Indigenous population surges in Latin America

(MENAFN- AFP) The population of indigenous peoples in Latin America surged in the first decade of the 21st century due in part to improved health, education and political participation, a UN study released Monday has found.

"It's a demographic recovery of considerable magnitude," the report by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean said.

As of 2010, the region had 45 million people who identified as belonging to indigenous groups, or 8.3 percent of the total, according to the study.

That was up from 30 million in its last study in 2007, an almost 50 percent increase explained partly by a greater number of people who self-identify as indigenous.

But it also was powered by a 4.1 percent average annual growth rate in the indigenous population, compared to 1.3 percent population growth for Latin America as a whole.

The surge has coincided with better access to health care and education for indigenous peoples as well as greater political representation, the study found.

The study was presented at the opening of a two-day World Conference on Indigenous Peoples.

It said the region has 826 indigenous groups, up from 624 in 2000.

Bolivia has Latin America's largest indigenous population at 6.2 million, or about 62 percent of its total inhabitants.

Other countries with large concentrations of indigenous people are Mexico (17 million), Peru (7.0 million), Guatemala (5.9 million), Chile (1.8 million), Colombia (1.6 million), Ecuador (1.0 million) and Brazil (900,000).