self-identification, this paper emphasizes Bolivians’ current perception of self-identity, as reported in the 2012 census, even if doing so underestimates the size of the indigenous population relative to the previous census. This option is also preferred because it can only lead to an underestimation of the extent of disadvantage among indigenous groups.<sup>11</sup>

# _3.2. Descriptive Patterns_

According to the 2012 census, the Bolivian population is almost evenly divided between those who consider themselves to belong to an indigenous or Afro-Bolivian group (48.13 percent) and those who do not (46.76 percent). Within the indigenous population, two Andean groups, Aymara and Quechua, stand out as encompassing more than half of the indigenous population (Table 1). Both Aymara and Quechua people are concentrated in the Andean highlands, though the center of the Aymaras is El Alto, just outside La Paz, while Quechua populations are more spread out and represent the largest indigenous group in the departments of Cochabamba and Potosí (Figure 1). In addition to these two groups, there are approximately 30 officially recognized lowland indigenous peoples in Bolivia, who are mainly situated in the Amazon region, the East, Chiquitania and Gran Chaco. In Table 1, these groups are categorized into a single, “other indigenous” category, which comprises lowlands indigenous peoples, as well as indigenous groups that live elsewhere in the country, such as the Urus.<sup>12</sup>

**Table 1. Distribution of Self-Identification Categories in Bolivia (percentage of total population)**

||_Non-_<br>_Indigenous_|_Aymara_|_Quechua_|_Other_<br>_Indigenous_|_Afro-Bolivian/_<br>_Other Ethnicity_|_Foreign/_<br>_Not Listed_|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Male|46.28|15.92|18.15|5.68|8.77|5.20|
|Female|47.23|15.79|18.30|5.34|8.30|5.03|
|Total|46.76|15.85|18.23|5.51|8.53|5.12|

Note: This distribution of self-identification encompasses individuals of all ages, including those for whom another member of the household may have responded (e.g., small children). <u>Source: Bolivian 2012 census</u> 11 Previous censuses in Bolivia estimated the share of indigenous population to be over 60 percent (see Molina and Albó 2006, Jiménez et al. 2006), while the latest census predicts it to be around 50 percent. The findings of this paper should be interpreted as lower bound estimates, since if the actual population of indigenous groups is larger, the actual gaps between indigenous and nonindigenous people may be larger than recorded here.

> 12 The decision to not limit the third group to only lowland indigenous people was due to two principal considerations: first, some indigenous groups are so small that they may not be officially recognized and/or there is not enough information to easily determine whether they are originally highland or lowland people; second, there are over 100 indigenous group identities declared in the census, but excepting Aymaras and Quechuas, no group comprises more than 3 percent of those self-identified as “Indigenous/Afro-Bolivian”. In fact, the next largest group in Bolivia after Aymaras and Quechuas is the Chiquitanos, a lowland people. As such, the results for “other indigenous groups” are unlikely to be driven by an Andean group.

9