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Demographics

Mapped: The World’s Indigenous Peoples

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Map of the world's Indigenous peoples

Mapped: The World’s Indigenous Peoples

Humanity has spread to almost every corner of Earth, and while some peoples have continued to move, others have grown roots in one region.

Generally the term indigenous peoples refers to social or cultural groups with strong ancestral ties to their land of origin. Many times these are tied to ethnicity and still live in their land of origin, but some have been displaced, diluted, or become minorities in their lands.

This map by Bhabna Banerjee uses data from the Indigenous World 2022 report to show the population distribution of the roughly 476 million Indigenous peoples around the world. When 2022 data was unavailable, the latest available data was used.

What Are “Indigenous” Peoples?

Before diving in, it’s important to note that this map and report are based on the United Nations’ approach to indigenous peoples.

Due to the diversity and difficult history experienced by these groups, including countries that don’t recognize indigenous peoples in their lands, there is purposefully no official definition of “indigenous.”

Instead, the UN and other organizations working with indigenous peoples utilize an understanding based on self-determination that includes:

  • Self-identification as indigenous peoples at the individual level and accepted by the community.
  • Historical continuity with pre-colonial and/or pre-settler societies
  • Strong link to territories and surrounding resources
  • Distinct social, economic, or political systems
  • Distinct language, culture, and beliefs
  • Forms non-dominant groups of society
  • Resolve to maintain and reproduce their ancestral environments and systems

Because of this, ethnic groups that are indigenous (as a dictionary term) to their lands like the Han people in China, the Turks in Turkey, or the Scots in Scotland were not included in this report.

On the flip side, groups like Greenland’s Inuit were included, because of their long history of colonial control as well as Danish influence.

Indigenous Populations Worldwide

Of all the countries included in the report, China has the highest number of Indigenous, with an estimated population of 125.3 million.

It’s worth noting that the Chinese government does not officially acknowledge the existence of Indigenous peoples. However, they do recognize 55 different ethnic nationalities across the nation, including the Zhuang, Mongolians, and the Hui.

CountryIndigenous PopulationYear of Data
China125,332,3352022
India104,000,0002022
Indonesia60,000,0002022
Pakistan35,000,0002010
Mexico16,933,2832022
Ethiopia16,500,0002022
Myanmmar14,400,0002010
Vietnam14,100,0002022
Algeria12,000,0002022
Nepal10,872,0002022
Morocoo10,000,0002022
Phillippines10,000,0002022
Kenya9,650,0002021
Bolivia7,000,0002013
United States6,600,0002022
Guatemala6,500,0002022
Thailand6,100,0002022
Malaysia4,683,0002022
Peru4,000,0002022
Laos3,500,0002022
Niger2,690,0002022
Namibia2,678,1912022
Chile2,185,7922022
Colombia1,905,6172022
Canada1,673,7852022
Iran1,617,0002021
Bangladesh1,586,1412022
Japan1,400,0002021
Mali1,200,0002016
Uganda1,138,2392022
Ecuador1,100,0002022
Cameroon1,044,3002022
Libya1,000,0002022
Tunisia1,000,0002022
Argentina955,0322022
Brazil896,9002022
Venzuela896,0002022
Australia881,6002022
New Zealand775,5002022
DRC700,0002022
Nicaragua612,0002022
SouthAfrica590,0002022
Taiwan580,7582022
Tanzania524,2462022
Panama417,5592022
Israel300,0002022
Russia260,0002022
Cambodia250,0002022
French Polynesia222,4002022
Paraguay122,4612022
Costa Rica104,1432022
Guyana78,5002022
Burundi78,0712022
Iraq78,0002007
Botswana73,1002022
Greenland56,5232022
Norway50,0002021
Rep. of Congo43,3782022
CAR39,2992022
Jordan27,0002021
Rwanda25,0002022
Angola24,3002022
Suriname20,3442022
Sweden20,0002021
Gabon16,1622020
French Guiana10,0002022
Finland80002021
Zimbabwe45332022
Sri Lanka12292012

After China, India has the second largest Indigenous populations, with over 700 officially recognized ethnic groups. Many of these are concentrated in the north-eastern region of India, from Rajasthan to West Bengal.

While different countries and territories have varying numbers of Indigenous peoples, one thing remains consistent across the board—on average, the world’s Indigenous populations typically face greater economic and social challenges than their non-Indigenous counterparts.

Disadvantages Faced by Indigenous Peoples

Research by the UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO) found that, while Indigenous peoples make up only 6% of the world’s total population, they account for nearly 20% of the world’s extreme poor.

In addition, Indigenous peoples also have much lower average life expectancies than non-Indigenous people, according to a report by the United Nations.

Some countries and governments around the world are starting to implement laws and policies to support and recognize Indigenous communities, but there’s still work to be done.

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This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.

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Demographics

Top 20 Countries Where Older People Are the Happiest

Advanced economies are the happiest countries for older people, likely due to their stronger social security systems.

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A cropped chart ranking the top 20 happiest countries, for those over 60 years old, sourced from the World Happiness Report 2024.

Top 20 Countries Where Older People Are the Happiest

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

The newest global happiness index doesn’t have any massive surprises from the ongoing trends of the last decade: Europe generally does the best, Africa is still finding its footing, and Asia and South America have vast rank disparities between constituent nations.

However, as the World Happiness Report notes, happiness levels differ across age groups, and countries’ overall ranks tend to obfuscate how the old and young feel separately. To counter this, the report also creates a happiness index by age.

We’ve visualized the top 20 happiest countries according to those aged above 60. For comparison, we have also included a country’s overall index rank.

Data and Takeaways

ℹ️ Gallup’s survey in Israel occurred after October 7th, but before much of the subsequent warfare. As a result, overall life evaluations in the country fell by 0.9 for 2023. Note that each country’s rank is based on a three-year average score.

The top two countries where the seniors are most satisfied—Denmark and Finland—also happen to be the top two countries on the overall happiness index.

As a general trend, advanced economies make up the bulk of this top 20 list, likely due to their stronger social security systems and financial security. Relatedly, they also tend to do well when it comes to the best countries to retire in.

CountryHappiness Rank
(Age 60+)
Overall Happiness
Rank (All ages)
Rank
Difference
🇩🇰 Denmark12-1
🇫🇮 Finland21+1
🇳🇴 Norway37-4
🇸🇪 Sweden440
🇮🇸 Iceland53+2
🇳🇿 New Zealand611-5
🇳🇱 Netherlands76+1
🇨🇦 Canada815-7
🇦🇺 Australia910-1
🇺🇸 U.S.1023-13
🇦🇪 UAE1122-11
🇱🇺 Luxembourg128+4
🇰🇼 Kuwait13130
🇨🇭 Switzerland149+5
🇦🇹 Austria1514+1
🇮🇪 Ireland1617-1
🇨🇷 Costa Rica1712+5
🇮🇱 Israel185+13
🇧🇪 Belgium1916+3
🇬🇧 UK20200

Norway, at third, has the first real discrepancy, with its elderly population ranking four places higher compared to its overall 7th place rank.

New Zealand (6th) and Canada (8th) also have gaps with their overall ranks: indicating that the older generation is happier than other generations within the country.

But for the U.S., (10th) and the UAE (11th), this rank discrepancy is in the double-digits.

In fact, when ranking only by those aged below 30, the U.S. ranks outside of the top 50, indicating that its younger residents are significantly unhappier than their older counterparts.

This is an interesting phenomenon mirrored in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. According to the report, as recently as a decade ago, the younger generation in these countries were about as happy as those aged over 60.

“In the West, the received wisdom was that the young are the happiest and that happiness thereafter declines until middle age, followed by substantial recovery.” –- World Happiness Report.

For other countries like Costa Rica (17) and Israel (18), this pattern reverses. Their overall rank is higher than their rank for older populations, indicating that the young are happier.

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