View source for Indigenous peoples in Colombia

{{Short description|Ethnic groups that have inhabited Colombia before European colonization}}
{{Infobox ethnic group|
| group            = Native Colombians
| native_name      = ''Colombianos nativos ([[Spanish language|Spanish]])''
| native_name_lang = es
| flag             = Flag of Native Peoples of Colombia.svg
| flag_caption     = Flag of the Indigenous Colombians
| image            = 
| image_caption    = 
| population       = {{increase}} '''1,905,617''' ([[2018 Colombian census|2018 Census]])<ref name="iwgia">[http://www.iwgia.org/regions/latin-america/colombia "Indigenous peoples in Colombia"]. International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. Retrieved 11 Dec 2013.</ref><ref name="dane.gov.co">{{Cite web|url=https://www.dane.gov.co/files/investigaciones/boletines/grupos-etnicos/presentacion-grupos-etnicos-2019.pdf|title=POBLACIÓN INDÍGENA DE COLOMBIA RESULTADOS DEL CENSO NACIONAL DE POBLACIÓN Y VIVIENDA 2018|website=www.dane.gov.co}}</ref><br />{{increase}} 4.31% of the Colombian population<br />'''{{Circa|5,200,000}}''' (Estimation)<ref name="Raza/Etnia a la que pertenece">{{cite web |title=Raza/Etnia a la que pertenece |url=https://www.latinobarometro.org/latOnline.jsp |access-date=13 February 2024 |work=Latinobarómetro 2023 Colombia}}</ref><ref name="Latinobarómetro">{{cite web |title=Informe Latinobarómetro 2018 |url= https://ibb.co/Rb7mFqX |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210610232522/https://ibb.co/Rb7mFqX |url-status= usurped |archive-date= June 10, 2021 |publisher=Latinobarometro |date= |access-date=October 3, 2022}}</ref><ref name="Latinobarómetro2">{{cite web|title=Informe Latinobarómetro |url= https://www.latinobarometro.org/latContents.jsp |publisher=Latinobarometro |date= |access-date=January 30, 2024}}</ref><br /> ~10% of the Colombian population<br/><small>'''2%–10.4%<ref name="Latinobarómetro"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.schwartzman.org.br/simon/coesion_etnia.pdf|author=Simon Schwartzman|title=Étnia, condiciones de vida y discriminación|access-date=2 March 2022}}</ref><ref name="Genetics">{{Cite journal |last1=Ruiz-Linares |first1=Andrés |last2=Adhikari |first2=Kaustubh |last3=Acuña-Alonzo |first3=Victor |last4=Quinto-Sanchez |first4=Mirsha |last5=Jaramillo |first5=Claudia |last6=Arias |first6=William |last7=Fuentes |first7=Macarena |last8=Pizarro |first8=María |last9=Everardo |first9=Paola |last10=Avila |first10=Francisco de |last11=Gómez-Valdés |first11=Jorge |date=2014-09-25 |title=Admixture in Latin America: Geographic Structure, Phenotypic Diversity and Self-Perception of Ancestry Based on 7,342 Individuals |journal=PLOS Genetics |language=en |volume=10 |issue=9 |pages=e1004572 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1004572 |doi-access=free |issn=1553-7404 |pmc=4177621 |pmid=25254375|bibcode=2014PLOSG..10.4572R }}</ref> of the Colombian population''' (other sources)</small>
| region1          = {{Flag|La Guajira}}
| pop1             = 394,683
| ref1             = 
| region2          = {{Flag|Cauca}}
| pop2             = 308,455
| ref2             = 
| region3          = {{Flag|Nariño}}
| pop3             = 206,455
| ref3             = 
| region4          = {{Flagicon|Córdoba, Colombia}} [[Córdoba Department|Córdoba]]
| pop4             = 202,621
| ref4             = 
| region5          = {{Flagicon|Sucre, Colombia}} [[Sucre Department|Sucre]]
| pop5             = 104,890
| ref5             = 
| popplace         = Throughout the country, especially in the [[Amazon natural region|Amazonía Region]], [[Andean natural region|Andean region]] and [[Caribbean natural region|Caribbean Region]]
| langs            = [[Spanish language|Spanish]]{{*}}[[Indigenous languages of the Americas|Indigenous languages]] (including [[Wayuu language|Wayuu]], [[Sinúfana language|Sinúfana]], [[Páez language|Páez]], [[Emberá languages|Emberá]])
| rels             = Majority: [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]]<br>Minority: [[Native American religions]]
| related          = {{flatlist|
* Other [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas]] and [[Mestizo Colombians]]
}}
}}

'''Indigenous Colombians''' ({{Langx|es|Colombianos indigenas}}), also known as '''Native Colombians''' ({{Langx|es|Colombianos nativos}}), are the [[ethnic groups]] who have inhabited [[Colombia]] before the [[Spanish conquest of New Granada|Spanish colonization of Colombia]], in the early 16th century.

Estimates on the percentage of Colombians who are indigenous vary, from 3% or 1.5 million to 10% or 5 million. According to the [[2018 Colombian census]], they comprise 4.4% of the country's population, belonging to 115 different [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|tribes]], up from 3.4% in the [[2005 Colombian census]].<ref name="iwgia" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=POBLACIÓN INDÍGENA DE COLOMBIA RESULTADOS DEL CENSO NACIONAL DE POBLACIÓN Y VIVIENDA 2018 |url=https://www.dane.gov.co/files/investigaciones/boletines/grupos-etnicos/presentacion-grupos-etnicos-2019.pdf |website=www.dane.gov.co}}</ref> However, a [[Latinobarómetro]] survey from the same year found that 10.4% of Colombian respondents self-identified as indigenous.<ref name="Latinobarómetro">{{cite web |title=Informe Latinobarómetro 2018 |url= https://ibb.co/Rb7mFqX |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210610232522/https://ibb.co/Rb7mFqX |url-status= usurped |archive-date= June 10, 2021 |publisher=Latinobarometro |date= |access-date=October 3, 2022}}</ref><ref name="Latinobarómetro2">{{cite web|title=Informe Latinobarómetro |url= https://www.latinobarometro.org/latContents.jsp |publisher=Latinobarometro |date= |access-date=January 30, 2024}}</ref> The most recent estimation of the number of indigenous peoples of Colombia places it at around 9.5% of the population. This places that Colombia as having the seventh highest percentage of [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indigenous peoples in the Americas]] with [[Bolivia]], [[Chile]], [[Ecuador]], [[Guatemala]], [[Peru]], and [[Panama]] having a higher estimated percentage of Indigenous peoples than Colombia.<ref name="Raza/Etnia a la que pertenece">{{cite web |title=Raza/Etnia a la que pertenece |url=https://www.latinobarometro.org/latOnline.jsp |access-date=13 February 2024 |work=Latinobarómetro 2023 Colombia}}</ref> The percentage of Indigenous peoples has been growing since an all-time low of 1965, where it was estimated only 1% of Colombians were indigenous.<ref>Rueda, Ricardo (1974). La población de Colombia. Asociación Colombiana para el Estudio de la Población. p. 78.</ref>

Approximately two thirds of the registered Indigenous peoples live in [[La Guajira Department|La Guajira]], [[Cauca Department|Cauca]], [[Nariño Department|Nariño]], [[Córdoba Department|Córdoba]] and [[Sucre Department]]s. The [[Amazon basin]], a sparsely populated region, is home to over 70 different Indigenous ethnic groups.<ref name="iwgia" />

Both historically and in recent times, they have been subjected to [[Violence against Indigenous peoples in Colombia|violence]] and oppression, ranging from land theft to massacres to the targeted killings of Indigenous activists and politicians.<ref name="violence">{{cite web |last1=Alexander |first1=Inigo |title=Colombia's Indigenous population faces scourge of violence |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/1/colombias-indigenous-population-faces-scourge-of-violence |publisher=Al Jazeera |access-date=12 December 2023}}</ref>

== Population history ==

In the [[Pre-Columbian cultures of Colombia|Pre-Columbian]] era, the total population of Colombia was estimated to be around 6 million people.<ref>Juan Friede (1966). Invasión del país de los chibchas. Santa Fe de Bogotá: Ediciones Tercer Mundo, pp. 19</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Caída de la población indígena en Colombia, 1500-1630: tres escenarios |trans-title=Decline of the indigenous population in Colombia, 1500-1630: three scenarios |url=https://www.banrep.gov.co/sites/default/files/paginas/lbr_colonial_graficos3.pdf |work=[[Bank of the Republic (Colombia)|Banco de la República]]}}</ref> However, after [[Spanish conquest of New Granada|Spanish conquest]], the population of Colombia was lowered to only 750 thousand people, in which native peoples made up 80% of the population at 600 thousand people.<ref>Rosenblat, 1954: 59</ref> This would lower after [[Colombian War of Independence|independence]], when the population grew to 1.327 million in which natives made up 53% of the population at 700 thousand people.<ref>Rosenblat, 1954: 36-56</ref> In the 1912 census, the native population accounted for 6.3% of the population, down from the 17.8% reported in 1852, this later lowered to 1% in the 1993 Census. However, due to increased recognition from the government, the percentage of registered indigenous people grew from 1% to 3.4% in the 2005 census, and later to 4.3% in the 2018 census.<ref name="Palacios_1">{{cite book|last=Palacios|first=Marco|title=Colombia. País fragmentado, sociedad dividida|publisher=Grupo Editorial Norma|year=2002|page=373}}</ref> This demographic decline can be explained by liberal policies implemented by new republican elites, which tried to abolish indigenous collective land ownership previously recognized by the [[Spanish monarchy]], and forced natives to assimilate in mainstream national culture.<ref>[https://www.banrepcultural.org/biblioteca-virtual/credencial-historia/numero-146/instituciones-indigenistas-en-el-siglo-xix Instituciones indigenistas en el siglo xix]</ref> As of 2023, the total population of Colombia has grown significantly to around 52 million people, in which full-blooded natives are estimated to make up around 10% of the population at 5.2 million people, the reason for the increase being due to raised awareness among Colombians about their indigenous identity and from the 1991 constitution, which gave more legal rights to indigenous communities.<ref>Estimates from Latinobarómetro in 2018 and 2023</ref> Despite the reduction in percentage of the total population, natives make up a large part of the genetic ancestry of Colombians. A study from Rojas et al. determines that the average Colombian (of all races) has a mixture of 47% Amerindian, 42% European, and 11% African,<ref name="Rojas2010">{{Cite journal |last=Rojas |first=Winston |last2=Parra |first2=María Victoria |last3=Campo |first3=Omer |last4=Caro |first4=María Antonieta |last5=Lopera |first5=Juan Guillermo |last6=Arias |first6=William |last7=Duque |first7=Constanza |last8=Naranjo |first8=Andrés |last9=García |first9=Jharley |last10=Vergara |first10=Candelaria |last11=Lopera |first11=Jaime |last12=Hernandez |first12=Erick |last13=Valencia |first13=Ana |last14=Caicedo |first14=Yuri |last15=Cuartas |first15=Mauricio |date=September 2010 |title=Genetic make up and structure of Colombian populations by means of uniparental and biparental DNA markers |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajpa.21270 |journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology |language=en |volume=143 |issue=1 |pages=13–20 |doi=10.1002/ajpa.21270 |issn=0002-9483|url-access=subscription }}</ref> with natives having the most significant contribution in this study.

{| class="wikitable" style="float: right;"
|-
! colspan="8" |Indigenous Colombians 1600–2023
|- 
! Year
! Population
! <small>% of<br />Colombia</small>
|-
||'''1600'''||600,000||{{steady}} 80%
|-
||'''1825'''||700,000||{{decrease}} 53%
|-
||'''1852'''||421,000||{{decrease}} 17.8%
|-
||'''1912'''||344,198||{{decrease}} 6.79%
|-
||'''1918'''||158,428||{{decrease}} 2.71%
|-
||'''1938'''||100,422||{{decrease}} 1.15%
|-
||'''1951'''||157,791||{{increase}} 1.37%
|-
||'''1964'''||119,180||{{decrease}} 0.68%
|-
||'''1973'''||383,629||{{increase}} 1.86%
|-
||'''1985'''||237,759||{{decrease}} 0.79%
|-
||'''1993'''||532,233||{{increase}} 1.61%	
|-
||'''2005'''||1,392,623||{{increase}} 3.40%
|-
||'''2018'''||1,905,617||{{increase}} 4.31%
|-
||'''2023 (Estimation)'''||{{Circa|5,200,000}}||{{increase}} 10%
|-
| colspan="8" style="text-align:left;" |<small>Source: Colombian census <ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.dane.gov.co/files/censo2005/etnia/sys/visibilidad_estadistica_etnicos.pdf |title=Distribución de la población colombiana según pertenencia étnica |publisher=Documento DANE - Las Estadísticas Vitales en Colombia |access-date= 27 October 2016}}</ref><ref name = "grupos étnicos">{{cite web|title= Estadística de los grupos étnicos 2018|url=https://geoportal.dane.gov.co/geovisores/sociedad/cnpv-2018/?lt=4.456007353293281&lg=-73.2781601239999&z=5|work=Censo General 2018|publisher=Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadistica (DANE)|access-date=10 February 2020}}</ref></small><ref group="note">The reason for the discrepancy has mainly to do with Indigenous Colombians being undercounted in the censuses and/or choosing to identify with a different race.</ref>
|}

== History ==
Some theories claim the earliest human habitation of South America to be as early as 43,000 BC, but the current scholarly consensus among archaeologists is that human habitation in South America only dates back to around 15,000 BC at the earliest.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}} Anthropologist [[Tom Dillehay]] dates the earliest hunter-gatherer cultures on the continent at almost 10,000 BC, during the late [[Pleistocene]] and early [[Holocene]] periods.<ref name="loc">Bushnell, David and Rex A. Hudson. "Indigenous Peoples". In [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/pdf/CS_Colombia.pdf ''Colombia: A Country Study''] (Rex A. Hudson, ed.), pp. 82-86. [[Library of Congress]] [[Federal Research Division]] (2010). {{PD-notice}}</ref> According to his evidence based on rock shelters, Colombia's first human inhabitants were probably concentrated along the Caribbean coast and on the Andean highland slopes.<ref name="loc" /> By that time, these regions were forested and had a climate resembling today's.<ref name="loc" /> Dillehay has noted that [[Tibitó]], located just north of [[Bogotá]], is one of the oldest known and most widely accepted sites of early human occupation in Colombia, dating from about 9,790 BC. There is evidence that the highlands of Colombia were occupied by significant numbers of human foragers by 9,000 BC, with permanent village settlement in northern Colombia by 2,000 BC.<ref name="loc" />

Beginning in the 1st millennium BC, groups of [[Amerindian]]s including the [[Muisca people|Muisca]], [[Quimbaya civilization|Quimbaya]], [[Tairona]], [[Calima culture|Calima]], [[Zenú]], [[Tierradentro]], [[San Agustín Archaeological Park|San Agustín]], [[Panche people|Tolima]], and Urabá became skilled in farming, mining, and metalcraft; and some developed the political system of ''[[cacicazgo]]s'' with a pyramidal structure of power headed by [[Cacique Nutibara Bloc|caciques]].

Colombia's Indigenous culture evolved from three main groups—the [[Quimbaya culture|Quimbaya]], who inhabited the western slopes of the [[Cordillera Central (Colombia)|Cordillera Central]]; the Chibchas; and the [[Kalina people|Kalina]] (Caribs).<ref name="loc" /> When the Spanish arrived in 1509, they found a flourishing and heterogeneous [[Amerindian]] population that numbered around 6 million,<ref name="Banrep.co">{{Cite web |title=Gráfico iii.1. Caída de la población indígena en Colombia, 1500-1630: tres escenarios |url=https://www.banrep.gov.co/sites/default/files/paginas/lbr_colonial_graficos3.pdf |website=www.banrep.gov.co}}</ref> belonged to several hundred tribes, and largely spoke mutually unintelligible dialects.<ref name="loc" /> The two most advanced cultures of Amerindian peoples at the time were the [[Muisca people|Muisca]] and [[Taironas]], who belonged to the Chibcha group and were skilled in farming, mining, and metalcraft.<ref name="loc" /> The Muisca lived mainly in the present departments of [[Cundinamarca Department|Cundinamarca]] and [[Boyacá Department|Boyacá]], where they had fled centuries earlier after raids by the warlike Caribs, some of whom eventually migrated to Caribbean islands near the end of the first millennium A.D.<ref name="loc" /> The Taironas, who were divided into two subgroups, lived in the Caribbean lowlands and the highlands of the [[Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta]].<ref name="loc" /> The Muisca civilization was well organized into distinct provinces governed by communal land laws and powerful [[caciques]], who reported to one of the two supreme leaders.<ref name="loc" />
<gallery mode="packed" caption="Pre-Columbian" style="font-size:88%; line-height:130%; border-bottom:1px #aaa solid;" heights="100">
Muisca raft Legend of El Dorado Offerings of gold.jpg|The ''[[zipa]]'' used to cover his body in gold and, from his [[Muisca raft]], he offered treasures to the ''Guatavita'' goddess in the middle of the sacred lake. This old [[Muisca Confederation|Muisca]] tradition became the origin of the ''[[El Dorado]]'' legend.
Museo del Oro Zenú Bogota mod.jpg|A lowland [[Zenú]] cast-gold bird ornament that served as a staff head, dated 490 CE. This culture used alloys with a high gold content. The crest of the bird consists of the typical Zenú semi-[[filigree]]. Regular filigree is braided wire, but the Zenú cast theirs.
Taironapendants metropolitan 2006.jpg|[[Tairona]] figure pendants in gold.
Cacique Quimbaya de oro (M. América, Madrid) 01.jpg|Golden statuette of a [[Quimbaya civilization|Quimbaya]] ''[[cacique]]''.
Parque Arqueológico de San Agustín - tomb of a deity with supporting warriors.jpg|[[San Agustín Archaeological Park]] ([[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]), contains the largest collection of religious monuments and [[megalith|megalithic sculpture]]s in Latin America<ref>{{cite web|title=San Agustín Archaeological Park|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/744|publisher=UNESCO World Heritage Center|access-date=27 January 2015}}</ref> and is considered the world's largest [[necropolis]].
Lost City Ruins.jpg|[[Ciudad Perdida]] is a major settlement believed to have been founded around 800 CE. It consists of a series of 169 [[terrace (agriculture)|terraces]] carved into the mountainside, a net of tiled roads and several small circular [[plaza]]s. The entrance can only be accessed by a climb up some 1,200 stone steps through dense jungle.<ref>{{cite web|title=Explore the Site|url=http://ghn.globalheritagefund.org/explore.php?id=1305|publisher=Global Heritage Fund|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140908133823/http://ghn.globalheritagefund.org/explore.php?id=1305|archive-date=2014-09-08}}</ref>
</gallery>

=== Pre-Columbian history === <!-- no typo! Columbian refers to Columbus, not Colombia!-->
[[File:Mask used on folk ritual Kamentsa on Chaquiras indigenous people of Colombia.jpg|thumb|Mask used on folk ritual Kamentsa on Chaquiras Indigenous people of [[Colombia]].]]
The complexity of the Indigenous peoples' social organization and technology varied tremendously, from stratified agricultural chiefdoms to tropical farm villages and nomadic hunting and food-gathering groups.<ref name="loc" /> At the end of the colonial period, the native population still constituted about half of the total population.<ref name="loc" /> In the agricultural chiefdoms of the highlands, the Spaniards successfully imposed institutions designed to ensure their control of the Amerindians and thereby the use of their labor.<ref name="loc" /> The colonists had organized political and religious administration by the end of the sixteenth century, and they had begun attempts to religiously convert the Amerindians to Christianity, specifically Roman Catholicism.<ref name="loc" />

The most important institution that regulated the lives and welfare of the highland Amerindians was the ''[[resguardo]]'', a reservation system of communal landholdings.<ref name="loc" /> Under this system, Amerindians were allowed to use the land but could not sell it.<ref name="loc" /> Similar in some respects to the [[Indian reservation|Native American reservation system]] of the United States, the resguardo has lasted with some changes even to the present and has been an enduring link between the government and the remaining highland tribes.<ref name="loc" /> As land pressures increased, however, encroachment of white or [[mestizo]] settlers onto resguardo lands accelerated, often without opposition from the government.<ref name="loc" />

The government generally had not attempted to legislate in the past in matters affecting the forest Amerindians.<ref name="loc" /> During the colonial period, [[Roman Catholic]] missions were granted jurisdiction over the lowland tribes.<ref name="loc" /> With the financial support of the government, a series of agreements with the [[Holy See]] from 1887 to 1953 entrusted the [[evangelization]] and education of these Amerindians to the missions, which worked together with government agencies.<ref name="loc" /> Division of the resguardos stopped in 1958, and a new program of community development began to try to bring the Amerindians more fully into the national society.<ref name="loc" />

The struggle of the Indigenous people on these lands to protect their holdings from neighboring landlords and to preserve their traditions continued into the late 20th century, when the [[Colombian Constitution of 1991|1991 constitution]] incorporated many of the Amerindian demands.<ref name="loc" /> New resguardos have been created, and others have been reconstituted, among forest tribes as well as highland communities.<ref name="loc" /> The 1991 constitution opened special political and social arenas for Indigenous and other minority groups.<ref name="loc" /> For example, it allowed for creation of a special commission to design a law recognizing the [[Afro-Colombian|black]] communities occupying unsettled lands in the riverine areas of the Pacific Coast.<ref name="loc" /> Article 171 provides special [[Senate of Colombia|Senate]] representation for Amerindians and other ethnic groups, while Article 176 provides special representation in the [[Chamber of Representatives of Colombia|Chamber of Representatives]]: two seats "for the black communities, one for Indian communities, one for political minorities, and one for Colombians residing abroad".<ref name="loc" /> Article 356 guarantees Amerindian territorial and cultural rights, and several laws and decrees have been enacted protecting them.<ref name="loc" /> Article 356 refers somewhat vaguely to both "Indigenous territorial entities" and Indigenous ''resguardos''.<ref name="loc" />

By 1991 the country's 587 resguardos contained 800,271 people, including 60,503 families.<ref name="loc" /> The general regional distribution of these resguardos was as follows: [[Amazon Region of Colombia|Amazonia]], 88; [[Orinoquía Region of Colombia|llanos]], 106; [[Caribbean Region of Colombia|Caribbean lowlands]], 31; [[Andean Region of Colombia|Andean highlands]], 104; and [[Pacific Region of Colombia|Pacific lowlands]], 258.<ref name="loc" /> They totaled {{convert|27900000|ha|sqmi}}, or about 24 percent of the national territory.<ref name="loc" /> Colombia today may have as many as 710 resguardos in 27 of the 32 departments.<ref name="loc" />

==Indigenous political organization==
Individual Indigenous groups have a variety of governance structures. A number of Indigenous groups are represented through the [[National Indigenous Organization of Colombia]] (ONIC - Organización Nacional Indígena de Colombia). Increasing organization and agitation have sharply broadened the Indigenous land base over the past forty years. The government titled more than 200 new reserves from 1960 to 1990, with 334 total operating as autonomous municipalities by 1997.<ref>Brysk, Alison. 2000. ''From tribal village to global village: Indian rights and international relations in Latin America''. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, p. 267.</ref>

==Territories==
[[File:Mapa_de_Colombia_(población_indígena_2005).svg|thumb|200px|Proportion of Indigenous Colombians in each municipality as of the 2005 Colombian census<br>
<small>{{legend|#6B0000|61.4% - 100%}}
{{legend|#AD5313|29.6% - 61.3%}}
{{legend|#F2A72E|11.7% - 29.5%}}
{{legend|#FAD155|2.9% - 11.6%}}
{{legend|#FFFF80|0.0% - 2.8%}}
{{legend|#CCCCCC|Without data}}</small>]]
[[File:Arhuacos.jpg|thumb|[[Arhuaco|Arhuaco people]] in the [[Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta]] Mountains.]]

Indigenous peoples hold title to substantial portions of Colombia, primarily in the form of Indigenous Reserves ({{langx|es|resguardos}}), which encompass one-third of the country's land.<ref name="iwgia" /> The Indigenous Affairs division of the Ministry of Interior has 567 reserves on record, covering approximately 365,004&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> which are home to 800,272 persons in 67,503 families.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.etniasdecolombia.org/grupos_resguardos.asp |title=Los resguardos indígenas |access-date=2008-08-01 |publisher=Fundación Hemera |language=es |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080712210235/http://www.etniasdecolombia.org/grupos_resguardos.asp |archive-date=2008-07-12 }}</ref>

The 1991 National Constitution of Colombia defined Territorial Entities (''Entidades Territoriales'') as departments, districts, municipalities and Indigenous territories.
Within an [[Indigenous territory (Colombia)|Indigenous Territory Entity]] (ETI) the people have autonomy in managing their interests, and within the limits of the constitution have the right to manage resources and define taxes required to perform their duties. ETIs are to be defined by the government in conformance with the Organic Law on Land Management.
However, this law has yet to be sanctioned so in practice the territories are unregulated.<ref>{{citation|ref={{harvid|Entidades Territoriales Indigenas – TIG}}|language=es |title=Entidades Territoriales Indigenas|work=TIG: Territorio Indigena y Gobernanza |url=http://www.territorioindigenaygobernanza.com/col_06.html|access-date=2016-07-15}}</ref>

== Territories with predominant Indigenous populations ==

=== Departments ===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+According to ethnic self-identification. Data from the 2018 Colombian Census.
!Department
!Total population (2018)
!Indigenous population<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |date=September 16, 2019 |title=Población Indígena de Colombia |url=https://www.dane.gov.co/files/investigaciones/boletines/grupos-etnicos/presentacion-grupos-etnicos-2019.pdf |website=dane.gov}}</ref>
!Percentage<ref name=":02" />
|-
|{{Flag|Amazonas Department|name=Amazonas}}
|66,056
|38,130
|57.7
|-
|{{Flag|Guainía}}
|44,431
|33,280
|74.9
|-
|{{Flag|Vaupés}}
|37,690
|30,787
|81.7
|-
|{{Flag|Vichada}}
|76,642
|44,578
|58.2
|}

=== Municipalities ===
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+Municipalities with predominant Indigenous population by self-identification.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018 |title=Autorreconocimiento étnico |url=https://www.colombiaenmapas.gov.co/?e=-82.66306750976614,-1.8784752954619761,-65.83201282227061,11.877955613394604,4686&b=igac&u=0&t=36&servicio=2255 |access-date=May 10, 2024 |website=Colombia en Mapas}}</ref>
!Municipality
!Predominant Indigenous group
![[Provinces of Colombia|Province]]
!Department
|-
|[[El Encanto]]
|[[Witoto]]
|[[Amazonas (Colombian department)|Amazonas]]
|{{Flag|Amazonas Department|name=Amazonas}}
|-
|[[La Chorrera, Colombia|La Chorrera]]
|[[Witoto]]
|[[Amazonas (Colombian department)|Amazonas]]
|{{Flag|Amazonas Department|name=Amazonas}}
|-
|[[La Pedrera, Amazonas|La Pedrera]]
|[[Yucuna language|Yucuna]]
|[[Amazonas (Colombian department)|Amazonas]]
|{{Flag|Amazonas Department|name=Amazonas}}
|-
|[[La Victoria, Amazonas|La Victoria]]
|[[Tanimuca-Retuarã language|Tanimuca]]
|[[Amazonas (Colombian department)|Amazonas]]
|{{Flag|Amazonas Department|name=Amazonas}}
|-
|[[Leticia, Amazonas|Leticia]]
|[[Ticuna]]
|[[Amazonas (Colombian department)|Amazonas]]
|{{Flag|Amazonas Department|name=Amazonas}}
|-
|[[Mirití-Paraná]]
|[[Yucuna language|Yucuna]]
|[[Amazonas (Colombian department)|Amazonas]]
|{{Flag|Amazonas Department|name=Amazonas}}
|-
|[[Puerto Alegría]]
|[[Witoto]]
|[[Amazonas (Colombian department)|Amazonas]]
|{{Flag|Amazonas Department|name=Amazonas}}
|-
|[[Puerto Arica]]
|[[Witoto]]
|[[Amazonas (Colombian department)|Amazonas]]
|{{Flag|Amazonas Department|name=Amazonas}}
|-
|[[Puerto Nariño]]
|[[Ticuna]]
|[[Amazonas (Colombian department)|Amazonas]]
|{{Flag|Amazonas Department|name=Amazonas}}
|-
|[[Puerto Santander, Amazonas|Puerto Santander]]
|[[Witoto]]
|[[Amazonas (Colombian department)|Amazonas]]
|{{Flag|Amazonas Department|name=Amazonas}}
|-
|[[Tarapacá, Amazonas|Tarapacá]]
|[[Ticuna]]
|[[Amazonas (Colombian department)|Amazonas]]
|{{Flag|Amazonas Department|name=Amazonas}}
|-
|[[Dabeiba]]
|[[Emberá-Catío|Emberá Katio]]
|[[Western Antioquia]]
|{{Flag|Antioquia}}
|-
|[[Frontino, Antioquia|Frontino]]
|[[Emberá-Catío|Emberá Katio]]
|[[Western Antioquia]]
|{{Flag|Antioquia}}
|-
|[[Piojó]]
|[[Mokaná]]
|[[Atlántico Department|Western Atlántico]]
|{{Flag|Atlántico}}
|-
|[[Tubará]]
|[[Mokaná]]
|[[Atlántico Department|Western Atlántico]]
|{{Flag|Atlántico}}
|-
|[[Usiacurí]]
|[[Mokaná]]
|[[Atlántico Department|Central Atlántico]]
|{{Flag|Atlántico}}
|-
|[[Cubará]]
|[[U'wa people|U'wa]]
|[[Cubará]]
|{{Flag|Boyacá}}
|-
|[[Güicán|Güicán de la Sierra]]
|[[U'wa people|U'wa]]
|[[Gutiérrez Province|Gutiérrez]]
|{{Flag|Boyacá}}
|-
|[[Marmato, Caldas|Marmato]]
|[[Emberá-Catío|Emberá Katio]]
|[[Caldas Department|Upper Western Caldas]]
|{{Flag|Caldas}}
|-
|[[Riosucio, Caldas|Riosucio]]
|[[Emberá-Catío|Emberá Katio]]
|[[Caldas Department|Upper Western Caldas]]
|{{Flag|Caldas}}
|-
|[[Supía, Caldas|Supía]]
|[[Emberá-Catío|Emberá Katio]]
|[[Caldas Department|Upper Western Caldas]]
|{{Flag|Caldas}}
|-
|[[Milán, Caquetá|Milán]]
|[[Coreguaje]]
|[[Caquetá Department|Caquetá]]
|{{Flag|Caquetá}}
|-
|[[Solano, Caquetá|Solano]]
|[[Witoto]]
|[[Caquetá Department|Caquetá]]
|{{Flag|Caquetá}}
|-
|[[Orocué]]
|[[Sáliva]]
|[[Casanare Department|Casanare]]
|{{Flag|Casanare}}
|-
|[[Almaguer, Cauca|Almaguer]]
|[[Yanakuna|Yanacona]]
|[[Cauca Department|South Cauca]]
|{{Flag|Cauca}}
|-
|[[Caldono, Cauca|Caldono]]
|[[Nasa people|Nasa]]
|[[Cauca Department|Eastern Cauca]]
|{{Flag|Cauca}}
|-
|[[Corinto, Cauca|Corinto]]
|[[Nasa people|Nasa]]
|[[Cauca Department|North Cauca]]
|{{Flag|Cauca}}
|-
|[[Inzá, Cauca|Inzá]]
|[[Nasa people|Nasa]]
|[[Cauca Department|Eastern Cauca]]
|{{Flag|Cauca}}
|-
|[[Jambaló]]
|[[Nasa people|Nasa]]
|[[Cauca Department|Eastern Cauca]]
|{{Flag|Cauca}}
|-
|[[La Vega, Cauca|La Vega]]
|[[Yanakuna|Yanacona]]
|[[Cauca Department|South Cauca]]
|{{Flag|Cauca}}
|-
|[[Morales, Cauca|Morales]]
|[[Nasa people|Nasa]]
|[[Cauca Department|Central Cauca]]
|{{Flag|Cauca}}
|-
|[[Páez, Cauca|Páez]]
|[[Nasa people|Nasa]]
|[[Cauca Department|Eastern Cauca]]
|{{Flag|Cauca}}
|-
|[[Piamonte, Cauca|Piamonte]]
|[[Inga people|Inga]]
|[[Cauca Department|South Cauca]]
|{{Flag|Cauca}}
|-
|[[Piendamó, Cauca|Piendamó]]
|[[Misak people|Misak]]
|[[Cauca Department|Central Cauca]]
|{{Flag|Cauca}}
|-
|[[Puracé, Cauca|Puracé]]
|[[Coconucan language|Coconuco]]
|[[Cauca Department|Eastern Cauca]]
|{{Flag|Cauca}}
|-
|[[San Sebastián, Cauca|San Sebastián]]
|[[Yanakuna|Yanacona]]
|[[Cauca Department|South Cauca]]
|{{Flag|Cauca}}
|-
|[[Santa Rosa, Cauca|Santa Rosa]]
|[[Inga people|Inga]]
|[[Cauca Department|South Cauca]]
|{{Flag|Cauca}}
|-
|[[Silvia, Cauca|Silvia]]
|[[Misak people|Misak]]
|[[Cauca Department|Eastern Cauca]]
|{{Flag|Cauca}}
|-
|[[Sotará, Cauca|Sotará]]
|[[Nasa people|Nasa]]
|[[Cauca Department|Central Cauca]]
|{{Flag|Cauca}}
|-
|[[Toribío, Cauca|Toribío]]
|[[Nasa people|Nasa]]
|[[Cauca Department|Eastern Cauca]]
|{{Flag|Cauca}}
|-
|[[Totoró, Cauca|Totoró]]
|[[Nasa people|Nasa]]
|[[Cauca Department|Eastern Cauca]]
|{{Flag|Cauca}}
|-
|[[Pueblo Bello]]
|[[Arhuaco|Ijka]]
|[[Cesar Department|North Cesar]]
|{{Flag|Cesar}}
|-
|[[El Carmen de Atrato]]
|[[Emberá-Catío|Emberá Katio]]
|[[Atrato River|Atrato]]
|{{Flag|Chocó}}
|-
|[[Chimá]]
|[[Zenú]]
|[[Córdoba Department|Lower Sinú]]
|{{Flag|Córdoba, Colombia|name=Córdoba}}
|-
|[[Chinú]]
|[[Zenú]]
|[[Córdoba Department|Sabanas]]
|{{Flag|Córdoba, Colombia|name=Córdoba}}
|-
|[[Momil]]
|[[Zenú]]
|[[Córdoba Department|Lower Sinú]]
|{{Flag|Córdoba, Colombia|name=Córdoba}}
|-
|[[Purísima|Purísima de la Concepción]]
|[[Zenú]]
|[[Córdoba Department|Lower Sinú]]
|{{Flag|Córdoba, Colombia|name=Córdoba}}
|-
|[[San Andrés de Sotavento]]
|[[Zenú]]
|[[Córdoba Department|Sabanas]]
|{{Flag|Córdoba, Colombia|name=Córdoba}}
|-
|[[Tuchín]]
|[[Zenú]]
|[[Córdoba Department|Sabanas]]
|{{Flag|Córdoba, Colombia|name=Córdoba}}
|-
|[[Barranco Minas|Barrancominas]]
|[[Piapoco language|Piapoco]]
|[[Guainía Department|Guainía]]
|{{Flag|Guainía}}
|-
|[[Cacahual]]
|[[Curripaco]]
|[[Guainía Department|Guainía]]
|{{Flag|Guainía}}
|-
|[[Inírida, Guainía|Inírida]]
|[[Puinave language|Puinave]]
|[[Guainía Department|Guainía]]
|{{Flag|Guainía}}
|-
|[[La Guadalupe]]
|[[Curripaco]]
|[[Guainía Department|Guainía]]
|{{Flag|Guainía}}
|-
|[[Morichal Nuevo|Morichal]]
|[[Puinave language|Puinave]]
|[[Guainía Department|Guainía]]
|{{Flag|Guainía}}
|-
|[[Pana Pana]]
|[[Curripaco]]
|[[Guainía Department|Guainía]]
|{{Flag|Guainía}}
|-
|[[Puerto Colombia, Guainía|Puerto Colombia]]
|[[Curripaco]]
|[[Guainía Department|Guainía]]
|{{Flag|Guainía}}
|-
|[[San Felipe, Guainía|San Felipe]]
|[[Curripaco]]
|[[Guainía Department|Guainía]]
|{{Flag|Guainía}}
|-
|[[Miraflores, Guaviare|Miraflores]]
|[[Tucano people|Tucano]]
|[[Guaviare Department|Guaviare]]
|{{Flag|Guaviare}}
|-
|[[Iquira|Íquira]]
|[[Nasa people|Nasa]]
|[[Huila Department|North Huila]]
|{{Flag|Huila}}
|-
|[[Mapiripán]]
|[[Sikuani language|Sikuani]]
|[[Meta Department|Southern Lower Ariari]]
|{{Flag|Meta}}
|-
|[[Puerto Gaitán]]
|[[Sikuani language|Sikuani]]
|[[Meta River]]
|{{Flag|Meta}}
|-
|[[Aldana]]
|[[Pasto language|Pasto]]
|[[Nariño Department|South Nariño]]
|{{Flag|Nariño}}
|-
|[[Contadero]]
|[[Pasto language|Pasto]]
|[[Nariño Department|South Nariño]]
|{{Flag|Nariño}}
|-
|[[Córdoba, Nariño|Córdoba]]
|[[Pasto language|Pasto]]
|[[Nariño Department|South Nariño]]
|{{Flag|Nariño}}
|-
|[[Cuaspud]]
|[[Pasto language|Pasto]]
|[[Nariño Department|South Nariño]]
|{{Flag|Nariño}}
|-
|[[Cumbal]]
|[[Awa-Kwaiker|Awá]]
|[[Nariño Department|South Nariño]]
|{{Flag|Nariño}}
|-
|[[Guachucal]]
|[[Pasto language|Pasto]]
|[[Nariño Department|South Nariño]]
|{{Flag|Nariño}}
|-
|[[Ipiales]]
|[[Cofán people|Cofán]]
|[[Nariño Department|South Nariño]]
|{{Flag|Nariño}}
|-
|[[Mallama]]
|[[Awa-Kwaiker|Awá]]
|[[Nariño Department|Piedemonte Costero]]
|{{Flag|Nariño}}
|-
|[[Potosí, Nariño|Potosí]]
|[[Pasto language|Pasto]]
|[[Nariño Department|South Nariño]]
|{{Flag|Nariño}}
|-
|[[Ricaurte, Nariño|Ricaurte]]
|[[Awa-Kwaiker|Awá]]
|[[Nariño Department|Piedemonte Costero]]
|{{Flag|Nariño}}
|-
|[[Santacruz, Nariño|Santacruz]]
|[[Awa-Kwaiker|Awá]]
|[[Nariño Department|Los Abades]]
|{{Flag|Nariño}}
|-
|[[Sapuyes]]
|[[Pasto language|Pasto]]
|[[Nariño Department|La Sabana]]
|{{Flag|Nariño}}
|-
|[[Túquerres]]
|[[Pasto language|Pasto]]
|[[Nariño Department|La Sabana]]
|{{Flag|Nariño}}
|-
|[[Colón, Putumayo|Colón]]
|[[Inga people|Inga]]
|[[Putumayo Department|Putumayo]]
|{{Flag|Putumayo}}
|-
|[[Mocoa]]
|[[Camsá people|Kamëntsá]]
|[[Putumayo Department|Putumayo]]
|{{Flag|Putumayo}}
|-
|[[Puerto Leguízamo]]
|[[Witoto]]
|[[Putumayo Department|Putumayo]]
|{{Flag|Putumayo}}
|-
|[[San Francisco, Putumayo|San Francisco]]
|[[Camsá people|Kamëntsá]]
|[[Putumayo Department|Putumayo]]
|{{Flag|Putumayo}}
|-
|[[San Miguel, Putumayo|San Miguel]]
|[[Cofán people|Cofán]]
|[[Putumayo Department|Putumayo]]
|{{Flag|Putumayo}}
|-
|[[Santiago, Putumayo|Santiago]]
|[[Inga people|Inga]]
|[[Putumayo Department|Putumayo]]
|{{Flag|Putumayo}}
|-
|[[Sibundoy]]
|[[Camsá people|Kamëntsá]]
|[[Putumayo Department|Putumayo]]
|{{Flag|Putumayo}}
|-
|[[Orito]]
|[[Emberá-Chamí|Emberá Chamí]]
|[[Putumayo Department|Putumayo]]
|{{Flag|Putumayo}}
|-
|[[Villagarzón]]
|[[Inga people|Inga]]
|[[Putumayo Department|Putumayo]]
|{{Flag|Putumayo}}
|-
|[[Mistrató]]
|[[Emberá people|Emberá]]
|[[Risaralda Department|Pacific Risaralda]]
|{{Flag|Risaralda}}
|-
|[[Pueblo Rico, Risaralda|Pueblo Rico]]
|[[Emberá people|Emberá]]
|[[Risaralda Department|Pacific Risaralda]]
|{{Flag|Risaralda}}
|-
|[[Quinchía]]
|[[Emberá-Chamí|Emberá Chamí]]
|[[Risaralda Department|Western Risaralda]]
|{{Flag|Risaralda}}
|-
|[[Palmito, Sucre|Palmito]]
|[[Zenú]]
|[[Morrosquillo Gulf|Morrosquillo]]
|{{Flag|Sucre, Colombia|name=Sucre}}
|-
|[[Sampués]]
|[[Zenú]]
|[[Sucre Department|Sabanas]]
|{{Flag|Sucre, Colombia|name=Sucre}}
|-
|[[Toluviejo|San José de Toluviejo]]
|[[Zenú]]
|[[Morrosquillo Gulf|Morrosquillo]]
|{{Flag|Sucre, Colombia|name=Sucre}}
|-
|[[Coyaima]]
|[[Pijao people|Pijao]]
|[[Tolima Department|South Tolima]]
|{{Flag|Tolima}}
|-
|[[Natagaima]]
|[[Pijao people|Pijao]]
|[[Tolima Department|South Tolima]]
|{{Flag|Tolima}}
|-
|[[Ortega, Tolima|Ortega]]
|[[Pijao people|Pijao]]
|[[Tolima Department|South Tolima]]
|{{Flag|Tolima}}
|-
|[[Albania, La Guajira|Albania]]
|[[Wayuu people|Wayuu]]
|[[La Guajira Department|Upper Guajira]]
|{{Flag|La Guajira}}
|-
|[[Dibulla, La Guajira|Dibulla]]
|[[Kogi people|Kogi]]
|[[La Guajira Department|Upper Guajira]]
|{{Flag|La Guajira}}
|-
|[[Distracción, La Guajira|Distracción]]
|[[Wayuu people|Wayuu]]
|[[La Guajira Department|Lower Guajira]]
|{{Flag|La Guajira}}
|-
|[[Hatonuevo]]
|[[Wayuu people|Wayuu]]
|[[La Guajira Department|Lower Guajira]]
|{{Flag|La Guajira}}
|-
|[[Maicao]]
|[[Wayuu people|Wayuu]]
|[[La Guajira Department|Upper Guajira]]
|{{Flag|La Guajira}}
|-
|[[Manaure, La Guajira|Manaure]]
|[[Wayuu people|Wayuu]]
|[[La Guajira Department|Upper Guajira]]
|{{Flag|La Guajira}}
|-
|[[Riohacha]]
|[[Wayuu people|Wayuu]]
|[[La Guajira Department|Upper Guajira]]
|{{Flag|La Guajira}}
|-
|[[Uribia, La Guajira|Uribia]]
|[[Wayuu people|Wayuu]]
|[[La Guajira Department|Upper Guajira]]
|{{Flag|La Guajira}}
|-
|[[Carurú]]
|[[Tucano people|Tucano]]
|[[Vaupés Department|Vaupés]]
|{{Flag|Vaupés}}
|-
|[[Mitú]]
|[[Cubeo people|Cubeo]]
|[[Vaupés Department|Vaupés]]
|{{Flag|Vaupés}}
|-
|[[Pacoa]]
|[[Cubeo people|Cubeo]]
|[[Vaupés Department|Vaupés]]
|{{Flag|Vaupés}}
|-
|[[Papunahua]]
|[[Cubeo people|Cubeo]]
|[[Vaupés Department|Vaupés]]
|{{Flag|Vaupés}}
|-
|[[Taraira]]
|[[Tanimuca-Retuarã language|Tanimuca]]
|[[Vaupés Department|Vaupés]]
|{{Flag|Vaupés}}
|-
|[[Yavaraté]]
|[[Cubeo people|Cubeo]]
|[[Vaupés Department|Vaupés]]
|{{Flag|Vaupés}}
|}

==Major ethnic groups==
[[File:MuiscasBosa.JPG|thumb|[[Muisca]] Community in the Colombian locality of [[Bosa, Bogotá]].]]
According to the [[National Indigenous Organization of Colombia]] (ONIC), there are 102 Indigenous groups in Colombia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cms.onic.org.co/pueblos-indigenas/ |title=Organización Nacional Indígena de Colombia &#124; Pueblos indígenas |access-date=2012-08-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140520041357/http://cms.onic.org.co/pueblos-indigenas/ |archive-date=2014-05-20 }}</ref> The ethnic groups with the greatest number of members are the [[Wayuu people|Wayuu]] (380,460), [[Zenú]], (307,091), [[Paez people|Nasa]] (243,176) and Pastos (163,873). These peoples account for 58.1% of Colombia's Indigenous population.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Indigenous World 2020: Colombia |publisher=IWGIA - International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs|url=https://www.iwgia.org/en/colombia/3618-iw-2020-colombia.html#:~:text=The%20ethnic%20groups%20with%20the,58.1%25%20of%20Colombia%27s%20Indigenous%20population.|access-date=2020-08-28}}</ref>

Highland peoples refer to the cultures of the [[Andes]] and the [[Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta]] of Colombia, while lowland peoples refer to the inhabitants of [[Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena|Chocó]], [[Amazon natural region|Amazonía]], [[Guajira Peninsula|Guajira]] and the [[Caribbean Region of Colombia|Caribbean Coast]], the [[Urabá Antioquia|Urabá Region]] and other non-mountain cultures.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Name
!Traditional Language
!Language Family
!Population (2005)<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=September 16, 2019 |title=Población Indígena de Colombia |url=https://www.dane.gov.co/files/investigaciones/boletines/grupos-etnicos/presentacion-grupos-etnicos-2019.pdf |website=dane.gov}}</ref>
!Population (2018)<ref name=":0" />
|-
|[[Wayuu people|Wayuu]]
|[[Wayuunaiki]]
|[[Arawakan languages|Arawakan]]
|270,413
|380,460
|-
|[[Zenú]]
|[[Zenú language|Zenú]]
|[[Zenú language|Zenú]]
|233,052
|307,091
|-
|[[Nasa people|Nasa]]
|[[Nasa Yuwe]]
|[[Paezan languages|Paezan]]
|186,178
|243,176
|-
|[[Pasto language|Pasto]]
|[[Pasto language|Pasto]]
|[[Barbacoan languages|''Barbacoan'']]
|129,801
|163,873
|-
|[[Emberá-Chamí|Emberá Chamí]]
|[[Chami language|Chamí]]
|[[Choco languages|Chocoan]]
|29,094
|77,714
|-
|[[Emberá people|Emberá]]
|[[Northern Embera language|Cholo]]
|[[Choco languages|Chocoan]]
|37,327
|56,504
|-
|[[Sikuani language|Sikuani]]
|[[Sikuani language|Sikuani]]
|[[Guajiboan languages|Guahiban]]
|19,791
|52,361
|-
|[[Pijao people|Pijao]]
|[[Pijao language|Pijao]]
|''[[Cariban languages|Cariban]]''
|58,810
|51,635
|-
|[[Emberá-Catío|Emberá Katío]]
|[[Catio language|Catío]]
|[[Choco languages|Chocoan]]
|38,259
|48,117
|-
|[[Awa Pit language|Awá]]
|[[Awa Pit language|Awa Pit]]
|[[Barbacoan languages|Barbacoan]]
|25,813
|44,516
|-
|[[Mokaná]]
|[[Malibu languages|Mocana]]
|[[Malibu languages|Malibu]]
|24,825
|37,099
|-
|[[Yanakuna|Yanacona]]
|[[Yanacona language|Yanacona]]
|[[Quechuan languages|Quechuan]]
|33,253
|34,897
|-
|[[Arhuaco]]
|[[Arhuaco language|Ikʉ]]
|[[Chibchan languages|Chibchan]]
|22,134
|34,711
|-
|[[Misak people|Misak]]
|[[Guambiano language|Namtrik]]
|[[Barbacoan languages|Barbacoan]]
|21,085
|21,713
|-
|[[Inga people|Inga]]
|[[Inga Kichwa]]
|[[Quechuan languages|Quechuan]]
|15,450
|19,561
|-
|[[Wiwa people|Wiwa]]
|[[Wiwa language|Wiwa]]
|[[Chibchan languages|Chibchan]]
|10,703
|18,202
|-
|[[Coconucan language|Coconuco]]
|[[Coconucan language|Coconuco]]
|[[Barbacoan languages|Barbacoan]]
|16,492
|18,135
|-
|[[Kankuamo people|Kankuamo]]
|[[Kankuí language|Kankui]]
|[[Chibchan languages|Chibchan]]
|12,714
|16,986
|-
|[[Kogi people|Kogui]]
|[[Kogi language|Kogi]]
|[[Chibchan languages|Chibchan]]
|9,173
|15,820
|-
|[[Embera-Wounaan|Wounan]]
|[[Wounaan language|Wounan]]
|[[Choco languages|Chocoan]]
|9,066
|14,825
|-
|[[Piapoco language|Piapoco]]
|[[Piapoco language|Piapoco]]
|[[Arawakan languages|Arawakan]]
|3,508
|14,661
|-
|[[Witoto]]
|[[Witoto language|Witoto]]
|[[Witotoan languages|Witotoan]]
|''<small>No data</small>''
|14,142
|-
|[[Cubeo people|Cubeo]]
|[[Cubeo language|Cubeo]]
|[[Tucanoan languages|Tucanoan]]
|3,926
|14,074
|-
|[[Ticuna]]
|[[Ticuna language|Ticuna]]
|''[[Ticuna-Yuri]]''
|7,879
|13,842
|-
|[[Murui Huitoto language|Muruí]]
|[[Murui Huitoto language|Muruí]]
|[[Witotoan languages|Witotoan]]
|6,444
|12,029
|-
|[[Baniwa]]
|[[Karu language|Karu]]
|[[Arawakan languages|Arawakan]]
|4,340
|11,946
|-
|[[Muisca]]
|[[Chibcha language|Muysccubun]]
|[[Chibchan languages|Chibchan]]
|14,051
|11,265
|-
|[[U'wa people|U'wa]]
|[[Uw Cuwa]]
|[[Chibchan languages|Chibchan]]
|7,581
|10,649
|-
|[[Puinave language|Puinave]]
|[[Puinave language|Puinave]]
|[[Puinave language|Puinave]]
|4,318
|8,984
|-
|[[Totoró language|Totoró]]
|[[Totoró language|Totoró]]
|[[Barbacoan languages|Barbacoan]]
|6,289
|8,916
|-
|[[Camsá people|Kamëntsá]]
|[[Camsá language|Camsá]]
|[[Camsá language|Camsá]]
|4,879
|7,521
|-
|[[Quillacinga]]
|[[Quillacinga]]
|[[Quillacinga]]
|''<small>No data</small>''
|7,333
|-
|[[Eperara language|Eperara Siapidara]]
|[[Eperara language|Eperara]]
|[[Choco languages|Chocoan]]
|3,853
|7,047
|-
|[[Sáliva]]
|[[Sáliva]]
|[[Piaroa–Saliban languages|''Piaroa–Saliban'']]
|3,035
|4,783
|-
|[[Emberá people|Emberá Dobidá]]
|[[Emberá languages|Dobidá]]
|[[Choco languages|Chocoan]]
|''<small>No data</small>''
|4,233
|-
|[[Tucano people|Tukano]]
|[[Tucano language|Tucano]]
|[[Tucanoan languages|Tucanoan]]
|2,016
|4,075
|-
|[[Guambiano|Kizgó]]
|[[Guambiano|Kizgó]]
|[[Barbacoan languages|Barbacoan]]
|''<small>No data</small>''
|3,974
|-
|[[Quechua people|Quechua]]
|[[Kichwa language|Kichwa]]
|[[Quechuan languages|Quechuan]]
|481
|3,688
|-
|[[Desano language|Desano]]
|[[Desano language|Desano]]
|[[Tucanoan languages|Tucanoan]]
|2,179
|3,641
|-
|[[Yukpa people|Yukpa]]
|[[Yukpa language|Yukpa]]
|[[Cariban languages|Cariban]]
|4,761
|3,610
|-
|[[Wanano language|Wanano]]
|[[Wanano language|Wanano]]
|[[Tucanoan languages|Tucanoan]]
|1,305
|3,312
|-
|[[Guambiano|Ambaló]]
|[[Guambiano language|Namtrik]]
|[[Barbacoan languages|Barbacoan]]
|''<small>No data</small>''
|3,278
|-
|[[Coreguaje]]
|[[Coreguaje]]
|[[Tucanoan languages|Tucanoan]]
|1,767
|3,257
|-
|[[Cocama language|Cocama]]
|[[Kokama language|Kokama]]
|[[Tupian languages|Tupian]]
|2,204
|3,221
|-
|[[Barí people|Bari]]
|[[Bari language (Chibchan)|Bari]]
|[[Chibchan languages|Chibchan]]
|5,923
|3,018
|-
|[[Guayabero language|Guayabero]]
|[[Guayabero language|Jiw]]
|[[Guajiboan languages|Guahiban]]
|617
|2,960
|-
|[[Guna people|Cuna Tule]]
|[[Guna language|Dulegaya]]
|[[Chibchan languages|Chibchan]]
|2,383
|2,610
|-
|[[Siona people|Siona]]
|[[Siona language|Siona]]
|[[Tucanoan languages|Tucanoan]]
|1,829
|2,599
|-
|[[Polindaro language|Polindara]]
|[[Polindaro language|Polindara]]
|[[Barbacoan languages|Barbacoan]]
|''<small>No data</small>''
|2,499
|-
|[[Emberá-Chamí|Emberá Chamí]] ''<small>(Cañamomo Lomaprieta)</small>''
|[[Chami language|Chamí]]
|[[Choco languages|Chocoan]]
|21,628
|2,225
|-
|[[Sikuani language|Amorúa]]
|[[Sikuani language|Amorúa]]
|[[Guajiboan languages|Guahiban]]
|464
|2,211
|-
|[[Muinane]]
|[[Muinane language|Muinane]]
|[[Bora–Witoto languages|''Bora–Witoto'']]
|''<small>No data</small>''
|2,113
|-
|[[Makuna language|Makuna]]
|[[Makuna language|Makuna]]
|[[Tucanoan languages|Tucanoan]]
|612
|1,962
|-
|[[Cofán people|Kofán]]
|[[Cofán language|Cofán]]
|[[Cofán language|Cofán]]
|1,657
|1,816
|-
|[[Macaguán language|Macahuán]]
|[[Macaguán language|Macahuán]]
|[[Guajiboan languages|Guahiban]]
|''<small>No data</small>''
|1,764
|-
|[[Chimila people|Ette Ennaka]]
|[[Chimila language|Ette taara]]
|[[Chibchan languages|Chibchan]]
|1,614
|1,701
|-
|[[Siriano]]
|[[Sirionó language|Siriano]]
|[[Tupian languages|Tupian]]
|544
|1,658
|-
|[[Yucuna language|Yukuna]]
|[[Yucuna language|Yukuna]]
|[[Arawakan languages|Arawakan]]
|396
|1,582
|-
|[[Tuyuca language|Tuyuca]]
|[[Tuyuca language|Tuyuca]]
|[[Tucanoan languages|Tucanoan]]
|444
|1,467
|-
|[[Piaroa people|Piaroa]]
|[[Piaroa language|Piaroa]]
|[[Piaroa–Saliban languages|''Piaroa–Saliban'']]
|720
|1,127
|-
|[[Piratapuyo language|Piratapuyo]]
|[[Wanano language|Wanano]]
|[[Tucanoan languages|Tucanoan]]
|814
|1,106
|-
|[[Tatuyo language|Tatuyo]]
|[[Tatuyo language|Tatuyo]]
|[[Tucanoan languages|Tucanoan]]
|381
|1,091
|-
|''[[Indigenous Ecuadorians|Indigenous Ecuadorian]] <small>(other than Otavaleño)</small>''
|[[Kichwa language|''Kichwa'']]
|[[Quechuan languages|''Quechuan'']]
|407
|1,088
|-
|[[Bora language|Bora]]
|[[Bora language|Bora]]
|[[Bora–Witoto languages|''Bora–Witoto'']]
|933
|1,047
|-
|[[Carapana language|Carapaná]]
|[[Carapana language|Carapaná]]
|[[Tucanoan languages|Tucanoan]]
|482
|1,040
|-
|[[Bará people|Bará]]
|[[Waimajã language|Waimajã]]
|[[Tucanoan languages|Tucanoan]]
|208
|1,004
|-
|[[Tanimuka language|Tanimuka]]
|[[Tanimuka language|Tanimuka]]
|[[Tucanoan languages|Tucanoan]]
|342
|991
|-
|[[Yagua]]
|[[Yagua language|Yagua]]
|[[Peba–Yaguan languages|Peba–Yaguan]]
|1,007
|984
|-
|[[Achagua people|Achagua]]
|[[Achawa language|Achawa]]
|[[Arawakan languages|Arawakan]]
|796
|980
|-
|[[Yurutí language|Yurutí]]
|[[Yurutí language|Yurutí]]
|[[Tucanoan languages|Tucanoan]]
|377
|969
|-
|[[Barasana]]
|[[Barasana-Eduria language|Barasana]]
|[[Tucanoan languages|Tucanoan]]
|351
|905
|-
|[[Cuiba language|Cuiba]]
|[[Cuiba language|Cuiba]]
|[[Guajiboan languages|Guahiban]]
|769
|895
|-
|[[Andoque people|Andoke]]
|[[Andoque language|Andoke]]
|[[Bora–Witoto languages|''Bora–Witoto'']]
|136
|820
|-
|[[Kabiyarí language|Kawiyarí]]
|[[Kabiyarí language|Kawiyarí]]
|[[Arawakan languages|Arawakan]]
|233
|809
|-
|[[Miraña Indians|Miraña]]
|[[Miraña language|Miraña]]
|[[Bora–Witoto languages|''Bora–Witoto'']]
|274
|759
|-
|[[Nukak]]
|[[Nukak language|Nukak]]
|''[[Puinave-Maku]]''
|1,080
|744
|-
|[[Matapi language|Matapí]]
|[[Yucuna language|Yucuna]]
|[[Arawakan languages|Arawakan]]
|71
|618
|-
|[[List of unclassified languages of South America|Dujos]]
|[[List of unclassified languages of South America|Tama]]
|[[List of unclassified languages of South America|Tama]]
|56
|611
|-
|[[Tupi people|Yeral ''<small>(Tupi)</small>'']]
|[[Nheengatu language|''Nheengatu'']]
|[[Tupian languages|''Tupian'']]
|''<small>No data</small>''
|565
|-
|[[Karihona language|Karijona]]
|[[Karihona language|Karijona]]
|[[Cariban languages|Cariban]]
|425
|525
|-
|[[Guajiboan languages|Masiguare]]
|[[Guajiboan languages|Masiguare]]
|[[Guajiboan languages|Guahiban]]
|268
|522
|-
|[[Hitnu language|Hitnu]]
|[[Hitnu language|Hitnu]]
|[[Guajiboan languages|Guahiban]]
|676
|513
|-
|[[Ocaina language|Ocaína]]
|[[Ocaina language|Ocaína]]
|[[Bora–Witoto languages|''Bora–Witoto'']]
|285
|412
|-
|[[Cuiba language|Wipiwi]]
|[[Cuiba language|Cuiba]]
|[[Guajiboan languages|Guahiban]]
|''<small>No data</small>''
|299
|-
|[[Tanimuca-Retuarã language|Letuama]]
|[[Tanimuca-Retuarã language|Letuama]]
|[[Tucanoan languages|Tucanoan]]
|202
|285
|-
|[[Nonuya language|Nonuya]]
|[[Nonuya language|Nonuya]]
|[[Bora–Witoto languages|''Bora–Witoto'']]
|31
|258
|-
|[[Andaki people|Andaki]]
|[[Andaqui language|Andaki]]
|[[Andaqui language|Andaki]]
|''<small>No data</small>''
|248
|-
|[[Tariana people|Tariano]]
|[[Tariana language|Tariana]]
|[[Arawakan languages|Arawakan]]
|197
|210
|-
|[[Otavalo people|Otavaleño]]
|[[Kichwa language|Kichwa]]
|[[Quechuan languages|Quechuan]]
|975
|210
|-
|[[Guane people|Guane]]
|[[Guane language|Guane]]
|[[Chibchan languages|Chibchan]]
|812
|200
|-
|[[Pisamira language|Pisamira]]
|[[Pisamira language|Pisamira]]
|[[Tucanoan languages|Tucanoan]]
|151
|196
|-
|[[Baniwa|Baniva]]
|[[Karu language|Karu]]
|[[Arawakan languages|Arawakan]]
|''<small>No data</small>''
|187
|-
|[[Nutabe]]
|[[Nutabe language|Nutabe]]
|[[Chibchan languages|Chibchan]]
|''<small>No data</small>''
|178
|-
|[[Indigenous of Venezuela|''Indigenous Venezuelan'']]
|''[[Wayuunaiki]]''
|[[Arawakan languages|''Arawakan'']]
|8
|157
|-
|[[Kakua-Nukak language|Kakua]]
|[[Kakua-Nukak language|Kakua]]
|[[Kakua-Nukak language|Kakua]]
|''<small>No data</small>''
|147
|-
|[[Tinigua language|Tanigua]]
|[[Tinigua language|Tanigua]]
|[[Tiniguan languages|Tiniguan]]
|''<small>No data</small>''
|145
|-
|[[Guajiboan languages|Yamalero]]
|[[Guajiboan languages|Yamalero]]
|[[Guajiboan languages|Guahiban]]
|63
|142
|-
|[[Yaruro people|Yaruro]]
|[[Yaruro language|Yaruro]]
|[[Yaruro language|Yaruro]]
|''<small>No data</small>''
|136
|-
|[[Betoi language|Betoye]]
|[[Betoi language|Betoye]]
|[[Betoi language|Betoye]]
|394
|127
|-
|[[Taiwano language|Taiwano]]
|[[Taiwano language|Taiwano]]
|[[Tucanoan languages|Tucanoan]]
|166
|123
|-
|[[Yauna language|Yauna]]
|[[Yauna language|Yauna]]
|[[Tucanoan languages|Tucanoan]]
|99
|105
|-
|[[List of unclassified languages of South America|Mapayerri]]
|[[List of unclassified languages of South America|Mapayerri]]
|[[List of unclassified languages of South America|Mapayerri]]
|''<small>No data</small>''
|104
|-
|[[Calima culture|Calima]]
|[[Calima culture|Calima]]
|[[Calima culture|Calima]]
|76
|102
|-
|[[Quimbaya]]
|[[Quimbaya language|Quimbaya]]
|[[Quimbaya language|Quimbaya]]
|163
|94
|-
|[[Guajiboan languages|Tsiripu]]
|[[Guajiboan languages|Tsiripu]]
|[[Guajiboan languages|Guahiban]]
|17
|75
|-
|[[Maya peoples|Mayan]] ''<small>([[Indigenous peoples of Guatemala|Guatemalan]])</small>''
|[[Kʼicheʼ language|Kʼicheʼ]]
|[[Mayan languages|Mayan]]
|7
|65
|-
|[[List of unclassified languages of South America|Guariquema]]
|[[List of unclassified languages of South America|Guariquema]]
|[[List of unclassified languages of South America|Guariquema]]
|''<small>No data</small>''
|62
|-
|[[Panche people|Panche]]
|[[Panche]]
|[[Cariban languages|''Cariban'']]
|8
|55
|-
|[[Maku people|Makú]]
|[[Kakwa language|Cacua]]
|''[[Puinave-Maku]]''
|''<small>No data</small>''
|50
|-
|[[Indigenous Peruvians|''Indigenous Peruvian'']]
|[[Quechua I|''Quechua'']]
|[[Quechuan languages|''Quechuan'']]
|98
|44
|-
|[[Tayrona]]
|[[Tairona language|Tayrona]]
|[[Chibchan languages|Chibchan]]
|19
|43
|-
|[[Indigenous peoples in Brazil|''Indigenous Brazilian'']]
|[[Nheengatu language|''Nheengatu'']]
|[[Tupian languages|''Tupian'']]
|306
|36
|-
|[[Jupda language|Jupda]]
|[[Hup language|Hup]]
|[[Nadahup languages|Nadahup]]
|''<small>No data</small>''
|33
|-
|[[Yucuna language|Je'eruriwa]]
|[[Yucuna language|Yucuna]]
|[[Arawakan languages|Arawakan]]
|''<small>No data</small>''
|29
|-
|[[Makaguaje language|Makaguaje]]
|[[Makaguaje language|Makaguaje]]
|[[Tucanoan languages|Tucanoan]]
|125
|24
|-
|[[Indigenous Bolivians|''Indigenous Bolivian'']]
|[[Aymara language|''Aymara'']]
|[[Aymaran languages|''Aymaran'']]
|3
|22
|-
|[[Guahibo people|Chiricoa]]
|[[Guajiboan languages|Chiricoa]]
|[[Guajiboan languages|Guahiban]]
|46
|19
|-
|[[Indigenous peoples of Panama|''Indigenous Panamanian'']]
|[[Guaymí language|''Ngäbere'']]
|[[Chibchan languages|''Chibchan'']]
|''<small>No data</small>''
|16
|-
|[[Guanaca language|Guanaca]]
|[[Guanaca language|Guanaca]]
|[[Guanaca language|Guanaca]]
|12
|14
|-
|[[Uncontacted peoples|Yarí]]
|[[Spurious languages|Yarí]]
|[[Spurious languages|Yarí]]
|''<small>No data</small>''
|14
|-
|[[Chitarero]]
|[[Chitarero language|Chitarero]]
|[[Chitarero language|Chitarero]]
|161
|10
|-
|''[[Indigenous Mexican]]''
|''[[Nahuatl]]''
|[[Uto-Aztecan languages|''Uto-Aztecan'']]
|12
|5
|-
|[[Hupda people|Juhup]]
|[[Hup language|Hup]]
|[[Nadahup languages|Nadahup]]
|''<small>No data</small>''
|4
|-
|[[Hupda people|Hupdu]]
|[[Hup language|Hup]]
|[[Nadahup languages|Nadahup]]
|''<small>No data</small>''
|1
|-
|[[Carabayo|Yuri-Carabayo]]
|[[Carabayo language|Carabayo]]
|''[[Ticuna-Yuri]]''
|26
|''<small>No data</small>''
|}

==Struggle for rights==
{{more citations needed section|date=August 2012}}
Indigenous people comprise 4.4–10% of the population of Colombia and their level of income as well as the indicators of human development as education and health conditions are behind compared to those of the rest of the Colombians.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dane.gov.co/files/censo2005/etnia/sys/visibilidad_estadistica_etnicos.pdf|title=La visibilización estadística de los grupos étnicos colombianos|website=dane.gov.co|access-date=16 October 2017}}</ref> During the last twenty years, there has been a remarkable increase of the interest dedicated to the concerns of Indigenous communities all over the world. Therefore, the United Nations proclaimed the disclosure of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People and in Latin America on 10 December 1994 and in Latin America. More than in any other region, this period was characterized by a wave of Indigenous movements which practised a growing political power, since the resistance of the Chiapas of 1994 until the fall of the governments of Ecuador and Bolivia.

The rise of Indigenous mobilization in Colombia is explained as a reaction of crisis at various levels: a crisis of representation, caused by the shortcomings of political parties with sufficient representation to shoulder all collectives' interests; a crisis of participation, that is the result of the lack of citizen's participation in state's business; and a legitimation crisis, due to the discrimination against some social groups.<ref>Benavides Vanegas, F. S. (2009) [https://www.recercat.cat/bitstream/handle/2072/96883/WP200908_ENG.pdf?sequence=1 Indigenous people's mobilization and their struggle for rights in Colombia"]. COPAL.</ref>

During their struggle for rights, Indigenes abandoned the armed struggle of the 1980s and the new strategy included forms of legal liberalism, a politics of identity and the use of transnational networks putting pressure on the state to achieve recognition and respect.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}} This hasn't always led to success and often turned into victims of the cultural project of neoliberalism.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}} Besides the cultural accomplishments there was an escalation of the acts of persecution and in the number of violations committed against them.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

According to the Indigenous National Organization of Colombia (ONIC) there are 102 Indigenous peoples in Colombia and only 82 of them are recognized by the Colombian government. One of the main problems the Colombian Indigenous communities are currently facing is the lack of recognition of their right to be consulted. Poverty is another central aspect in order to understand the contemporary situation of the Indigenes of Colombia, which has been measured making use of the Unsatisfied Basic Needs (UBN), considering people poor who have insufficiencies in living, services and education. Facts show differences between zones: those of greater influence of poverty measured with the UBN standard are Chocó, Sucre, Boyacá, Nariño and Córdoba, with numbers that exceed the 50% of the population and those of less influence are found in Bogotá and the departments of El Valle, Atlántico and the cafetero-core: Caldas, Quindío and Risaralda.
In 1986 the concept of ''pobreza absoluta'' was introduced in the nation, during a situation of crisis of governability and the escalation of the problems concerning the armed conflict. With the politics of struggle against poverty the presence of the state was tried to be consolidated in zones which were considered 'marginal', especially those areas including Indigenous population.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

Politics between 1986 and 1990 tried to rehabilitate the marginal zones and their integration to achieve development; specific institutions were set up to work with Indigenous communities, seeing them as farmer communities which habits and forms of production had to be modernized. As a consequence, the Indigenous minorities revolted, arguing that it was not up to them to reintegrate but it was the state that had to reform his ideas and recognize them as the original Colombian population. 
The goal was to solve the crisis of governability by eliminating poverty, without excluding local necessities and impulse development from out of the perspective of diversity. The Indigenous communities were considered to be marginal sectors in disadvantage, a highly retarded population which had to be incorporated and integrated in greater society. The Indigenous people were not seen as a part of the diversity of the nation which participation was needed for the construction of it. This conception has survived since the colonization of the continent until now: generally, the Indigenous and also the black diversity is still seen as a negative element which has to be reduced or completely wiped out to guarantee the development and the modernization of Latin American societies.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

Despite the Constitution of 1991 with the introduction of the multi-ethnic and multicultural character of the Colombian nation, the contemporary relation between the state and the Indigenous communities seems to be contradictory, particularly because of the presence of the demands of autonomy of the latter. Until today the Colombian government has recognized the Indigenous groups only as communities, meaning that they are considered to be culturally diverse and therefore require a different political treatment to be able to integrate them in national society. Different forms of participation have been assigned to the communities, but always in [[conformity]] with legal and constitutional regulations of the state, defined and established throughout history. Though the 1990s were a decade of mobilization and in some way a victory in terms of neoliberal multiculturalism, after twenty years of the Constitution of 1991 people have realized the need of turning to other forms of mobilization, more than [[legal mobilization]]. It has been shown that the recognition of equality is not enough; Indigenous peoples have also demanded their right to difference, that is, access to particular rights as Indigenous communities.

Many people in Colombia choose not to identify as indigenous due to the history of discrimination against them and the immense [[wealth gap]] between those who identify as indigenous and those who don't, leading to only 1% of Colombians in the 1993 census to identify as indigenous, or under a million people. During the most recent censuses however, more people have begun to identify as indigenous, from 3.4% in the 2005 census to 4.31% in the 2018 census. Many scholars estimate the true indigenous population of Colombia to be around 10% of the country's population, or 5 million people,{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}} the same can be said for [[Afro Colombians]] who are estimated to be around 20% of the total population or 10 million people, despite only 6% of Colombians identifying as Afro Colombian in the 2018 census.<ref name="col indigenous">{{Cite web |date=2019-12-04 |title=Colombia Under Review for Violence Against Indigenous Peoples while Protests Rage at Home |publisher=Cultural Survival |url=https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/colombia-under-review-violence-against-indigenous-peoples-while-protests-rage-home |access-date=2024-03-15 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="undercount">{{Cite web |date=2024-03-12 |title=Ford Foundation Homepage |url=https://www.fordfoundation.org/ |access-date=2024-03-15 |publisher=Ford Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="indigenous discrimination">{{Cite web |date=2020-08-05 |title=Colombia's government has forgotten its Indigenous Peoples |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/08/olvidado-pueblos-indigenas-colombia/ |access-date=2024-03-15 |publisher=Amnesty International |language=en}}</ref>

Currently, Indigenous political participation, both in national and local elections, remains low, because of various reasons: the fragmentation of the movement due to the several groups within the Colombian Indigenous communities; the loss of the vote from non-Indigenous leaders and the low number of voters due to the fact that many who identify as Indigenous comprise a small part of the national population and most of them live in the countryside without possibilities to vote.

==Notable Indigenous Colombians==
[[file:Daguerrotipo de José María Melo.jpg|thumb|240px|Daguerreotype of José María Melo]]
* [[Hunzahúa]] (c. 1470), [[zaque]] of [[Tunja|Hunza]] within the [[Muisca Confederation]].
* [[India Catalina]] (c. 1495–1538), interpreter and translator, of [[Mokaná]] descent.
* [[Aquiminzaque]] (unknown–1540), last [[zaque]] of [[Tunja|Hunza]] within the [[Muisca Confederation]].
* [[Agustín Agualongo]] (1780–1824), military commander of the [[Royalist (Spanish American independence)|Royalist forces]] during the [[Colombian War of Independence]], of [[Pasto language|Pasto]] descent.
* [[José María Melo]] (1800–1860), 7th [[President of Colombia|President]] of the [[Republic of New Granada]], of [[Pijao people|Pijao]] descent.
* [[Quintín Lame]] (1880–1967), Indigenous rebel of [[Nasa people|Nasa]] origin.
* [[:es:Feliciano Valencia|Feliciano Valencia]] (1955–), [[Senate of Colombia|Senator of Colombia]] for [[Cauca Department|Cauca]], of [[Nasa people|Nasa]] origin.
* [[Lorenzo Muelas]] (1938–), Indigenous activist of [[Guambiano|Misak]] origin.
* [[:es:María Clemencia Herrera Nemerayema|María Clemencia Herrera Nemerayema]] (1968–), Indigenous [[Amazon rainforest|Amazonian]] activist, of [[Witoto]] descent.
* [[Aida Quilcué]] (1973–), [[Senate of Colombia|Senator of Colombia]] for [[Cauca Department|Cauca]], of [[Nasa people|Nasa]] origin.
* [[Lido Pimienta]] (1986–), [[Colombian Canadian|Colombian-Canadian]] songwriter and musician, of [[Wayuu people|Wayuu]] descent.
* [[Martha Peralta Epieyú]] (1988–), [[Senate of Colombia|Senator of Colombia]] for [[La Guajira Department|La Guajira]], of [[Wayuu people|Wayuu]] descent.
* [[Luis Díaz (footballer, born 1997)|Luis Díaz]] (1997–), Colombian footballer, of [[Wayuu people|Wayuu]] descent.

==See also==
{{Portal|Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Colombia}}
* [[Pre-Columbian cultures of Colombia]]
* [[Spanish conquest of the Muisca]]
* [[Spanish conquest of the Chibchan Nations]]
* [[Indigenous peoples of South America]]
* [[National Indigenous Organization of Colombia]] (ONIC)
* [[Colombian mythology]]
* [[Colombian folklore]]
* [[Archaeological sites in Colombia]]
* [[Race and ethnicity in Colombia]]
* [[Mestizo Colombians]]
* [[Concordat of 1928]] (mostly deals with Missionary activities among Indigenous peoples)

==Bibliography==
* ''Ideologia mesianico del mundo andino'', [[Juan Ossio Acuña|Juan M. Ossio Acuña]], Edicion de Ignacio Prado Pastor

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
13. [http://juankbusaenz.blogspot.com/2011/ vaupés: 2011]

==External links==
{{Commons category|Indigenous peoples of Colombia}}
* [http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001399/139947s.pdf UNESCO report on education of indigenous peoples in Colombia]
* {{in lang|es}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20051211044241/http://www.etniasdecolombia.org/grupos_pueblos.asp Ethnic groups of Colombia]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120229050937/http://indigenouspeoplesissues.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1638:the-wayuu-indigenous-people-of-colombia-and-venezuela-video-documentary&catid=68:videos-and-movies&Itemid=96 Documentary about the Wayuu Indigenous people of Colombia]
* [http://wayuutribe.com/pages/about-wayuu-women Wayuu women]

{{Colombian people}}
{{Colombia topics}}
{{Muisca topics|state=collapsed}}
{{Indigenous peoples of the Americas}}
{{South America topic|Indigenous peoples in}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Indigenous Peoples In Colombia}}
[[Category:Indigenous peoples in Colombia| ]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples of South America|Colombia]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Colombia]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples of the Andes|Colombia]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples of the Amazon|Colombia]]