Brazil launches Themed Booklet on indigenous peoples

The first Themed Booklet on the indigenous people, part of the 2016 Brazil's Digital Atlas, was launched this Monday (Jun. 27) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and includes interactive maps on the indigenous population's distribution throughout the national territory. Data are an update to the 2010 Census that revealed a population of 899,900 indigenous people across the country. At the time the survey was conducted, 517,400 (57.8%) lived in officially recognized Indigenous Lands, other 298,871 (33.3%) lived in urban areas, especially in large cities; and 80,663 (8.9%) lived in rural areas, including in this number indigenous lands not recognized by the Brazil Indian Foundation (FUNAI).

Fertility Rate

Among the data collected, there is the fertility rate, which varies according to the populated region. The IBGE considered the proportion of children up to four years old compared with women between 15 and 49 years old. On indigenous lands, this proportion was 74 children for every 100 women, which results in a fertility rate of about 5 children for each woman.

In rural areas, this proportion drops slightly: there are 54 children for every 100 women. On the other hand, in urban centers, the average rate plunges to less than half: 20 children for every 100 women.
"This proves that there is a significant aging of the indigenous population living in the country's urban areas, especially in large cities. The fertility rate among the indigenous people living in urban areas is, though, higher than the fertility rate for Brazil's total population, which is 1.9 children for each woman," read the booklet.

Ethnicities

According to the Digital Atlas, in Brazil, 75% of people who declared themselves to be indigenous were able to name their ethnic group or people to which they belong. According to the units of the federation, the most representative ethnic groups revealed defining characteristics of possible spatial distribution patterns of some of them. The Xavante people, for example, are among the most numerous in all the states of the Central West region, and the Guarani Kaiowá people are also very numerous, gathered in the South region, in addition to the Southeast and Central West regions.

The Themed Booklet also identified 274 indigenous languages spoken in Brazil. In demarcated lands, 57.3% of indigenous people, over 5 years old, speak at least one of these languages, while in urban areas, the percentage declines to 9.7%. In rural areas, this percentage reaches 24.6%.

In a regional analysis, indigenous languages are spoken in a higher percentage in the North, South, and Central West regions. The latter region reported the country's highest percentage: 72.4% of indigenous people living in demarcated indigenous lands speak any of these languages.

Translated by Amarílis Anchieta