The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are groups of people native to a specific region that inhabited the Americasbefore the arrival of European settlers in the 15th century and the ethnic groups who continue to identify themselves with those peoples.[34]
The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are diverse; some Indigenous peoples were historically hunter-gatherers, while others traditionally practice agriculture and aquaculture. In some regions, Indigenous peoples created pre-contact monumental architecture, large-scale organized cities, city-states, chiefdoms, states, kingdoms, republics, confederacies, and empires.[35] These societies had varying degrees of knowledge of engineering, architecture, mathematics, astronomy, writing, physics, medicine, planting and irrigation, geology, mining, metallurgy, sculpture, and goldsmithing.
Many parts of the Americas are still populated by Indigenous peoples; some countries have sizeable populations, especially Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, and the United States. At least a thousand different Indigenous languages are spoken in the Americas, where there are also 574 federally recognized tribes in the United States alone. Several of these languages are recognized as official by several governments such as those in Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay and Greenland. Some, such as Quechua, Arawak, Aymara, Guaraní, Mayan, and Nahuatl, count their speakers in the millions. Whether contemporary Indigenous people live in rural communities or urban ones, many also maintain additional aspects of their cultural practices to varying degrees, including religion, social organization and subsistence practices. Like most cultures, over time, cultures specific to many Indigenous peoples have also evolved, preserving traditional customs but also adjusting to meet modern needs. Some Indigenous peoples still live in relative isolation from Western culture and a few are still counted as uncontacted peoples.[36] Indigenous peoples from the Americas have also formed diaspora communities outside the Western Hemisphere, namely in former colonial centers in Europe. A notable example is the sizable Greenlandic Inuit community in Denmark.[37] In the 20th and 21st centuries, Indigenous peoples from Suriname and French Guiana migrated to the Netherlands and France, respectively.[38][39]
In addition to Indigenous communities, the Americas are also home to millions of people of mixed Indigenous and European, as well as sometimes African or Asian descent, historically referred to as Mestizos in Spanish-speaking countries.[40][41] In many Latin American countries, people of partial Indigenous descent make up the majority or a significant component of the population, including in most of Central America, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, and Paraguay.[42][43][44] In fact, based on estimates of ethnic cultural identification in Latin America,[43] mestizos significantly outnumber Indigenous people in most Spanish-speaking countries. However, since Indigenous communities in the Americas are defined by cultural identification and kinship rather than ancestry or racial concepts, mestizos or mixed people are usually not counted among the Indigenous population unless they speak an Indigenous language and/or identify as part of a particular Indigenous culture.[45] Additionally, many people of wholly Indigenous descent who don't follow Indigenous traditions or speak an Indigenous language have been classified or self-identify as "mestizo" in Latin American societies as a result of assimilation into the dominant Hispanic culture. In recent years, the self-identified Indigenous population in many countries has increased as a result of these people reclaiming their heritage amid a rise in Indigenous lead movements for self determination and social justice.[46]
^"Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020: Presentación de resultados" [Population and Housing Census 2020: Presentation of results] (PDF) (in Spanish). Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía. p. 49. Archived(PDF) from the original on 24 January 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2022. Note: Indigenous population was identified as the total population in households where the head of the household, his or her spouse or any of their ascendants claimed to speak an Indigenous language.
^"Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020: Resultados complementarios" [2020 Population and Housing Census: Supplementary results] (PDF) (in Spanish). Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía. p. 27. Archived(PDF) from the original on 31 January 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2022. It was estimated that 19.41% of population aged 3 years and older considered themselves to be Indigenous.
^"2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171)". United States Census Bureau. The American Indian and Alaska Native population of one race was 3.7 million and the two or more races population 5.9 million (excluding Puerto Rico).
^"Principales Resultados del Censo 2018" [Main Results of the 2018 Census] (PDF) (in Spanish). Instituto Nacional de Estadística. p. 10. Archived(PDF) from the original on 29 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021. Sum of people who identify as Maya (6,207,503) and Xinka (264,167).
^"Perú: Perfil Sociodemográfico" [Peru: Sociodemographic Profile] (PDF) (in Spanish). Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática. p. 214. Archived(PDF) from the original on 11 February 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2021. Sum of population aged 12 years and older who identify as Quechua (5,176,809), Aimara (548,292), Native or Indigenous from the Amazon (79,266), Ashaninka (55,489), Part of another Indigenous or originary peoples (49,838), Awajun (37,690) and Shipibo Konibo (25,222).
^"Características de la Población – Censo 2012" [Population Characteristics – 2012 Census] (PDF) (in Spanish). Instituto Nacional de Estadística. p. 103. Archived(PDF) from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021. Excluding Afro-Bolivians (23,330).
^"Síntesis de Resultados Censo 2017"(PDF) (in Spanish). Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas. p. 16. Archived(PDF) from the original on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2021. Excluding Rapa Nui (9,399).
^"Población Indígena de Colombia" [Indigenous Population of Colombia] (PDF) (in Spanish). Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística. Archived(PDF) from the original on 18 September 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
^"Presentación de Resultados Nacionales" [Presentation of National Results] (PDF) (in Spanish). Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos. Archived(PDF) from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
^"Resultados Población Indígena" [Indigenous Population Results] (PDF) (in Spanish). Instituto Nacional de Estadística. Archived from the original(PDF) on 23 November 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
^"Población total por grupo poblacional al que pertenece, según total nacional, departamento, área, sexo y grupo de edad" [Total population by population group to which it belongs, according to national total, department, area, sex and age group] (XLSX) (in Spanish). Instituto Nacional de Estadística. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021. Sum of people who identify as Maya-Chortí (33,256), Lenca (453,672), Misquito (80,007), Nahua (6,339), Pech (6,024), Tolupán (19,033) and Tawahka (2,690).
^"Resultados – Censo de Poblacion y Vivienda 2005" [Results – Population and Housing Census 2005] (PDF) (in Spanish). Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas y Censos. p. 184. Archived(PDF) from the original on 3 May 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
^"Greenland in Figures 2020"(PDF). Statistics Greenland. p. 37. Archived(PDF) from the original on 3 May 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2021. Corresponding to "Born in Greenland".
^"2010 Housing and Population Census". The Central Statistical Office of Saint Lucia. Archived from the original on 29 March 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023. To generate the report follow Population and Housing > Basic Characteristics > Person Variables, select Ethnic group and execute.