Indigenous American ancestry
Indigenous American ancestry (share of the population)
Link with national income+0.11largely independent of national income
Links that hold up35of 166 pairs tested
Unit% of populationhigher is neither better nor worse
SourceANCESTRYNo licence stated; used with citation
What this measures. The estimated share of today's population whose ancestors in the year 1500 lived in the Americas, whose people in 1500 were all Indigenous. This is the closest thing to race shares that can be compared across countries: national censuses each use their own race and ethnic categories, and most countries record none. It is about where people's ancestors lived, not how anyone identifies, and it is one estimate for around the year 2000, built from history, migration records and genetic studies. Every country's six ancestry shares add up to 100%, so they are linked to each other by arithmetic. No "better" direction is set.
How it has moved
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Countries With the Highest Indigenous American Ancestry · Countries With the Lowest Indigenous American Ancestry
Every country, every year
One row per country and one column per year, sorted by the most recent value. Hover over any cell to see the figure. The country names link to each country’s page.
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Links that hold up
r is how closely two measures rise and fall together across countries, from −1 (opposite) to +1 (in step), where 0 means no link. These pairs are ranked by the link after adjusting for national income, which means comparing countries with the same GDP per person. Each pair passed three checks. The link held after that adjustment. It was unlikely to be chance (q of 0.05 or less), even allowing for countries in the same region being alike and for the many pairs tested. And the two are not just two measures of the same thing. Very small q values are written in short form: 8.0e-5 means 0.000080.
| Measure | Before adjusting | After adjusting | q | Countries | Tracks income? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indigenous American ancestry and Births outside marriageWhere Indigenous American ancestry is higher, Births outside marriage tends to be higher: a moderate link that holds when only countries with similar income are compared. Births outside marriage by country | +0.46 | +0.47 | 0.016 | 41 | independent |
| Indigenous American ancestry and Compulsory schoolingWhere Indigenous American ancestry is higher, Compulsory schooling tends to be higher: a moderate link that holds when only countries with similar income are compared. Compulsory schooling by country | +0.42 | +0.46 | 0.001 | 150 | moderate |
| Indigenous American ancestry and Homicide rateWhere Indigenous American ancestry is higher, Homicide rate tends to be higher: a moderate link that holds when only countries with similar income are compared. Homicide rate by country | +0.44 | +0.44 | 0.009 | 136 | moderate |
| Indigenous American ancestry and Old-age spendingWhere Indigenous American ancestry is higher, Old-age spending tends to be lower: a moderate link that holds when only countries with similar income are compared. Old-age spending by country | -0.46 | -0.44 | 0.047 | 41 | independent |
| Indigenous American ancestry and Public social spendingWhere Indigenous American ancestry is higher, Public social spending tends to be lower: a moderate link that holds when only countries with similar income are compared. Public social spending by country | -0.60 | -0.43 | 0.003 | 41 | moderate |
| Indigenous American ancestry and Adult obesityWhere Indigenous American ancestry is higher, Adult obesity tends to be higher: a weak link that holds when only countries with similar income are compared. Adult obesity by country | +0.36 | +0.40 | 0.021 | 157 | moderate |
| Indigenous American ancestry and Life satisfactionWhere Indigenous American ancestry is higher, Life satisfaction tends to be higher: a weak link that holds when only countries with similar income are compared. Life satisfaction by country | +0.24 | +0.39 | 0.003 | 152 | proxy |
| Indigenous American ancestry and Marriage rate (UN)Where Indigenous American ancestry is higher, Marriage rate (UN) tends to be lower: a weak link that holds when only countries with similar income are compared. Marriage rate (UN) by country | -0.28 | -0.39 | 0.008 | 81 | independent |
| Indigenous American ancestry and Gini indexWhere Indigenous American ancestry is higher, Gini index tends to be higher: a weak link that holds when only countries with similar income are compared. Gini index by country | +0.36 | +0.38 | 0.023 | 141 | moderate |
| Indigenous American ancestry and Age at childbearingWhere Indigenous American ancestry is higher, Age at childbearing tends to be lower: a weak link that holds when only countries with similar income are compared. Age at childbearing by country | -0.32 | -0.37 | 0.002 | 158 | moderate |
| Indigenous American ancestry and Anaemia in womenWhere Indigenous American ancestry is higher, Anaemia in women tends to be lower: a weak link that holds when only countries with similar income are compared. Anaemia in women by country | -0.26 | -0.34 | 0.005 | 155 | high |
| Indigenous American ancestry and Children with one parentWhere Indigenous American ancestry is higher, Children with one parent tends to be higher: a weak link that holds when only countries with similar income are compared. Children with one parent by country | +0.25 | +0.32 | 0.045 | 37 | independent |
| Indigenous American ancestry and Single-parent householdsWhere Indigenous American ancestry is higher, Single-parent households tends to be higher: a weak link that holds when only countries with similar income are compared. Single-parent households by country | +0.32 | +0.32 | 0.018 | 130 | independent |
| Indigenous American ancestry and Health scoreWhere Indigenous American ancestry is higher, Health score tends to be lower: a weak link that holds when only countries with similar income are compared. Health score by country | -0.31 | -0.32 | 0.015 | 156 | moderate |
| Indigenous American ancestry and Christian shareWhere Indigenous American ancestry is higher, Christian share tends to be higher: a weak link that holds when only countries with similar income are compared. Christian share by country | +0.32 | +0.32 | 0.045 | 158 | independent |
| Indigenous American ancestry and PISA mathsWhere Indigenous American ancestry is higher, PISA maths tends to be lower: a weak link that holds when only countries with similar income are compared. PISA maths by country | -0.41 | -0.29 | 0.045 | 80 | high |
| Indigenous American ancestry and Divorce rate (UN)Where Indigenous American ancestry is higher, Divorce rate (UN) tends to be lower: a weak link that holds when only countries with similar income are compared. Divorce rate (UN) by country | -0.26 | -0.28 | 0.030 | 73 | independent |
| Indigenous American ancestry and Rule of lawWhere Indigenous American ancestry is higher, Rule of law tends to be lower: a weak link that holds when only countries with similar income are compared. Rule of law by country | -0.16 | -0.26 | 0.016 | 158 | high |
| Indigenous American ancestry and ResearchersWhere Indigenous American ancestry is higher, Researchers tends to be lower: a weak link that holds when only countries with similar income are compared. Researchers by country | -0.21 | -0.26 | 0.021 | 125 | proxy |
| Indigenous American ancestry and Women in managementWhere Indigenous American ancestry is higher, Women in management tends to be higher: a weak link that holds when only countries with similar income are compared. Women in management by country | +0.25 | +0.26 | 0.028 | 126 | moderate |
| Indigenous American ancestry and Premature NCD mortalityWhere Indigenous American ancestry is higher, Premature NCD mortality tends to be lower: a weak link that holds when only countries with similar income are compared. Premature NCD mortality by country | -0.20 | -0.26 | 0.002 | 157 | high |
| Indigenous American ancestry and Corruption Perceptions IndexWhere Indigenous American ancestry is higher, Corruption Perceptions Index tends to be lower: a weak link that holds when only countries with similar income are compared. Corruption Perceptions Index by country | -0.16 | -0.25 | 0.012 | 157 | high |
| Indigenous American ancestry and Women ministersWhere Indigenous American ancestry is higher, Women ministers tends to be higher: a weak link that holds when only countries with similar income are compared. Women ministers by country | +0.25 | +0.25 | 0.036 | 156 | independent |
| Indigenous American ancestry and Male labor participationWhere Indigenous American ancestry is higher, Male labor participation tends to be higher: a weak link that holds when only countries with similar income are compared. Male labor participation by country | +0.25 | +0.25 | 0.034 | 158 | independent |
| Indigenous American ancestry and Control of corruptionWhere Indigenous American ancestry is higher, Control of corruption tends to be lower: a weak link that holds when only countries with similar income are compared. Control of corruption by country | -0.15 | -0.25 | 0.015 | 158 | high |
Links that don’t count as findings
These go together strongly, but they are built from the same numbers or measure the same thing. So they are bound to match, or their match shows that the measures agree, not something about the world.
| Measure | Before adjusting | After adjusting | q | Countries | Tracks income? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indigenous American ancestry and African ancestryNot an independent finding: one of these indices is built partly from the other, so their agreement is just arithmetic. African ancestry by country | -0.17 | -0.23 | 0.571 | 158 | moderate |
| Indigenous American ancestry and Middle Eastern ancestryNot an independent finding: one of these indices is built partly from the other, so their agreement is just arithmetic. Middle Eastern ancestry by country | -0.11 | -0.12 | 0.576 | 158 | independent |
| Indigenous American ancestry and East Asian ancestryNot an independent finding: one of these indices is built partly from the other, so their agreement is just arithmetic. East Asian ancestry by country | -0.11 | -0.11 | 0.584 | 158 | independent |
| Indigenous American ancestry and South Asian ancestryNot an independent finding: one of these indices is built partly from the other, so their agreement is just arithmetic. South Asian ancestry by country | -0.08 | -0.08 | 0.436 | 158 | independent |
| Indigenous American ancestry and European ancestryNot an independent finding: one of these indices is built partly from the other, so their agreement is just arithmetic. European ancestry by country | +0.03 | +0.02 | 0.944 | 158 | moderate |
How much the other measures account for
The 72 most widely reported measures boil down to a few broad patterns. This table shows how much of the differences between countries on this measure those patterns account for, adding one pattern at a time. The patterns are rebuilt without this measure, and without anything built from the same numbers or measuring the same thing. So it never predicts itself under another name. The figures use the 124 countries reporting all of them, and 72 candidate measures.
This shows how much it moves with the others. It does not explain anything. Measures that move together end up on the same pattern whether or not anything connects them. And the countries here are the best-documented ones. A high figure means this measure is largely predictable from the others, not that they produce it.
| Patterns used | Share of this measure accounted for | Added by this pattern |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0% | — |
| 2 | 1% | +1% |
| 3 | 18% | +17% |
| 4 | 36% | +18% |
| 5 | 37% | +1% |
| 6 | 38% | +1% |
How it differs by category
This compares the measure across groups of countries, such as those sharing a main religion, instead of against another number. The figure is the share of the differences between countries on this measure that lies between the groups, on a scale from 0 to 1. It is shown before and after adjusting for national income.
The “between groups” figure runs from 0 (the groups are no different) to 1 (the groups explain all the differences between countries). Groups have no up or down, so this says how much the groups differ, never which way. For that, read the group averages. The figure also tends to rise when there are more groups. So to judge whether it could be chance (q), we shuffle the same labels among the same countries many times and see how often a figure this big turns up. Then we allow for the fact that many measures are checked at once, since with enough checks a few big figures turn up by luck alone. Groups with fewer than 12 countries are left out. And countries that share a label share a lot else. Adjusting for income rules out one third factor, but leaves language, region, legal tradition and history untouched.
| Grouped by | Between groups | After income | q | Groups at each end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last European coloniser | 0.76 | 0.75 | 0.005 | largest: Spain 35.5% · smallest: Never a European colony 0% % of population |
| Largest religious group | 0.24 | 0.24 | 0.017 | largest: Christians 8.2% · smallest: Muslims 0% % of population |
Every other pair
Everything else this measure was tested against, apart from the links that hold up and the pairs built from the same numbers. Sorted by the link after adjusting. Search by name; every column sorts. A small adjusted figure is a result too. It says the two do not move together once income is set aside.
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Source
Louis Putterman and David N. Weil, Brown University
No licence stated; used with citation · licence terms · updated one edition (version 1.1, 2009)
Putterman, L. and Weil, D. N. (2010), 'Post-1500 Population Flows and the Long-Run Determinants of Economic Growth and Inequality', Quarterly Journal of Economics 125(4); World Migration Matrix version 1.1 (2009).