select Latin American Countries

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. The webpage was last updated in August 2021.
Figure 7. Internet Access Rates in Select Latin American Countries

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. The webpage was last updated in August 2021.

25 ILO, 2020, p. 74.
26 Ibid., p. 57.
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Figure 8. Ownership of Dwelling Rates in Select Latin American Countries

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. The webpage was last updated in August 2021.
Figure 9. Sewage Access Rates in Select Latin American Countries

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. The webpage was last updated in August 2021.
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Figure 10. Water Access Rates in Select Latin American Countries

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. The webpage was last updated in August 2021.
Access to Education and Work
A 2020 ILO report found that Latin America and the Caribbean has the largest wage gap between
Indigenous earnings and non-Indigenous earnings at 31.2%.27 Similarly, the region has the largest
informal labor gap of any region in the world, a sector that employs 82.6% of Indigenous peoples
and 51.1% of non-Indigenous peoples in Latin America.28 Among the employed Indigenous
population of the region, 31.7% have no education, 39.3% have a basic education, 18.7% have an
intermediate education, and 10.3% have an advanced education.29
The World Bank provides labor and education statistics for Indigenous peoples and Afro-
descendants in select countries of Central and South America, last updated in August 2021. The
statistics are presented in combination for both groups together and cannot be separated. The
following graphs compare Indigenous and Afro-descendant rates with the general population by
country (Figure 11, literacy; Figure 12, school attendance; Figure 13, unemployment; and
Figure 14, low-skill and high-skill employment).

27 Ibid., p.18.
28 Ibid., p.16.
29 Ibid., p. 81.
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Figure 11. Literacy Rates ages 18-65 in Select Latin American Countries (2021)

Source: Graphic created by CRS using data from the World Bank’s LAC Equity Lab web page “Ethnicity—
Socio-demographics.”
Notes: 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. The webpage was last updated in August 2021.
Figure 12. School Attendance Rates ages 6-25 in Select Latin American Countries
(2021)

Source: Graphic created by CRS using data from the World Bank’s LAC Equity Lab web page “Ethnicity—
Socio-demographics.”
Notes: 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. The webpage was last updated in August 2021.
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Figure 13. Unemployment Rates ages 18-65 in Select Latin American Countries
(2021)

Source: Graphic created by CRS using data from the World Bank’s LAC Equity Lab web page “Ethnicity—
Socio-demographics.”
Notes: 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. The webpage was last updated in August 2021.
Figure 14. High-Skill and Low-Skill Occupation Rates ages 18-65 in Select Latin
American Countries (2021)

Source: Graphic created by CRS using data from the World Bank’s LAC Equity Lab web page “Ethnicity—
Socio-demographics.”
Notes: 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. The webpage was last updated in August 2021.
The socioeconomic challenges faced by Indigenous peoples also impact their health. In light of
the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a joint 2021 report from the U.N. and the
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Pan-American Health Organization highlights that the “deficiencies in access to services and in
living conditions, which prevent an optimal response to the pandemic, intersect with and
reinforce the various axes of the social inequality matrix, placing at a particular disadvantage the
Indigenous population.”30A 2022 U.N. report noted that the Ministries of Health of Mexico,
Brazil, Colombia and Peru “periodically issues bulletins on the impact of the pandemic on
indigenous…. [these] show a concentration of the risk of dying from this cause among them, with
the highest case fatality rates among indigenous men, followed by indigenous women.”31
However, the same report underscores that “although 13 countries have included a variable on
belonging to indigenous peoples in COVID-19 records…most of them do not make this
information available to the public through open data.”32
In Appendix A, Table A-2 lists resources relating to the socioeconomic standing of Indigenous
peoples in Latin America.
Land and Natural Resources
As with other indicators, estimates on land owned by Indigenous peoples or groups varies widely.
A 2017 World Resources Institute article stated “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.”33 A 2023 report by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) found that, at the global level,
18.6% of land is owned by or designated for Indigenous peoples and local communities, while in
Latin America it is 20.7% of the land, an increase of 0.9% globally and 1.1% regionally since
RRI’s 2015 findings.34
A 2023 Ford Foundation report describes how “Latin America has historically been at the
forefront of global efforts to recognize the land and forest rights of Indigenous Peoples, Afro-
descendant Peoples, and local communities. Despite significant progress, [these groups] are
increasingly under threat due to regressive changes in governance, encroachment from
government and private actors, and political violence against environmental and human rights
defenders. .35 In 2021, several countries, including the United States, together with numerous
foundations, committed to providing $1.7 billion to help Indigenous peoples secure land tenure
rights although, a year later the same funding group reported that “only 7% of total funding went
directly to organisations led by [Indigenous peoples] or [local communities].36

30 United Nations’ Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and the Pan American Health
Organization, Social Panorama of Latin America 2020, 2021, p. 18.
31 United Nations Economic Commission on Latin American and the Caribbean, The sociodemographic impacts of the
COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2022, p. 85.
32 Ibid., p. 84.
33 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.
34 See Rights and Resources Initiative, Who Owns the World’s Land? Global State of Indigenous, Afro-Descendant,
and Local Community Land Rights Recognition from 2015–2020, 2nd ed., June 2023. See also Rights and Resources
Initiative, Who Owns the World’s Land? A global baseline of formally recognized indigenous and community land
rights, September 2015.
35Ford Foundation, Forest Tenure Funders Group, Indufor, Forging Resilient Pathways: Scaling up Funding in Support
of Indigenous Peoples’ and Local Communities’ Tenure and Forest Guardianship in the Global South, September
2023.
36 See United Nations Climate Change Conference, United Kingdom 2021, “COP26 IPLC Forest Tenure Joint Donor
Statement,” November 2, 2021, at https://ukcop26.org/cop26-iplc-forest-tenure-joint-donor-statement/. See also Forest
(continued...)
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The U. N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean’s (ECLAC) 2014 report
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.”37
In its 2015 report, the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights wrote that it “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 Afro-descendent communities.”38 For example, a 2020
report from the World Resources Institute found that “industrial mining concessions and illegal
small-scale mining occur on more than 20 percent of Indigenous lands in the Amazon.”39 A 2023
study of 1,044 global environmental conflicts involving Indigenous communities showed that
78% of these conflicts were caused in by mining, fossil fuels, dam projects, and the agriculture,
forestry, fisheries, and livestock sector with impacts including landscape loss (56% of cases),
livelihood loss (52%), and land dispossession (50%); Latin American Indigenous communities
make up 6 of the top 10 communities most frequently involved in conflicts (Quechua, Mapuche,
Aymara, Nahua, Kichwa, and Guaraní).40
Climate Change
Indigenous peoples are particularly affected by climate change; they are also adapting to it and
participating in high-level policy discussions regarding climate change responses. According to
the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC), the caucus for
Indigenous participants in the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, Indigenous
peoples “are especially vulnerable to, and disproportionately impacted by, climate change.”41 The
impact of climate change on Indigenous peoples is no surprise when considering that that 80% of
the world’s biodiversity can be found within Indigenous territories.42
Global organizations are also consulting Indigenous peoples about managing the climate change
impact on biodiversity. In the 2015 U.N. Paris Agreement, Article 7 established the “global goal
on adaptation of enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability
to climate change,” which “should be based on and guided by the best available science and, as
appropriate, traditional knowledge, knowledge of Indigenous peoples and local knowledge
systems.”43 The Convention on Biological Diversity published a draft of the Post-2020
Biodiversity Framework in December 2022, which states that it “acknowledges the important

Tenure Funders Group, Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Forest Tenure Pledge, annual report 2021-2022,
November 2022.
37 ECLAC, 2014, p. 50.
38 Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, Indigenous peoples, Afro-descendent communities, and natural
resources: Human rights protection in the context of extraction, exploitation, and development activities,
OEA/Ser.L/V/II, Doc. 47/15, December 31, 2015, p. 9.
39 World Resources Institute, Undermining Rights: Indigenous Lands and Mining in the Amazon, October 2020.
40 Arnim Scheidel et al., “Global impacts of extractive and industrial development projects on Indigenous Peoples’
lifeways, lands, and rights,” Science Advances, vol. 9, no. 23 (June 7, 2023).
41 International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change, “About the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum
on Climate Change,” accessed on October 18, 2023, at https://iipfcc.squarespace.com/who-are-we-1.
42 Linda Etchart, “The role of Indigenous peoples in combating climate change,” Palgrave Communications, 3, article
no. 17085, (August 22, 2017).
43 United Nations, “Paris Agreement,” 2015, at https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/english_paris_agreement.pdf.
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roles and contributions of indigenous peoples and local communities as custodians of biodiversity
and partners in the conservation, restoration and sustainable use. Its implementation must ensure
their traditional rights…including through their full and effective participation in decision-
making.”44 A key message from the 2019 Global Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem
Services is that the “Indigenous and local knowledge systems are locally based, but regionally
manifested and thus globally relevant.”45 As for climate change solutions, a 2023 U.N.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report states that “cooperation, and inclusive
decision making, with local communities and Indigenous Peoples, as well as recognition of
inherent rights of Indigenous Peoples, is integral to successful adaptation across forests and other
ecosystems (high confidence).”46
Table A-3 lists resources about Indigenous peoples’ lands, natural resources, and climate change
in Latin America. The titles may focus exclusively or in part on Indigenous peoples.
Human Rights and Multilateral Instruments
Various international human rights mechanisms are designed to protect the rights of Indigenous
peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean. Table 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).47 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).48 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).49 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.

44 Convention on Biological Diversity, “Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, Draft recommendation submitted
by the Co-Chairs,” CBD/WG2020/5/L.2, December 5, 2022,
https://www.cbd.int/doc/c/409e/19ae/369752b245f05e88f760aeb3/wg2020-05-l-02-en.pdf
45 IPBES, 2019, p. 32.
46 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working
Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2023.
47 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.
48 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.
49 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
Sources: 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 the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples.
Notes: “X” denotes yes or in favor and “—” denotes no or against.
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.
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.50 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.51 Table A-4 provides additional resources about the work of
international organizations with Indigenous peoples.
In a 2000 report, IACHR wrote “concern for the human rights of Indigenous peoples and their
members has been a constant feature in the work of the Commission.”52 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 3 shows
the number of IACHR events by country involving Indigenous peoples’ rights. It also shows the
number legal cases brought by Indigenous peoples against countries in the Inter-American Court
of Human Rights.
Table 3. Human Rights Events and Legal Cases about the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples in the Inter-American System 1996-2023
Events on the Rights
Legal Cases regarding
Country
of Indigenous Peoples
Indigenous Peoples
Colombia
30
2
Peru
25
1
Guatemala
18
3
Ecuador
16
2
Brazil
15
3
Mexico
13
5
Chile
11
1
Bolivia
10
0
Nicaragua
10
3
Argentina
9
2
Honduras
8
2
Panama
8
2
Costa Rica
4
0
Venezuela
4
1
Paraguay
3
3
Belize
2
1
Suriname
1
3
Guyana
1
0
Jamaica
1
0

50 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.
51 Organization of American States, “Rapporteurship on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,” at http://www.oas.org/en/
iachr/Indigenous/.
52 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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Events on the Rights
Legal Cases regarding
Country
of Indigenous Peoples
Indigenous Peoples
Regionala
32
N/A
Source: Table created by CRS using available data from the IACHR sessions 91-187 (February 1996- July 2023)
as well as the Rapporteurship on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Notes: “Events” include topical hearings, petitions, and precautionary measures hosted by IACHR, 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 two or more countries.
In Appendix A, 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.53

53 See CRS In Focus IF11325, Bolivia: An Overview, by Clare Ribando Seelke; CRS Report R46236, Brazil:
Background and U.S. Relations, by Peter J. Meyer; CRS Report R43813, Colombia: Background and U.S. Relations,
by June S. Beittel; CRS In Focus IF11218, Ecuador: Country Overview and U.S. Relations, by June S. Beittel and
Ramon Miro; CRS In Focus IF12340, Guatemala: An Overview, by Karla I. Rios; CRS Report RL34027, Honduras:
Background and U.S. Relations, by Peter J. Meyer; CRS Report R42917, Mexico: Background and U.S. Relations, by
Clare Ribando Seelke; CRS In Focus IF12372, Peru: Country Overview and U.S. Relations, by June S. Beittel and
Ramon Miro; 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
Below are notes on the data sources most consulted for this report followed by resource lists
regarding Indigenous languages; socioeconomics; land, natural resources and climate change;
international organizations; and human rights.
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.54 While an older
report, it continues to be cited by more recent publications.
In 2014, the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
collected 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.55
In 2015, the World Bank published data from 16 countries using national censuses and household
surveys in Indigenous Latin America in the Twenty-First Century: the First Decade.56 The report
noted that the definition of 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.”57
In 2020, ECLAC and the Development Fund for the Indigenous Peoples of Latin America and the
Caribbean (Fondo para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas de América Latina y el Caribe)
published Los pueblos indígenas de América Latina—Abya Yala y la Agenda 2030 para el
Desarrollo Sostenible: tensiones y desafíos desde una perspectiva territorial. The report’s focus
on the U.N.’ Sustainable Development Goals notes the advances in including Indigenous peoples
in official statistics and lists data from 17 national censuses.
In 2020, the International Labor Organization’s Implementing the ILO Indigenous and Tribal
Peoples Convention No. 169 Towards an Inclusive, Sustainable and Just Future presented multi-
faceted statistics on the working conditions of Indigenous peoples with a special emphasis on
gendered dimensions of labor. The report noted the “continued ‘invisibility’ of Indigenous and
tribal peoples in official data and statistics.”58 The data provided are global and regional only.
The 2023 edition of Ethnologue counted languages for each country and divided 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.”59 Only living languages were included in the count, not

54 UNICEF, 2009. pp. vii-ix.
55 ECLAC, 2014, pp. 34-36.
56 IBRD and World Bank, 2015, pp. 6, 9.
57 Ibid.
58 ILO, 2020, p. 44.
59 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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languages classified as extinct. Ethnologue’s “about” section provides details on the methodology,
language names, and status of usage.
The World Bank’s LAC Equity Lab provides national data on poverty (last updated in May 2023),
socio-demographics, access to services, education and labor (last updated in August 2021). Some
subnational data are also available although not covered in this report. 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.”60
The web page of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights “Sessions by Topic: Rights of
Indigenous Peoples” provides detailed information on hearings and court cases related to
Indigenous peoples’ rights and is updated several times a year.61 The Rapporteurship on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples’ web page on “Reports on Petitions and Cases” has information on
some additional cases.62
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 (publication year)
Author
Resource Type
Languages of the World, Twenty-
Gary F. Simons(editor), Ethnologue,
World language encyclopedia with
sixth edition (2023)
SIL International
maps
Celebrating Indigenous Languages
Google Earth
Interactive global website
(updated 2020)
2022-2032 International Decade of
United Nations
Website with global map, summary
Indigenous Languages (2022)
report and more
The International Year of
United Nations
A global report. See also the
Indigenous Languages: Mobilizing
corresponding website International
the International Community to
Year of Indigenous Languages
Preserve, Revitalize and Promote
(2019).
Indigenous Languages (2021)
Atlas Sociolingüístico de Pueblos
UNICEF and FUNPROEIB Andes
Regional report in Spanish only
Indígenas en América Latina,
Volúmen I and Volúmen II (2009)
Source: Compiled by CRS.

60 World Bank’s LAC Equity Lab, “Overview,” accessed July 27, 2021, at https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/
poverty/lac-equity-lab1.
61 Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, “Sessions by Topic: Rights of Indigenous Peoples,” accessed July 27,
2021, at https://www.oas.org/es/cidh/audiencias/TopicsList.aspx?Lang=en&Topic=17.
62 Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, “Rapporteurship on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Reports on
Petitions and Cases,” accessed October 4, 2023, at
https://www.oas.org/en/IACHR/jsForm/?File=/en/IACHR/R/DPI/cidh.asp
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Table A-2. Resources on Indigenous Socioeconomics
Title (publication year)
Author
Resource Type
Norte de Centroamérica y
Organization of American States
Report on El Salvador, Guatemala,
Nicaragua: Derechos económicos,
Honduras y Nicaragua (Spanish
sociales, culturales y ambientales de
only)
pueblos indígenas y
afrodescendientes tribales (2023)
Linking Indigenous Communities
Organization for Economic
Report on OECD member
with Regional Development (2019)
Cooperation and Development
countries including Chile and
Mexico with some information on
non-member countries
State of the World’s Indigenous
United Nations
Global report with a chapter on
Peoples: Education, 3rd volume
Latin America and the Caribbean
(2017)
Indigenous Latin America in the
International Bank for
Regional report covers statistical
Twenty-First Century: The First
Reconstruction and Development
numbers, migration, development,
Decade (2015)
and the World Bank
poverty, and education
State of the World´s Indigenous
United Nations
Global report with a chapter on
People: Indigenous People´s Access
Latin America and the Caribbean
to Health Services, 2nd volume
(2016)
Indigenous Peoples
U.S. Agency for International
Website with policy, blog, and
Development
more
LAC Equity Lab: A Platform for
World Bank
Regional economic data and maps
Poverty and Inequality Analysis
Source: Compiled by CRS.
Table A-3. Resources on Indigenous Land, Natural Resources, and Climate Change
in Latin America
Title (publication year)
Author
Resource Type
Climate Change 2023: Synthesis
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Global report with summary for
Report. Contribution of Working
Change
policymakers, a longer report,
Groups I, II and III to the Sixth
figures, and annexes
Assessment Report of the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (2023)
Deforestation in the Amazon: past,
Sibélia Zanon, Infoamazonia
Regional article with maps, tables,
present and future (2023)
and graphs
Who Owns the World’s Land?
Rights and Resources Initiative
Global report with regional and
Global State of Indigenous, Afro-
country statistics; updates findings
descendant, and Local Community
from 2015 report
Land Rights Recognition from
2015–2020 (2023)
The role of Amazonian Indigenous
Paulo Moutinho, et al, Science Panel
Policy brief
Peoples in fighting the climate crisis
for the Amazon, U.N. Sustainable
(2022)
Development Solutions Network
Amazon Assessment Report 2021
Science Panel for the Amazon, U.N.
Global report
(2021)
Sustainable Development Solutions
Network
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Title (publication year)
Author
Resource Type
EcoCrime Data (2021)
Igarapé Institute and InSight Crime
Mapping tool for environmental
crime in the Amazon including
deforestation, il egal mining, and
cattle, soy, and oil activity
Forest governance by indigenous
U.N. Food and Agriculture
Regional report
and tribal peoples. An opportunity
Organization and the Fund for the
for climate action in Latin America
Development of the Indigenous
and the Caribbean (2021)
Peoples of Latina America and the
Caribbean
State of the World´s Indigenous
United Nations
Global report
Peoples: Rights to Lands,
Territories and Resources, 5th
volume (2021)
Environmental Governance
Inter-American Development Bank
Regional report
Indicators for Latin America and the and World Justice Project
Caribbean (2020)
Undermining Rights: Indigenous
World Resources Institute
Regional report
Lands and Mining in the Amazon
(2020)
Global Assessment Report on
Intergovernmental Science-Policy
Global report with discussion of
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Platform on Biodiversity and
Indigenous peoples integrated
(2019)
Ecosystem Services
throughout
Global Report on the Situation of
Joji Carino, Loreto Tamayo,
Global report with a section on
Lands, Territories and Resources of
Indigenous Peoples Major Group
Latin America and the Caribbean
Indigenous Peoples (2019)
for Sustainable Development
Situation of Human Rights of the
Inter-American Commission on
Regional report examines threats to
Indigenous and Tribal Peoples of
Human Rights
Indigenous peoples, challenges to
the Pan-Amazon Region (2019)
their rights and recommendations
At a Crossroads: Consequential
Rights and Resources Initiative
Global report
Trends in Recognition of
Community-Based Forest Tenure
from 2002-2017 (2018)
Cornered by Protected Areas
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Janis Alcorn,
Website with global resources
(2018)
and Augusta Molnar
including report with case studies of
Panama and Peru
Amazonía Socioambiental
Amazon Geo-Referenced Socio-
Website with maps about the
Environmental Information
Amazon’s protected areas,
Network, a consortium of civil
Indigenous territories, deforestation
society organizations from several
and more (English, Spanish,
countries
Portuguese)
Environmental Justice Atlas
Autonomous University of
Global map with information about
Barcelona’s Institute of
level of conflict, communities,
Environmental Science and
commodities, companies, and
Technology
governmental agencies involved,
and reference links
Indigenous peoples and food
FAO Regional Office for Latin
Website links to additional regional
security in Latin America and the
America and the Caribbean
documents
Caribbean
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Indigenous Peoples in Latin America: Statistical Information

Title (publication year)
Author
Resource Type
International Indigenous Peoples’
United Nations
Website for global caucus of
Forum on Climate Change
Indigenous peoples participating in
U.N. Framework Convention on
Climate Change
Landmark Map
World Resources Institute,
Global maps, data, country profiles
International Land Coalition and
others
Source: Compiled by CRS.
Table A-4. Resources on International Organizations and Indigenous Peoples
in Latin America
Title (publication year)
Author
Resource Type
Implementing the ILO Indigenous
International Labor Organization
Global report on income and
and Tribal Peoples Convention No.
employment with regional statistics
169 Towards an inclusive,
and a focus on gender differences
sustainable and just future (2019)
State of the world´s Indigenous
United Nations
Global report covers Declaration
peoples: Implementing the United
implementation, official statistics,
Nations Declaration on the Rights
challenges and priorities
of Indigenous Peoples, 4th volume
(2019)
Indigenous Peoples and Local
World Intellectual Property
Website provides access to global
Communities Portal
Organization
publications and events
Indigenous Peoples
Organization of American States
Website provides access to the
Rapporteurship on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples of the Inter-
American Commission on Human
Rights, Summits of the Americas,
special regional projects and more
Indigenous and tribal peoples
International Labor Organization
Website provides access to global
projects, publications and
supervision of conventions
Indigenous Peoples
U.N. Department of Economic and
Website provides access to the
Social Affairs
global Permanent Forum on
Indigenous Issues, the 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 (publication year)
Author
Resource Type
Annual Report 2022/23: The State
Amnesty International
Global report, see “Americas
of the World’s Human Rights
Regional Overview”
(2023)
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Title (publication year)
Author
Resource Type
Front Line Defenders Global
Front Line Defenders
Global report about physical, digital,
Analysis 2022 (2023)
legal and social attacks against
human rights defenders with
section on the Americas
The Indigenous World 2023 (2023)
International Work Group for
Annual global report since 1986
Indigenous Affairs
about developments affecting
Indigenous peoples, organized by
country
Indigenous Women and Their
Inter-American Commission on
Regional report with hearings,
Human Rights in the Americas
Human Rights
cases, thematic and country reports
(2017)
that document violations of the
human rights of Indigenous women
Guaranteeing Indigenous people’s
U.N. Economic Commission for
Regional report covers
rights in Latin America: Progress in
Latin America and the Caribbean
sociopolitical context, territorial
the past decade and remaining
rights, and rights to well-being and
challenges (2014)
information
Civic Freedoms & HRD Data
Business & Human Rights Resource
Global database of attacks on
Centre
human rights defenders from 2015
to present, which specifies
Indigenous victims
Country Reports on Human Rights
U.S. State Department
Annual global reports cover each
Practices
country with a section
“Discrimination, Societal Abuses,
and Trafficking in Persons” that
includes Indigenous peoples
Indigenous Navigator
Community-generated data, website Website and global database
supported by the European Union
Source: Compiled by CRS.
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link to page 33 link to page 34 Indigenous Peoples in Latin America: Statistical Information

Appendix B. National Agencies of Indigenous
Affairs
Table B-1. Principal National Agencies Overseeing Indigenous Affairs
Country
Parent Agency
Indigenous Affairs Agency
Argentina
Ministerio de Justicia y Derechos
Instituto Nacional de Asuntos Indígenas
Humanos, Secretaría de Derechos
Humanos
Belize

Ministry of Human Development, Families and
Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs
Bolivia

Ministerio de Culturas, Descolonización y
Despatriarcalización
Brazil
Ministério dos Povos Indígenas
Fundação Nacional dos Povos Indígenas
Chile
Ministerio de Desarrol o Social y Familia
Corporación Nacional de Desarrol o Indígena
Colombia
Ministerio del Interior
Dirección de Asuntos Indígenas, ROM y
Minorías
Costa Rica

Comisión Nacional de Asuntos Indígenas
Ecuador

Consejo Nacional para la Igualdad de Pueblos y
Nacionalidades
El Salvador
Ministerio de Culturaa
Dirección General de Multiculturalidad
Guatemala
Ministerio Público
Secretaría de Pueblos Indígenasb
Guyana

Ministry of Amerindian Affairs
Honduras
Secretaría de Desarrol o Social
Coordinación Nacional de Pueblos Originarios y
Afrohondureños
Mexico
Secretaría de Cultura
Instituto Nacional de los Pueblos Indígenas
Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas
Nicaragua
Asamblea Nacional
Comisión de Asuntos de los Pueblos
Originarios, Afrodescendientes y Regímenes
Autonómicos
Comisión Nacional de Demarcación y Titulación
Panama
Ministerio de Gobierno
Viceministerio de Asuntos Indígenas
Ministerio de Salud
Dirección de Asuntos Sanitarios Indígenas
Paraguay

Instituto Paraguayo del Indígena
Peru
Ministerio de Salud
Dirección de Pueblos Indígenas u Originarios
Ministerio de Cultura
Base de datos de Pueblos Indígenas u
Originarios
Uruguay

Institución Nacional de Derechos Humanos y
Defensoría del Pueblo
Suriname
Ministerie van Regionale ontwikkeling en
Duurzame Ontwikkeling Inheemsen
sport
Venezuela

Ministerio del Poder Popular para los Pueblos
Indígenas
Source: Compiled by CRS.
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Indigenous Peoples in Latin America: Statistical Information

a. El Salvador’s Ministry of Culture mentions Indigenous peoples only in its list of responsibilities “Ejercer la
rectoría de los procesos relacionados con el desarrol o socio cultural de los pueblos indígenas.”
b. Found under the tab “Administrativo” towards the bottom of the webpage.
Author Information

Carla Y. Davis-Castro

Senior Research Librarian

Disclaimer
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