Bolivian ethnic groups

The ethnic groups of Bolivia correspond to the set of indigenous and non-indigenous peoples that inhabit Bolivian territory.

The 2009 Bolivian Constitution recognized the ethnic diversity of the country and made 36 indigenous languages official throughout the national territory (in addition to Spanish). In this way, Bolivia became the country with the largest number of official languages in the world. world.

2012 Census

According to the census carried out by the National Institute of Statistics in 2012, Bolivians over the age of 15 self-identified as follows:

Among the population that belongs to an indigenous people or nation, 16,329 recognized themselves as Afro-Bolivians, which corresponds to 0.2% of the census population.

Other sources

Geographical distribution of the indigenous languages of Bolivia.

• For Mexican anthropologist Francisco Lizcano, 55% of Bolivians are indigenous, 28% mixed, 15% white and 2% mulatos.

• The World Factbook of the CIA and World Statesmen point out that 68% of Bolivians are mixed, 22% indigenous (including cholos), 5% white and 1% black. In addition, 44% of Bolivians feel part of an indigenous people, mainly Quechua and Aymara.

• In a 2013 survey, 52% of Bolivians identified themselves as mestizos, 37% as indigenous (25% as aimaras, 11% as Quechuas and 1% as Guaraní), 3% as whites and 1% as Afro-Bolivians.

• In the 2016 Latin Barometer survey, 57% of Bolivians declared themselves mixed, 27% indigenous, 4% white, 1% mulatto and 1% black.

Ethnic groups

Evo Morales, of Aymara origin, former president of Bolivia.

Indigenous

According to the 2012 Census, 40.6% of Bolivians recognized themselves as part of an indigenous people or nation. This figure fell considerably compared to the 2001 Census, when 62% of the population self-identified as such.

Among the 37 peoples officially recognized by the Bolivian State, the most numerous are the Quechua and the Aymara, followed by far by the Chiquitanos, Guarani, Mojeños and Afro-Bolivians, who were also counted as indigenous people.

According to the 2012 Census, the population of the indigenous ethnic groups of Bolivia was as follows:

The distribution of indigenous people by department was as follows:

Department	% Quechua	% Aimara	% Other village	% Total indigenous
Beni	1.6	1.9	28.6	32.1
Chuquisaca	44.1	0.2	5.3	49.6
Cochabamba	35.6	9,5	2.1	47.2
La Paz	3.1	47.6	3.9	54.6
Oruro	18.8	29.5	2.8	51.1
Pando	1.9	4.2	18,0	24.1
Potosí	55.7	4.0	9,5	69.2
Santa Cruz	6.8	1.4	11.7	19.9
Tarija	3.0	0.8	9.7	13.5

Mongrels

Students at a school in La Paz.

In the latest censuses there is no category that includes the mestizo population, although some sources indicate that it constitutes the largest racial group in Bolivian society.

The mestizos originated from the shortage of white women during the viceregal period, which caused the Spanish settlers to mix with indigenous people and, to a lesser extent, Africans. In addition to biological miscegenation, there was a social and cultural miscegenation, when the indigenous population moved to the cities and mixed their customs with those of the colonists settled in the Viceroyalty.

Whites

The first whites in Bolivia were the Spanish conquerors, who arrived in the current territory at the beginning of the 16th century. During the Republican period, a small number of European and Middle Eastern immigrants settled in Bolivia. Between 10,000 and 20,000 German Jews entered the period 1938-1941, and some 800 Arabs entered the country after 1920. Other groups of European immigrants include Italians, Croats, and Mennonites of German and Russian origin.

According to Grimmes, in 1998 2.1% of Bolivians spoke a non-Iberian European language: 50,000 German, 14,000 Corsican and 8,587 Low German (Mennonites).

Afro-Bolivians

Augusto Andaveris, Afro-Bolivian footballer.

In the 2012 Census, Afro-Bolivians counted 16,329 people, that is, 0.2% of the total. The black population of Bolivia descends from African slaves introduced by the Spanish to work in gold mines such as those in Potosí. Currently, the largest African community is in the Los Yungas region (La Paz department), where the Afro-Bolivian Royal House still exists.

Asians

Through an agreement between Bolivia and Japan, 1,085 Japanese families (6,165 people) settled in the department of Santa Cruz between 1956 and 1977. However, due to adaptation problems, many Japanese migrated to Argentina or Brazil, with only 1,400 remaining in Bolivia by the early 1980s.

Chinese migration has grown remarkably in the first decades of the XXI century, with 7,160 Chinese residing in Bolivia at early 2018.

Genetic makeup

According to some studies, the average genetic makeup of Bolivians is as follows:

Regions

According to a study carried out in 35 hospitals in 13 Latin American cities, the average genetic composition in La Paz is 82.59% indigenous, 17.32% European and 0.09% African.

For its part, a genetic analysis carried out on the populations of the departments of Chuquisaca and La Paz, found the following results:

A study carried out in six Bolivian departments determined that the genetic makeup was as follows:

In the same study, it was found that the genetic composition of the regions of Bolivia was distributed as follows:

Finally, the same study found that the genetic makeup of Bolivia's urban and rural populations was as follows:

For its part, an investigation carried out on indigenous, mestizo and Afro-Bolivian populations found that the genetic mix was distributed as follows:

Ethnic groups

An investigation by DNA Tribes found that the genetic makeup of the Aymara of La Paz is 86.9% indigenous, 9.1% European, 2.1% Middle Eastern, 1.3% Asian, and 0.6% African.

A study carried out on the population of Los Yungas and the Afro-Bolivian town of Tocaña, found the following results: