A sparsely populated country
Bolivia has few inhabitants: only 9.8 per km², one of the lowest densities in the world. But unlike other countries, Bolivia escaped the massacres of Amerindians in the 19th century. As early as the first constitution of Simon Bolivar, in 1825, Bolivia admitted, at least in theory, its ethnic richness. In reality, it was not until the 1952 revolution that serfdom was abolished, which had allowed the landowners and tin barons to share control of the country. 60 years after the 1952 revolution, and despite a former president born on Aymara lands and raised in a Quechua region, it is still the same white "elite" that presides over the destiny of Bolivia. Today, the country still counts several dozen different ethnic groups, most of which have preserved their ancestral ways of life while living on the fringes of the modern world. Some of them are now threatened with extinction.
The different ethnic groups
Here's a list of some of Bolivia's main ethnic groups. The country's thirty or so indigenous nations and peoples originate from three distinct geographical areas: the Amazon, the Andes and the Chaco.
The Quechuas. This Andean Amerindian people founded the kingdom of Cuzco in the 12th century, before becoming part of the Inca Empire. There are just under 2 million Quechuas in Bolivia. They speak the language of the same name. Although the descendants of the Quechuas have undergone a certain amount of miscegenation, they are still the custodians of Inca culture.
The Aymaras. Native to the Lake Titicaca region, they are the descendants of the Tiwanaku civilization. They number around 1.5 million in the territory. Also known as the Kolla people, the Aymaras fell under the rule of the Inca Empire, before coming under Spanish domination. They speak Aymara, a vernacular language. The Aymaras took an active part in the fight for independence in the 19th century, but their living conditions never improved.
The Chipayas are perhaps the first ethnic group to populate the Altiplano. They live at over 4,000 meters in the desert region of the Coipasa salar. Renowned for their original irrigation techniques, they are also known as the "water people". Decimated by the Spanish colonists, this community now numbers no more than 2,000 individuals.
The Kallawayas are an itinerant people of healers who still practice one of the world's oldest forms of natural medicine. Originally from the north of Lake Titicaca, they have a vast knowledge of medicinal plants and healing rituals. The Kallawayas arouse both fear and admiration, as they are considered to be sorcerers who can also predict the future. The Kallawaya culture, more specifically the "Andean cosmovision of the Kallawaya", has been on UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2008.
The Chiquitos. This people is in fact a collection of several indigenous communities brought together by Jesuit missions in the 16th century. They live in Chiquitania, the vast plains of the eastern Santa Cruz department. The imprint of the Jesuit missionaries is still alive among the Chiquitos: their common language, Chiquito, is spoken by the various ethnic groups who converted to Christianity.
The Moxos are an Amazonian people who were also evangelized by Jesuit missionaries in the 17th century, living around the Mamoré river in the Beni department in the north-east of the country. Today, they number over 30,000, mainly grouped around the towns of Trinidad and San Ignacio de Moxos. Their languages are Mojeño Ignaciano and Mojeño Trinitario, closely related to the Arawak language. The colorfulIchapekene Piesta festival, celebrating their conversion to Christianity, was declared a World Heritage Site in 2012.
The Guaranis are a group of Amerindian peoples living in the Chaco region of Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina, but also present in Brazil and Uruguay. They have a profound respect for nature, and have no concept of private property. They live in groups in a Tekoha, which represents much more than a territory where they live and hunt; it is also where Guaraní culture is transmitted and developed.
Europeans arrived in the country in successive waves of immigration. However, their presence in the territory is much smaller than in Argentina, Uruguay or Chile, for example. The first wave arrived in the 16th century with the arrival of Spanish settlers, attracted by the riches of the Cerro Rico de Potosí silver mines. A second wave, made up of Germans, French, Portuguese and Italians, arrived in the 19th century during the Industrial Revolution. Today, Bolivians with European roots account for some 15% of the population.
The Métis. Also known pejoratively as cholos or cholas, these are people born to an Indian parent and a European parent. These Creoles represent between 20% and 65% of the population. Why such a wide gap? The Métis issue is a highly sensitive one in the country, where political and ideological discourse often pits the Indian against the white. Mestizos cannot claim to belong to any specific culture. Evo Morales removed the term "mestizo" from the national census, forcing them to identify themselves as part of an Amerindian or European population. Today, the Métis are fighting for recognition of their status and identity, and in particular for political influence.
Afro-Bolivians. These are the descendants of the African slaves brought by the Spanish colonists to work in the mines of Potosí. More than 20,000 strong, this indigenous community is officially recognized by the State. Living mainly in the Yungas, this community is famous for the Saya, a cultural and political expression of their identity (music, instruments, dance and dress). The Afro-Bolivian Saya of the Yungas is performed at carnivals and folk festivals throughout the country.
Other minorities. Among the other ethnic groups present in the country are the Mennonites, a community living in autarky in the department of Santa Cruz, who are descendants of Dutch, Russians and Germans... Finally, the country is home to just under 15,000 people born of waves of Japanese immigration in the 20th century.
