The World’s Minority Indigenous Peoples
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The World Bank defines Indigenous Peoples as distinct social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live or from which they have been displaced.
The United Nations defines a minority as a group of people who are not in a dominant position in their respective countries or have a history of oppression by settlers.
Over 476 million indigenous people live in 90 countries, accounting for 6.2% of the global population.
Indigenous Minority Populations by Country
Below is the map population distribution of the estimated 476 million minority Indigenous Peoples worldwide created by Bhabna Banerjee using data from the Indigenous World 2022 report.

China has the highest population of minority Indigenous, with an estimated population of 125.3 million, making up 8.9% of the Chinese population. But the Chinese government officially acknowledges only 55 different ethnic minority groups across the country.
After China, India has the second largest Indigenous population (104 million indigenous people or 8.6% of the population), with over 700 officially acknowledged ethnic groups. Most of these ethnic minorities are concentrated in the country’s northeastern region, from Rajasthan to West Bengal.
About 15 million indigenous people live in the Philippines (15%), 14 million in Vietnam (15%), 13 million in Kenya (25%), and nearly 12 million in Mexico (10%).
By comparison, the U.S. indigenous population, between 4 million and 7 million people strong, makes up 1.2% to 2.1% of the population. Canada’s share of indigenous people is barely higher at 4.9% (1.7 million).
Country | Minority indigenous population | Year of data |
---|---|---|
China | 125,332,335 | 2022 |
India | 104,000,000 | 2022 |
Indonesia | 60,000,000 | 2022 |
Pakistan | 35,000,000 | 2010 |
Mexico | 16,933,283 | 2022 |
Ethiopia | 16,500,000 | 2022 |
Myanmmar | 14,400,000 | 2010 |
Vietnam | 14,100,000 | 2022 |
Algeria | 12,000,000 | 2022 |
Nepal | 10,872,000 | 2022 |
Morocoo | 10,000,000 | 2022 |
Phillippines | 10,000,000 | 2022 |
Kenya | 9,650,000 | 2021 |
Bolivia | 7,000,000 | 2013 |
United States | 6,600,000 | 2022 |
Guatemala | 6,500,000 | 2022 |
Thailand | 6,100,000 | 2022 |
Malaysia | 4,683,000 | 2022 |
Peru | 4,000,000 | 2022 |
Laos | 3,500,000 | 2022 |
Niger | 2,690,000 | 2022 |
Namibia | 2,678,191 | 2022 |
Chile | 2,185,792 | 2022 |
Colombia | 1,905,617 | 2022 |
Canada | 1,673,785 | 2022 |
Iran | 1,617,000 | 2021 |
Bangladesh | 1,586,141 | 2022 |
Japan | 1,400,000 | 2021 |
Mali | 1,200,000 | 2016 |
Uganda | 1,138,239 | 2022 |
Ecuador | 1,100,000 | 2022 |
Cameroon | 1,044,300 | 2022 |
Libya | 1,000,000 | 2022 |
Tunisia | 1,000,000 | 2022 |
Argentina | 955,032 | 2022 |
Brazil | 896,900 | 2022 |
Venzuela | 896,000 | 2022 |
Australia | 881,600 | 2022 |
New Zealand | 775,500 | 2022 |
DRC | 700,000 | 2022 |
Nicaragua | 612,000 | 2022 |
SouthAfrica | 590,000 | 2022 |
Taiwan | 580,758 | 2022 |
Tanzania | 524,246 | 2022 |
Panama | 417,559 | 2022 |
Israel | 300,000 | 2022 |
Russia | 260,000 | 2022 |
Cambodia | 250,000 | 2022 |
French Polynesia | 222,400 | 2022 |
Paraguay | 122,461 | 2022 |
Costa Rica | 104,143 | 2022 |
Guyana | 78,500 | 2022 |
Burundi | 78,071 | 2022 |
Iraq | 78,000 | 2007 |
Botswana | 73,100 | 2022 |
Greenland | 56,523 | 2022 |
Norway | 50,000 | 2021 |
Rep. of Congo | 43,378 | 2022 |
CAR | 39,299 | 2022 |
Jordan | 27,000 | 2021 |
Rwanda | 25,000 | 2022 |
Angola | 24,300 | 2022 |
Suriname | 20,344 | 2022 |
Sweden | 20,000 | 2021 |
Gabon | 16,162 | 2020 |
French Guiana | 10,000 | 2022 |
Finland | 8000 | 2021 |
Zimbabwe | 4533 | 2022 |
Sri Lanka | 1229 | 2012 |
The most significant percentage of the indigenous population lives in in Peru (83.1%) and Bolivia (45.6%).
Quick facts
- China recognizes 55 ethnic minorities and the Han Chinese majority, who comprise 92% of their population. They also constitute the largest ethnic group in the world.
- Over 700 ethnic groups in India are officially recognized as “Scheduled Tribes” and called Adivasis (literally translates to Indigenous Peoples).
- Located mainly in northwestern Nigeria and parts of southern Niger, the Hausa constitute the largest ethnic group in West Africa, with an estimated population of 70 million.
- Spread over 27,000 square miles of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, the Navajo Nation is the largest Native American reservation in the U.S., with 399,494 enrolled members and roughly 173,000 people living within its borders.
- The Quechua are direct descendants of the Incas and other South American Indigenous peoples and form most indigenous people in Peru (83.1%) and Bolivia (45.6%).
- Of Greenland’s total inhabitants, 89% are the Greenland Inuit, mainly called Kalaallit.
- Besides the Sdmi of Finland, Sweden, and Norway, many of Europe’s indigenous minorities did not have recent data, including the Basques and Crimean Tatars.