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  • Indigenous peoples in Ecuador

    Indigenous peoples in Ecuador

    Ecuador’s indigenous population numbers some 1.1 million peoples composed by 14 indigenous nationalities. Ecuador voted in favour of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and has ratified ILO Convention 169.

Ecuador

Indigenous Peoples in Ecuador 

The Indigenous population in Ecuador accounts for approximately 1.1 million people. Ecuador voted in favour of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007 and has ratified ILO Convention 169. However, the Indigenous population does not have full guarantees of civil, political, cultural, and territorial rights, and are still facing a number of serious challenges, and there aren't any specific public policies in place to prevent and neutralise the risk of disappearance of Ecuador’s Indigenous Peoples.

Indigenous Peoples in Ecuador 

The current population of Ecuador is 17,475,570 inhabitants (National Institute of Statistics and Census INEC, August 2020), and there are 14 Indigenous nationalities totalling nearly 1,100,000 inhabitants, grouped into a number of local, regional and national organisations. 


24.1% of the Indigenous population live in the Amazon, divided into 10 nationalities. Of the Andean Kichwa population, 7.3% live in the Southern Mountains and 8.3% in the Coastal region and on the Galapagos Islands. 60.3% of the Andean Kichwa live in six provinces of the Central-Northern Sierra; and the remaining 8.3% live in the Coastal region and the Galapagos Islands.

The Shuar, who form a nationality of more than 100,000 people, have a strong presence in three provinces of the Amazonian Centre-South, where they account for between 8%and 79% of the total population. The rest are spread in small groups across the country.

There are different nationalities with very little populations that are in a highly vulnerable situation. In the Amazon, the A’i Cofán with 1,485 inhabitants, the Shiwiar with 1,198 inhabitants, the Siekopai with 689 inhabitants, the Siona with 611 inhabitants, and the Sapara with 559 inhabitants. On the coast, we can find the Épera with 546 inhabitants and the Manta with 311 inhabitants.

Main challenges for Ecuador’s Indigenous Peoples

The public policies ensuring automatic or full guarantees of Indigenous rights in Ecuador, particularly civil and political, cultural and territorial, generally have not improved.

A key problem for the Waorani peoples revolves around the state’s persistent promotion of the exploitation of oil on their territory known as the Waorani Reserve and the Yasuní National Park. There is also an aggressive presence of large-scale mining on the Shuar territory.

Four events directly affected the living conditions and economic and social rights of Ecuador’s Indigenous Peoples and nationalities in 2020: the aftermath of the great popular protest of October 2019; the unleashing of the COVID-19 pandemic; the rupture of the main oil pipeline and subsequent oil spill; and the political dispute surrounding the 2021 presidential and congressional elections.

Potential progress for Indigenous Peoples in Ecuador 

A presidential call for a referendum to be held in February 2018 aimed to ensure the support of the Indigenous movement and environmental groups by including questions on banning extractive activities, for example, metal mining in ecologically fragile areas, and on limiting oil exploitation in Block 43 of the Yasun National Park: 67.5 percent voted in favor of increasing Yasuní National Park’s Intangible Zone by at least 50,000 hectares and reducing the oil extraction area in the park from 1,030 to 300 hectares.

Cartography of Sumak Kawsay among the Ancestral Kichwa Peoples of Pastaza

Written on . Posted in News

BY PAUL ANDRÉS SABANDO MOSQUERA FOR INDIGENOUS DEBATES

In the Ecuadorian Amazon, sumak kawsay embodies the Kichwa peoples’ vision of life, which guides the management of their territories. When incorporated into modern cartography, this knowledge enriches their interpretation of their territory, facilitates community-based monitoring, and provides a foundation for Indigenous self-government. Kichwa cartography responds to the need for communities to express their own logic of territorial occupation and management, grounded in their worldview.

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The Indigenous World 2025: Ecuador

Written on . Posted in Ecuador

According to the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC), the current population of Ecuador stands at 17,966,573.[1] There are 14 Indigenous nationalities in the country, accounting for some 1,301,887 people. They are grouped into different local, regional and national organizations and represent 7.7% of the total population. Indigenous nationalities and peoples live mainly in the Highlands (68.2%), followed by the Amazon (24.06%), and, to a lesser extent, along the coast, where only 7.56% live.

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The Indigenous World 2023: Ecuador

Written on . Posted in Ecuador

According to February 2022 data from the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC), Ecuador's current population stands at 18,232,933. There are 14 Indigenous nationalities in the country totalling more than one million people, most of which are grouped into a number of organizations at the national, regional and local level.

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Mapping to Protect Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation: Lessons from Geographical Disputes in Yasuní

Written on . Posted in News

BY MANUEL BAYÓN JIMÉNEZ AND AMANDA YÉPEZ SALAZAR FOR INDIGENOUS DEBATES

In 2008, the government introduced the Yasuní-ITT Initiative, which proposed leaving the oil reserves of Block 43 underground in exchange for international financial contributions that would acknowledge the ecological debt of the Global North. However, the initiative was not successful and, in 2013, the government wrote off the proposal and authorised oil exploitation. Society quickly organised: it denounced such destruction and demonstrated, through maps, the extent of encroachment onto the territory and lives of the Indigenous Peoples living in isolation. Finally, with the geographical evidence gathered, a favourable ruling was obtained from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in defence of Yasuní.

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The Indigenous World 2024: Ecuador

Written on . Posted in Ecuador

According to the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC, February 2024), Ecuador's current population stands at 17,895,131 inhabitants. There are 14 Indigenous nationalities in the country, totalling 1,301,887 people, and they are organized into local, regional and national organizations representing 7.7% of the total population. The Indigenous nationalities and peoples live mainly in the highlands (68.20%) and Amazon (24.06%), with only 7.56% on the coast.

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The Indigenous World 2022: Ecuador

Written on . Posted in Ecuador

According to the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC, February 2022), Ecuador's current population stands at 17,895,131 inhabitants.[i] There are 14 Indigenous nationalities in the country totalling more than one million people and they are organised in local, regional and national organisations. Indigenous nationalities and peoples live mainly in the highlands (68.20%), followed by the Amazon (24.06%), with only 7.56% found on the coast. The following Indigenous nationalities were included in the 2010 Census for self-identification purposes: Tsáchila, Chachi, Epera, Awa, Kichwa, Shuar, Achuar, Shiwiar, Cofán, Siona, Secoya, Zápara, Andoa and Waorani.

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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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