An indigenous territory (Spanish : territorio indigena) in Colombia is an area of land reserved for use of the indigenous peoples of Colombia. Almost one third of the country is covered by these territories, although the indigenous people account for just over 4-10% of the population. [1]
As late as 1959 the Amazon region was considered uninhabited and was declared a natural reserve. The agrarian reform of 1961 recognized the need to define indigenous territories and to confirm as reserves (resguardos) the titles the Spanish crown had granted to the indigenous people. The first reserves were in the Amazon, the Vaupés reserve in 1982 with 3,375,125 hectares (8,340,120 acres) and the Vichada reserve in 1986–87 with 194,517 hectares (480,660 acres). The government of Virgilio Barco Vargas between 1986 and 1990 gave titles to another 13,000,000 hectares (32,000,000 acres) in the Amazonas and Guainía departments, forming a continuous indigenous territory of 20,000,000 hectares (49,000,000 acres) covering 50% of the Colombian Amazon. [2]
The 1991 National Constitution of Colombia defined Territorial Entities (Entidades Territoriales) as departments, districts, municipalities and indigenous territories. Within an Indigenous Territory Entity (ETI) the people have autonomy in managing their interests, and within the limits of the constitution have the right to manage resources and define taxes required to perform their duties. ETIs are to be defined by the government in conformance with the Organic Law on Land Management. However, this law has yet to be sanctioned so in practice the territories are unregulated. [3]
The total area of Colombia is 114,174,800 hectares (282,132,000 acres). 36,000,000 hectares (89,000,000 acres), or 31.5%, is covered by indigenous territories. [4] According to the 2005 census there were 41,468,384 people in the country of whom 1,378,884, or 3.28%, belonged to one of the 87 groups of indigenous people. [5] The great majority of the indigenous people live in the Andean and Orinoco (savannah) zones. Large numbers in the Orinoco and Pacific Rim have land titles, but most in the Andes do not. Just 5% live in reserves (resguardos) in the Amazon zone. There are 156 reserves in the Amazon covering 25,600,000 hectares (63,000,000 acres), or 64% of the total. [4]
Some areas claimed by the indigenous people of the Amazon are used for mining and hydrocarbon operations. There is some overlap between protected areas administered under the National Parks System and the indigenous territories. [4] Pressures on the indigenous peoples include depletion of the land, particularly in the Andes, and forced displacement due to the struggle with illegal armed groups. [5] Gold mining and spraying of illegal crops causes pollution of the rivers, and in some areas the rivers are polluted by garbage. Oil extraction and dam construction also cause environmental problems in the reserves. [6]
Departments of Colombia refer to the administrative divisions of Colombia. As of 2024, the unitary republic is made up of thirty-two departments. Each department has a governor and an assembly, elected by popular vote for a four-year period.
Arauca is a department of Eastern Colombia located in the extreme north of the Orinoco Basin of Colombia, bordering Venezuela. The southern boundary of Arauca is formed by the Casanare and Meta Rivers, separating Arauca from the departments of Casanare and Vichada. To the west, Arauca borders the department of Boyacá. The Caño Limón oil fields located within Arauca account for almost a third of the Colombian oil output. Its capital is the town of Arauca.
Terra indígena Raposa/Serra do Sol is an indigenous territory in Brazil, intended to be home to the Macuxi people. It is located in the northern half of the Brazilian state of Roraima and is the largest in that country and one of the world's largest, with an area of 1,743,089 hectares and a perimeter of about 1,000 kilometres (620 mi).
São Gabriel da Cachoeira is a municipality located on the northern shore of the Rio Negro River, in the region of Cabeça do Cachorro, Amazonas state, Brazil.
The Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Bolivia is a national representative organization of the Bolivian indigenous movement. It was founded in October 1982 in Santa Cruz de la Sierra as the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of the Bolivian East, with the participation of representatives of four indigenous peoples of the Bolivian East: Guarani-Izoceños, Chiquitanos, Ayoreos and Guarayos.
Protected areas of Brazil included various classes of area according to the National System of Nature Conservation Units (SNUC), a formal, unified system for federal, state and municipal parks created in 2000.
Indigenous peoples of Colombia are the ethnic groups who have inhabited Colombia since before the Spanish colonization of Colombia, in the early 16th century.
The Nukak people live between the Guaviare and Inírida rivers, in the depths of the tropical humid forest, on the fringe of the Amazon basin, in Guaviare Department, Republic of Colombia. They are nomadic hunter-gatherers with seasonal nomadic patterns and practice small-scale shifting horticulture. They were classified as "uncontacted people" until 1981, and have since lost half of their population primarily to disease. Part of their territory has been used by coca growers, ranchers, and other settlers, as well as being occupied by guerrillas, army and paramilitaries. Responses to this crisis include protests, requests for assimilation, and the suicide of leader Maw-be'. An estimated 210–250 Nukak people live in provisional settlements at San José del Guaviare, while about as many live nomadically in the Nukak Reservation (Resguardo).
The Piaroa people, known among themselves as the Huottüja or De'aruhua, are a pre-Columbian South American indigenous ethnic group of the middle Orinoco Basin in present-day Colombia and Venezuela, living in an area larger than Belgium, roughly circumscribed by the Suapure, Parguaza (north), the Ventuari (south-east), the Manapiare (north-east) and the right bank of the Orinoco (west). Their present-day population is about 15,000 (INE 2002), with an estimated 2,500 living on the left bank of the Orinoco River, in Colombia, in several reservations between the Vichada (north) and the Guaviare (south).
The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) is a non-profit organization that works in partnership with indigenous people of tropical South America in conserving the biodiversity of the Amazon rainforest, as well as the culture and land of its indigenous people. ACT was formed in 1996 by ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin and Costa Rican conservationist Liliana Madrigal. The organization is primarily active in the northwest, northeast, and southern regions of the Amazon.
Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory is a protected area and Native Community Land in Bolivia situated between the north of the Cochabamba Department and the south of the Beni Department. It protects part of the Bolivian Yungas ecoregion. The indigenous people living within the park belong to the Tsimané, Yuracaré, and Mojeño-Trinitario peoples. The southern portion of the park has been colonized by agricultural settlers, primarily coca farmers, since the 1970s. The Bolivian government estimates that 10% of the park has been deforested by their presence.
The demographics of Colombia consist of statistics regarding Colombians' health, economic status, religious affiliations, ethnicity, population density, and other aspects of the population. Colombia is the second-most populous country in South America after Brazil, and the third-most populous in Latin America, after Brazil and Mexico.
An indigenous territory is an area of land set aside for the use of indigenous peoples in a country that is largely populated by colonists from another region, typically Europe. The term may refer to
Native Community Lands, according to Bolivian law, are territories held by indigenous people through collective title. The creation of these territories has been a major goal of Bolivian indigenous movements and a political initiative pursued by both neoliberal and indigenous-identified national governments. TCOs are being included under the Indigenous Originary Campesino Autonomy regime. As of June 2009, 60 TCOs had been proposed in the lowlands, of which 12 had completed titling, and 143 had been proposed in the highlands, of which 72 had final titles. More than 16.8 million hectares have been incorporated within Native Community Lands as of December 2009, more than 15% of Bolivia's land area.
Race and ethnicity in Colombia descend mainly from three racial groups—Europeans, Amerindians, and Africans—that have mixed throughout the last 500 years of the country's history. Some demographers describe Colombia as one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the Western Hemisphere and in the World, with 900 different ethnic groups. Most Colombians identify themselves and others according to ancestry, physical appearance, and sociocultural status. Social relations reflect the importance attached to certain characteristics associated with a given racial group. Although these characteristics no longer accurately differentiate social categories, they still contribute to one's rank in the social hierarchy. A study from Rojas et al involving 15 departments determined that the average Colombian has a mixture of 48.8% Amerindian 40.2% European, and 11% African. These proportions also vary widely among ethnicities.
The lands inhabited by indigenous peoples receive different treatments around the world. Many countries have specific legislation, definitions, nomenclature, objectives, etc., for such lands. To protect indigenous land rights, special rules are sometimes created to protect the areas they live in. In other cases, governments establish "reserves" with the intention of segregation. Some indigenous peoples live in places where their right to land is not recognised, or not effectively protected.
The Balaio Indigenous Territory is an indigenous territory in the northwest of the state of Amazonas, Brazil. The territory is home to small numbers of people from several different ethnic groups of the Arawak and Tucano linguistic families.. It is in the Amazon biome. The territory overlaps with a national park and a biological reserve, both technically fully protected areas. Mining concessions before the territory was recognized have been disallowed.
The Cué-cué/Marabitanas Indigenous Territory is an indigenous territory in the northwest of the state of Amazonas, Brazil. There were extended delays while the territory was being identified and formally declared.
The Alto Rio Negro Indigenous Territory is an indigenous territory in the northwest of the state of Amazonas, Brazil. It is in the Amazon biome, and is mostly covered in forest. A number of different ethnic groups live in the territory, often related through marriage, with a total population of over 25,000. There is a long history of colonial exploitation and effective slavery of the indigenous people, and then of attempts to suppress their culture and "civilize" them. The campaign to gain autonomy culminated in creation of the reserve in 1998. The people are generally literate, but health infrastructure is poor and there are very limited economic opportunities.
The Manuripi campaign was an armed confrontation between Bolivian and Peruvian troops and a group of indigenous people in 1910. The Bolivian press has treated this conflict as "forgotten" due to the little importance with which it is taken in the country's history, perhaps due to the singularity of the confrontation, since a treaty had already been signed several months ago that awarded those territories to Peru.