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Countries With the Highest Indigenous American Ancestry

Every country with a figure for indigenous american ancestry, ranked from highest to lowest. The top three are Guatemala (73.9%), Bolivia (72.4%) and Peru (64.2%). The middle country of the 164 has 0%.

What this measures

Indigenous American ancestry (share of the population), in % of population. Source: Louis Putterman and David N. Weil, Brown University. For this measure, no agreed better direction.

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.

The full ranking

Each country’s latest figure, from 2000–2000. The year beside each value says when it was measured.

RankCountryIndigenous American ancestryYearRegion
1Guatemala73.9%2000Latin America & Caribbean
2Bolivia72.4%2000Latin America & Caribbean
3Peru64.2%2000Latin America & Caribbean
4Mexico62.5%2000Latin America & Caribbean
5Ecuador61.1%2000Latin America & Caribbean
6Honduras52%2000Latin America & Caribbean
7El Salvador50%2000Latin America & Caribbean
8Paraguay46.1%2000Latin America & Caribbean
9Nicaragua40%2000Latin America & Caribbean
10Belize38.5%2000Latin America & Caribbean
11Chile37.3%2000Latin America & Caribbean
12Colombia37.1%2000Latin America & Caribbean
13Panama35.7%2000Latin America & Caribbean
14Venezuela, RB31%2000Latin America & Caribbean
15Costa Rica29.7%2000Latin America & Caribbean
16Puerto Rico (US)17.9%2000Latin America & Caribbean
17United States9.53%2000North America
18Brazil9.08%2000Latin America & Caribbean
19Argentina5%2000Latin America & Caribbean
20Guyana5%2000Latin America & Caribbean
21Uruguay4%2000Latin America & Caribbean
22Dominican Republic3.6%2000Latin America & Caribbean
23Canada3.27%2000North America
24Cuba2.5%2000Latin America & Caribbean
25Portugal0.06%2000Europe & Central Asia
26Afghanistan0%2000Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
27Angola0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
28Albania0%2000Europe & Central Asia
29United Arab Emirates0%2000Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
30Armenia0%2000Europe & Central Asia
31Australia0%2000East Asia & Pacific
32Austria0%2000Europe & Central Asia
33Azerbaijan0%2000Europe & Central Asia
34Burundi0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
35Belgium0%2000Europe & Central Asia
36Benin0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
37Burkina Faso0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
38Bangladesh0%2000South Asia
39Bulgaria0%2000Europe & Central Asia
40Bahrain0%2000Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
41Bosnia and Herzegovina0%2000Europe & Central Asia
42Belarus0%2000Europe & Central Asia
43Bhutan0%2000South Asia
44Botswana0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
45Central African Republic0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
46Switzerland0%2000Europe & Central Asia
47China0%2000East Asia & Pacific
48Cote d'Ivoire0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
49Cameroon0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
50Congo, Dem. Rep.0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
51Congo, Rep.0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
52Comoros0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
53Cabo Verde0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
54Cyprus0%2000Europe & Central Asia
55Czechia0%2000Europe & Central Asia
56Germany0%2000Europe & Central Asia
57Denmark0%2000Europe & Central Asia
58Algeria0%2000Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
59Egypt, Arab Rep.0%2000Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
60Eritrea0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
61Spain0%2000Europe & Central Asia
62Estonia0%2000Europe & Central Asia
63Ethiopia0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
64Finland0%2000Europe & Central Asia
65Fiji0%2000East Asia & Pacific
66France0%2000Europe & Central Asia
67Gabon0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
68United Kingdom0%2000Europe & Central Asia
69Georgia0%2000Europe & Central Asia
70Ghana0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
71Guinea0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
72Gambia, The0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
73Guinea-Bissau0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
74Equatorial Guinea0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
75Greece0%2000Europe & Central Asia
76Hong Kong SAR, China0%2000East Asia & Pacific
77Croatia0%2000Europe & Central Asia
78Haiti0%2000Latin America & Caribbean
79Hungary0%2000Europe & Central Asia
80Indonesia0%2000East Asia & Pacific
81India0%2000South Asia
82Ireland0%2000Europe & Central Asia
83Iran, Islamic Rep.0%2000Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
84Iraq0%2000Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
85Israel0%2000Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
86Italy0%2000Europe & Central Asia
87Jamaica0%2000Latin America & Caribbean
88Jordan0%2000Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
89Japan0%2000East Asia & Pacific
90Kazakhstan0%2000Europe & Central Asia
91Kenya0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
92Kyrgyz Republic0%2000Europe & Central Asia
93Cambodia0%2000East Asia & Pacific
94Korea, Rep.0%2000East Asia & Pacific
95Kuwait0%2000Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
96Lao PDR0%2000East Asia & Pacific
97Lebanon0%2000Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
98Liberia0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
99Libya0%2000Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
100Sri Lanka0%2000South Asia
101Lesotho0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
102Lithuania0%2000Europe & Central Asia
103Luxembourg0%2000Europe & Central Asia
104Latvia0%2000Europe & Central Asia
105Morocco0%2000Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
106Moldova0%2000Europe & Central Asia
107Madagascar0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
108North Macedonia0%2000Europe & Central Asia
109Mali0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
110Malta0%2000Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
111Myanmar0%2000East Asia & Pacific
112Mongolia0%2000East Asia & Pacific
113Mozambique0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
114Mauritania0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
115Mauritius0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
116Malawi0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
117Malaysia0%2000East Asia & Pacific
118Namibia0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
119Niger0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
120Nigeria0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
121Netherlands0%2000Europe & Central Asia
122Norway0%2000Europe & Central Asia
123Nepal0%2000South Asia
124New Zealand0%2000East Asia & Pacific
125Oman0%2000Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
126Pakistan0%2000Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
127Philippines0%2000East Asia & Pacific
128Papua New Guinea0%2000East Asia & Pacific
129Poland0%2000Europe & Central Asia
130Korea, Dem. People's Rep.0%2000East Asia & Pacific
131Qatar0%2000Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
132Romania0%2000Europe & Central Asia
133Russian Federation0%2000Europe & Central Asia
134Rwanda0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
135Saudi Arabia0%2000Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
136Sudan0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
137Senegal0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
138Singapore0%2000East Asia & Pacific
139Sierra Leone0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
140Somalia, Fed. Rep.0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
141Slovak Republic0%2000Europe & Central Asia
142Slovenia0%2000Europe & Central Asia
143Sweden0%2000Europe & Central Asia
144Eswatini0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
145Syrian Arab Republic0%2000Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
146Chad0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
147Togo0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
148Thailand0%2000East Asia & Pacific
149Tajikistan0%2000Europe & Central Asia
150Turkmenistan0%2000Europe & Central Asia
151Timor-Leste0%2000East Asia & Pacific
152Trinidad and Tobago0%2000Latin America & Caribbean
153Tunisia0%2000Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
154Turkiye0%2000Europe & Central Asia
155Taiwan0%2000East Asia & Pacific
156Tanzania0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
157Uganda0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
158Ukraine0%2000Europe & Central Asia
159Uzbekistan0%2000Europe & Central Asia
160Viet Nam0%2000East Asia & Pacific
161Yemen, Rep.0%2000Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
162South Africa0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
163Zambia0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa
164Zimbabwe0%2000Sub-Saharan Africa

More on indigenous american ancestry

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A ranking describes countries, not the people in them, and a high or low place does not by itself say why. All country rankings.