• Indigenous peoples in Chile

    Indigenous peoples in Chile

    There are 10 different indigenous groups in Chile. The largest one is Mapuche, followed by the Aymara, the Diaguita, the Lickanantay, and the Quechua peoples. Chile is the only country in Latin America that does not recognise the indigenous peoples in its constitution.

Chile

Indigenous Peoples in Chile

There are 10 different Indigenous groups in Chile. The largest one is the Mapuche, followed by the Aymara, the Diaguita, the Lickanantay, and the Quechua peoples. Chile is the only country in Latin America, that does not recognise the Indigenous Peoples in its constitution. For that, Indigenous groups face challenges, especially in terms of territorial rights.

However, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted by the Government of Chile on 13 September 2007 and ILO convention 169 was ratified in 2008. Despite Chile’s constitution not recognizing the Indigenous Peoples, the Ministry of Social Development has convened an Indigenous constitutional drafting process to gain the perspective of the Indigenous Peoples on the content of a new constitution.

Law No. 19,253 of 1993 on Indigenous promotion, protection, and development remains in effect, even though it does not meet international law standards concerning the rights of Indigenous Peoples to land, territory, natural resources, participation, and political autonomy.  

Indigenous Peoples in Chile 

There are 10 different Indigenous groups in Chile. Despite being in constant increase since the 1990s, the Indigenous population of Chile has not varied greatly since the 2017 census, resulting in 2,185,792 people self-identifying as Indigenous, or the equivalent of 12.8% of the country’s total population of 17,076,076. The Mapuche are the most numerous (almost 1,800,000 individuals), followed by the Aymara (156,000) and the Diaguita (88,000). 

There has been a notable and sustained increase in the proportion of Indigenous population living in urban areas, with 87.8% of Indigenous members now living in cities compared to 12.2% living in the countryside. 

Main challenges for Chile’s Indigenous Peoples

According to the Ministry of Social Development, 30.8% of the Indigenous population live in poverty, while for the non-indigenous population that figure is 19.9%. The region of Araucanía, which concentrates the largest Indigenous population, continues to be the country’s poorest region.

A continuous struggle for the Mapuche peoples is their rights to the lands and territories, which legally and/or ancestrally belong to them. In the Region of the Araucanía and Los Ríos, the rights of the Mapuche people have been gravely threatened by the expansion of extractive, production, and infrastructure projects. The great majority of these initiatives belong to private corporations.

Although a new legislative bill raises questions on the part of Indigenous Peoples and has created the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Service (SBAP) and the National Protected Areas System (SNAP), it fails to recognize the contribution of Indigenous Peoples to biodiversity, does not protect indigenous rights against public and private conservation initiatives, nor recognizes or protect indigenous and community conservation initiatives.

Another challenge is the criminalization of Mapuche social protest by the state. During 2017, the State broadly used the Antiterrorist Act to persecute members of the Mapuche people. During the course of the year, that law was invoked against 23 Mapuche persons charged with terrorist homicidal arson, terrorist arson, and/or terrorist conspiracy.

Legislative progress for Chile’s Indigenous Peoples

In August 2017, the Ministry of Social Development started to a process of consultation of Indigenous Peoples' perspectives in regard to the content of Indigenous matters for a new constitution. This process, namely the "Indigenous Constitutional Assembly Process" gathered proposals as involving the Indigenous Peoples' legal recognition as nations, the status of Chile as plurinational State, the right to the self-determination and autonomy, the right to the territory and natural resources, the right to special indigenous representation, and linguistic and social rights. However, the process has failed to take the content that the indigenous peoples had identified as priorities into account.

Following the social protests that broke out in the country from October 2019 onward demanding in-depth institutional change, and with approval given for the drafting of a new constitution in a referendum held in October 2020, there is now a new opportunity opening up for the recognition of Indigenous Peoples and their collective rights within the new Political Constitution.

A Just Energy Transition? The Impacts of Lithium Extraction on the Andean Salt Flats of Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile

BY JOSÉ AYLWIN FOR INDIGENOUS DEBATES

The rapid extraction of lithium from the high Andean salt flats has caused serious harm to Indigenous Peoples’ right to a healthy environment and access to water. It has particularly affected traditional activities such as camelid herding (llamas, guanacos, and vicuñas) and the cultivation of quinoa and maize. Given the central role that lithium now plays globally in the energy transition, and the concentration of its reserves in this region, it is crucial to ask whether the transition is truly just for these peoples and their communities. All the evidence suggests that it is not — and that fundamental changes are urgently needed.

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The Indigenous World 2025: Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Rapa Nui is an island located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, more than 3,700 kilometres off the coast of continental Chile, with an area of 16,628 hectares. It is inhabited by the Rapa Nui people, descendants of an age-old culture recognized for the creation of large megalithic structures known as Moai and for having developed a unique civilization.

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The Indigenous World 2023: Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Rapa Nui is an island of 16,628 hectares located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and separated from the coast of continental Chile by more than 3,700 kilometres. The Rapa Nui people live there, descendants of an age-old culture recognized for the creation of large megalithic structures known as Moai and for having developed a unique civilization.

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The Indigenous World 2025: Chile

Despite steady increases since the 1990s, Chile’s Indigenous population has experienced no major changes since the 2017 census. At that time, 2,185,792 people self-identified as Indigenous, equivalent to 12.8% of the country's total population (17,076,076). The Mapuche were the most numerous (almost 1,800,000 individuals), followed by the Aymara (156,000) and the Diaguita (88,000).[1] A sustained increase in the urban Indigenous population over the rural is noteworthy, now accounting for 87.8% with only 12.2% living in rural areas.[2]

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The Indigenous World 2024: Chile

Despite steadily increasing since the 1990s, the Indigenous population has not seen any major variations since the 2017 census. 2,185,792 people thus self-identify as Indigenous, equivalent to 12.8% of the country's total population (17,076,076). The Mapuche are the most numerous (almost 1,800,000 people), followed by the Aymara (156,000 people) and the Diaguita (88,000 people).[1] There is a sustained trend of moving to urban areas, with 87.8% of Indigenous people now living in the cities compared to 12.2% in the countryside.[2]

Continue Reading

The Indigenous World 2023: Chile

Despite steadily increasing since the 1990s, the size of Chile’s Indigenous population has shown no major changes since the 2017 census. A total of 2,185,792 people self-identify as Indigenous, equivalent to 12.8% of the country's total population (17,076,076). The Mapuche are the most numerous (almost 1,800,000 people), followed by the Aymara (156,000 people) and the Diaguita (88,000 people).[1] A sustained increase in the urban Indigenous population as compared to the rural population is notable, with 87.8% of the Indigenous population now living in urban areas compared to 12.2% in rural ones.[2]

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IWGIA - International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs - is a global human rights organisation dedicated to promoting and defending Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Read more.

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Indigenous World

IWGIA's global report, the Indigenous World, provides an update of the current situation for Indigenous Peoples worldwide. Read The Indigenous World.

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