Indigenous Peoples in Ecuador - Modern Times - Population and Demographics

Population and Demographics

There is debate about the quantities of indigenous currently inhabiting Ecuador. Some elements of society, most famously the former President León Febres Cordero, have insisted that the indigenous make up no more than two million people. Historian Enrique Ayala Mora, too, estimates that the indigenous population is no more than sixteen percent. Other organizations, such as CONAIE, while giving varying estimates in different years, tend to approximate closer to four million. The discrepancy arises from the ways in which they are counted: "oes one consider them such on the basis of physical characteristics or whether they live in the Andean Indian world?"

Approximately 96.4% of Ecuador's Indigenous population are Highland Quichuas living in the valleys of the Sierra region. They are Quichua speakers and include the Caranqui, the Otavaleños, the Cayambi, the Pichincha, the Panzaleo, the Chimbuelo, the Salasacan, the Tungurahua, the Tugua, the Waranka, the Puruhá, the Cañari, and the Saraguro. Linguistic evidence suggests that the Salascan and the Saraguro may be the descendents of Bolivian ethnic groups transplanted to Ecuador in a mitma, or forced migration.

Coastal groups, including the Awá, Chachi, and the Tsáchila, make up 0.24% percent of the indigenous population, while the remaining 3.35 percent live in the Oriente and consist of the Oriente Quichua (the Canelo and the Quijos), the Shuar, the Huaorani, the Siona–Secoya, the Cofán, and the Achuar.