Indigenous People of Bolivia
Main minorities and indigenous peoples: There are a total of 36 recognized indigenous peoples, including Aymara, Quechua, Chiquitano, Guaraní and Moxeño. Other minority groups include Afro-Bolivians, and small communities of Japanese and Europeans including Germans (Mennonites).
Main languages: Spanish, Quechua, Aymara
Main religions: Christianity (majority Roman Catholic 76.8 per cent, minority Evangelical and Pentecostal 8.1 per cent and Protestant 7.9 per cent, although Protestantism is becoming increasingly popular), indigenous religions
According to the national census in 2012, indigenous peoples constitute 2.8 million people aged 15 years or over – or 41 per cent of the total population. There are a total of 36 recognized indigenous peoples, including Aymara and Quechua (the largest communities in the western Andes) as well as Chiquitano, Guaraní and Moxeño, who make up the most numerous communities in the lowlands. The 2012 census recorded a significant drop in the proportion of the population who identified as indigenous – from 66.4 per cent of those aged 15 years or over in the 2001 census – as more Bolivians appeared not to self-identify with any specific group. Other minority groups include Afro-Bolivians (23,300), and small communities of Japanese and Europeans including Germans (Mennonites).
Highland Quechua (1.8 million) and Aymara (1.7 million) make up around half of the country’s total indigenous population. Lowland peoples include the Chiquitano, Guaraní Moxeño, Ese Eja and Ayoreo.
Ayoreo people in the Chaco region have been harassed by the New Tribes Mission. Many have been ‘deported’ to the town of Santa Cruz, where they are reduced to begging.
According to some estimates, there are around 2,500 Uros living beside lakes and rivers of Bolivia, and about 150 Uros still live around Lake Titicaca; they use traditional reed boats for their fishing, but in many other respects have adopted an Aymara lifestyle. The Nación Originaria Uru was formed in Oruro in 2001. Around 2,000 Chipaya live in the salty marshes in south-west Bolivia, close to the Chilean frontier. Their weaving is distinctive, as are their round thatched houses, and they maintain a determined independence.
Japanese, who migrated from Peru and Brazil to the forests of eastern Bolivia during the rubber boom of 1900-15, live mainly in La Paz and the lowland departments of Beni and Santa Cruz. The majority are farmers well assimilated into Bolivian society. Those who received free land in the Santa Cruz area by the Migration Agreement of 1956 are mechanized farmers and assimilated to a lesser degree.
There are several Mennonite communities in the Santa Cruz area, where they are involved in agriculture and cattle ranching.