In Brazil, 5.42% of indigenous children have no birth certificate
In Brazil, 5.42 percent of indigenous children up to five years of age still do not have a birth certificate. This percentage is over 10 times higher than that of the Brazilian population in general – 0.51 percent.
The data were released Friday (Oct. 24) by the statistics bureau IBGE as part of the 2022 census for indigenous ethnicities and languages.
A birth certificate is the first legally valid document a person receives. It gives the child a name, surname, nationality, parentage, and rights to health care and education.
In Brazil, the issuance of the first copy of the birth certificate is completely free for everyone born on Brazilian soil, guaranteed by federal law. The certificate is proof of the citizen’s existence. Without this document, the person is prevented from exercising their civil and social rights – that is, in practice, they become invisible.
According to the figures, 1,694,836 indigenous people live in 4,833 municipalities across Brazil. Indigenous people represent 0.83 percent of Brazil’s total population of 203 million. Since the last census in 2010, there has been an increase of 896,917 indigenous people, up 88.82 percent.
As per the last census, in 2010, the majority of the indigenous population lived in rural areas—63.78 percent. In 2022, the scenario was the opposite, with the majority (53.97%) living in urban areas. Throughout the country, ethnic groups total 391, and 295 indigenous languages are spoken.
