INDIGENOUS MEXICO STATISTICS: THE 2005 CONTEO

[Tor Lor]

 INDIGENOUS MEXICO STATISTICS: THE 2005 CONTEO

HISTORY

    By John P. Schmal
 
The results of the 2005 Mexican Conteo (Count) have been published and a comparison with the 2000 Mexican Censo (Censo) indicates a decline in the overall number of Mexican citizens who speak indigenous languages. The overall number of indigenous speakers has dropped from 6,044,547 to 6,011,202 persons five years of age and older. This represented a drop in the national percentage of indigenous speakers from 7.2% to 6.7%.
 
It is important to point out that the criteria in this count represents people who speak  indigenous languages and that the number of Mexicans who consider themselves to be indigenous – through culture, tradition, spirit, genetics and other factors – is probably much greater in some parts of the country. Additionally, any children up to the age of four living in indigenous households are not tallied as being indigenous speakers.
 
Náhuatl remains the most widely spoken language in Mexico with 1,376,026 persons five years of age and older using that tongue. Náhuatl speakers, in fact, represented 22.89% of the indigenous speakers in the entire Republic in the 20005 Conteo. Some of the other prominent languages are:
 
2. Maya (759,000 speakers – 12.63% of all indigenous speakers)
3. Mixtec Languages (423,216 – 7.04%)
4. Zapotec Languages (410,901 – 6.84%)
5. Tzeltal (371,730 – 6.18%)
6. Tzotzil (329,937 – 5.49%)
7. Otomí (239,850 – 3.99%)
 
The Náhuatl, Maya, Mixtec and Zapotec languages are found in considerable numbers in many states far from their traditional homelands, in large part because of migration to the north and urban areas.
 
The states with the largest number of indigenous speakers are, in terms of absolute numbers and percentages, are:
 
1. Oaxaca (1,091,502 indigenous speakers – 35.3% of the state population)
2. Yucatán (538,355 speakers – 33.5% of the state population)
3. Chiapas (957,255 speakers – 26.1% of the state population)
4. Quintana Roo (170,982 speakers – 19.3% of the state population)
5. Hidalgo (320,029 – 15.5% of the state population)
6. Guerrero (383,427 – 14.2% of the state population)
7. Campeche (89,084 – 13.3% of the state population)
8. Puebla (548,723 – 11.7% of the state population)
9. San Luis Potosí (234,815 – 11.1% of the state population)
10. Veracruz (605,135 – 9.5% of the state population).

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With the exception of the Chiapas dialects, many of the most populous indigenous languages have declined in absolute numbers, possibly due to immigration to the United States and other countries. It is also possible that many indigenous migrants who move from Oaxaca, Puebla, Guerrero, or Campeche to large urban areas in Mexico City or the North may have children who, in the absence of a nurturing mother culture, may tend to assimilate and perhaps stop speaking their mother tongue as they socialize and work with their non-indigenous friends, associates, and neighbors.
 
We continue to see large numbers of Zapotec and Mixtec speakers dominating the indigenous landscape in many western and northern states, in large part because of decades of migration from Oaxaca to other parts of the country. A long distance from their traditional lands, the Mixtecs represent significant percentages of the indigenous-speaking people in several states, including Baja California (38.2% of indigenous speakers), Baja California Sur (21.5%), Distrito Federal (10.4%), Sinaloa (10.2%) and Estado de México (6.8%).

[Tor Lor]

Similarly, the Zapotecs make up significant portions of the indigenous-speaking populations of several states, including Baja California (9.6%), Baja California Sur (8.7%), Distrito Federal (8.4%), Colima (6.5%) and Sinaloa (5.6%). Nevertheless, both the Zapotec and Mixtec languages saw significant overall population drops between 2000 and 2005 and large-scale immigration to the United States is certainly a compelling factor in that trend.
 
In the states of the Yucatán Peninsula, the Yucatec Maya dialect continues to dominate. For example, in the State of Yucatán, there are 527,107 Maya speakers, who represent 97.9% of the total indigenous-speaking population of the state.
 
While many languages have declined in absolute numbers, several of the most important Mayan tongues in Chiapas actually increased between the 2000 Censo and the 2005 Conteo. The five most widely spoken languages of Chiapas have all increased in absolute numbers:
 

[Tor Lor]

1. Tzeltal (362,658 indigenous speakers – 37.9% of the state’s indigenous population)
2. Tzotzil (320,921 indigenous speakers – 33.5%)
3. Chol (161,794 speakers – 16.9%)
4. Zoque (43,936 speakers – 4.6%)
5. Tojolabal (42,798 – 4.5%)
 
This increase may be related to the high visibility and sense of pride that many Chiapas Indians have begun to feel towards their indigenous heritage, and, in fact, people who did not previously speak Tzotzil or Tzeltal fluently, may be learning the language to take part in the Cultural Renaissance now occurring.
 
The Náhuatl language continues to dominate many of the Mexican states. In Veracruz, for example, the 318,626 Náhuatl speakers make up 52.7% of the State’s indigenous speakers. The other widely spoken languages in Veracruz are the Totonac (19.2%), Huasteco (8.4%), Popoluca (5.3%), and Otomí (2.8%).

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The Tarahumara Indians, one of the few surviving remnants of Chihuahua’s indigenous heritage, continue to represent 77.3% of Chihuahua’s people who speak Indian languages. But indigenous speakers only represent 3.4% of the total state population five years of age and older.
 
In Sonora, the two surviving traditional languages still dominate the indigenous-speaking population: the Mayo number 24,470 people (47.3%) and the Yaqui number 13,552 people (14.7%). But, here again, the indigenous speakers represent only 2.5% of Sonora’s entire population five years of age and older.
 
Mexico’s total population increased from 97,483,412 in the 2000 Censo to 103,263,388 in the 2005 Conteo. Interestingly, women outnumber men by 51.34% by 48.66%, a telling reminder that many breadwinners may have left the country to find gainful employment elsewhere.
 
Below is a graphic interpretation, illustrating the contrast in the indigenous speaking populations of Mexico’s states between the 2000 Censo and the 2005 Conteo:

[Tor Lor]

A COMPARISON OF MEXICO’S INDIGENOUS-SPEAKING POPULATIONS BETWEEN THE 2000 CENSO AND THE 2005 CONTEO (BY STATE) - Copyright © 2006, by John P. Schmal.

State
   

2000 Censo – Population of Persons Five Years of Age and More Who Speak an Indigenous Language
   

2000 Census – Percentage
   

2005 Conteo – Population of Persons Five Years of Age and More Who Speak an Indigenous Language
   

2005 Conteo  – Percentage

Aguascalientes
   

1,244
   

0.2
   

2,713
   

0.3

Baja California
   

37,685
   

1.9
   

33,604
   

1.4

Baja California,Sur
   

5,353
   

1.4
   

7,095
   

1.6

Campeche
   

93,765
   

15.5
   

89,084
   

13.3

Coahuila de Zaragoza
   

3,032
   

0.2
   

5,842
   

0.3

Colima
   

2,932
   

0.6
   

2,889
   

0.6

Chiapas
   

809,592
   

24.7
   

957,255
   

26.1

Chihuahua
   

84,086
   

3.2
   

93,709
   

3.4

Distrito Federal
   

141,710
   

1.8
   

118,424
   

1.5

Durango
   

24,934
   

2.0
   

27,792
   

2.1

Guanajuato
   

10,689
   

0.3
   

10,347
   

0.2

Guerrero
   

367,110
   

13.9
   

383,427
   

14.2

Hidalgo
   

339,866
   

17.3
   

320,029
   

15.5

Jalisco
   

39,259
   

0.7
   

42,372
   

0.7

México
   

361,972
   

3.3
   

312,319
   

2.6

Michoacán de Ocampo
   

121,849
   

3.5
   

113,166
   

3.3

Morelos
   

30,896
   

2.3
   

24,757
   

1.8

Nayarit
   

37,206
   

4.6
   

41,689
   

5.0

Nuevo León
   

15,446
   

0.5
   

29,538
   

0.8

Oaxaca
   

1,120,312
   

37.2
   

1,091,502
   

35.3

Puebla
   

565,509
   

13.1
   

548,723
   

11.7

Querétaro Arteaga
   

25,269
   

2.1
   

23,363
   

1.7

Quintana Roo
   

173,592
   

23.1
   

170,982
   

19.3

San Luis Potosí
   

235,253
   

11.7
   

234,815
   

11.1

Sinaloa
   

49,744
   

2.2
   

30,459
   

1.3

Sonora
   

55,694
   

2.9
   

51,701
   

2.5

Tabasco
   

62,027
   

3.7
   

52,139
   

3.0

Tamaulipas
   

17,118
   

0.7
   

20,221
   

0.8

Tlaxcala
   

26,662
   

3.2
   

23,807
   

2.5

Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave
   

633,372
   

10.4
   

605,135
   

9.5

Yucatán
   

549,532
   

37.4
   

538,355
   

33.5

Zacatecas
   

1,837
   

0.2
   

3,949
   

0.3

Mexican Republic
   

6,044,547
   

7.2
   

6,011,202
   

6.7

[Tor Lor]

    Below is a second illustration indicating the evolution of Mexico’s indigenous languages in terms of their total numbers within the Mexican Republic.

     

    THE EVOLUTION OF MEXICO’S INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES FROM 1970 TO 2005 -- Copyright © 2006, by John P. Schmal.

    Primary Languages
       

    1970
       

    1990
       

    2000
       

    2005
       

    2005 - % of all Indigenous Languages Spoken

    Náhuatl
       

    799,394
       

    1,197,328
       

    1,448,936
       

    1,376,026
       

    22.89%

    Maya
       

    454,675
       

    713,520
       

    800,291
       

    759,000
       

    12.63%

    Mixtec Languages
       

    233,235
       

    386,874
       

    446,236
       

    423,216
       

    7.04%

    Zapoteco Languages
       

    283,345
       

    403,457
       

    452,887
       

    410,901
       

    6.84%

    Tzeltal
       

    99,412
       

    261,084
       

    284,826
       

    371,730
       

    6.18%

    Tzotzil
       

    95,383
       

    229,203
       

    297,561
       

    329,937
       

    5.49%

    Otomí
       

    221,062
       

    280,238
       

    291,722
       

    239,850
       

    3.99%

    Totonaca
       

    124,840
       

    207,876
       

    240,034
       

    230,930
       

    3.84%

    Mazateco
       

    101,541
       

    168,374
       

    214,477
       

    206,559
       

    3.44%

    Chol
       

    73,253
       

    128,240
       

    161,766
       

    185,299
       

    3.08%

    Huasteco
       

    66,091
       

    120,739
       

    150,257
       

    149,532
       

    2.49%

    Chinanteca Languages
       

    54,145
       

    109,100
       

    133,374
       

    125,706
       

    2.09%

    Mixe
       

    54,403
       

    95,264
       

    118,924
       

    115,824
       

    1.93%

    Mazahua
       

    104,729
       

    127,826
       

    133,430
       

    111,840
       

    1.86%

    Purépecha
       

    60,411
       

    94,835
       

    121,409
       

    105,556
       

    1.76%

    Tlapaneco
       

    30,804
       

    68,483
       

    99,389
       

    98,573
       

    1.64%

    Tarahumara
       

    25,479
       

    54,431
       

    75,545
       

    75,371
       

    1.25%

    Zoque
       

    27,140
       

    43,160
       

    51,464
       

    54,004
       

    0.90%

    Amuzgo
       

    13,883
       

    28,228
       

    41,455
       

    43,761
       

    0.73%

    Tojolabal
       

    13,303
       

    36,011
       

    37,986
       

    43,169
       

    0.72%

    Chatino
       

    11,773
       

    29,006
       

    40,722
       

    42,791
       

    0.71%

    Chontal
       

    ND
       

    36,267
       

    38,561
       

    36,578
       

    0.61%

    Popoluca
       

    27,818
       

    31,254
       

    38,477
       

    36,406
       

    0.61%

    Huichol
       

    6,874
       

    19,363
       

    30,686
       

    35,724
       

    0.59%

    Mayo
       

    27,848
       

    37,410
       

    31,513
       

    32,702
       

    0.54%

    Tepehuano
       

    5,617
       

    18,469
       

    25,544
       

    31,681
       

    0.53%

    Cora
       

    6,242
       

    11,923
       

    16,410
       

    17,086
       

    0.28%

    Huave
       

    7,442
       

    11,955
       

    14,224
       

    15,993
       

    0.27%

    Yaqui
       

    7,084
       

    10,984
       

    13,317
       

    14,162
       

    0.24%

    Cuicateco
       

    10,192
       

    12,677
       

    13,425
       

    12,610
       

    0.21%

    Other Languages
       

    63,997
       

    308,768
       

    179,699
       

    278,685
       

    4.64%

    Total Indigenous Speakers in Mexico

       

    3,111,415

       

    5,282,347

       

    6,044,547

       

    6,011,202

       

    100%

 Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística Geografía e Informática (INEGI). Conteos de Población y Vivienda, 2005

[Tor Lor]

 John Schmal was born and raised in Los Angeles, California.  He attended Loyola-Marymount University in Los Angeles and St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, where he studied Geography, History and Earth Sciences and received two BA degrees.  Mr. Schmal has been a life-long history buff and is also a skilled genealogist. His genealogical specialties including tracing lineages in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the Southwestern U.S.A.  He is the coauthor of "Mexican-American Genealogical Research: Following the Paper Trail to Mexico" (Heritage Books, 2002).  He has also coauthored three other books on Mexican-American themes, all of them published by Heritage Books in Maryland. He is an Associate Editor of  www.somosprimos.com and a board member of the Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research (SHHAR). Presently, in addition to writing weekly columns for HispanicVista.com (www.hispanicvista.com),  he is writing a book on the indigenous peoples of Mexico and on the ports of entry along the Mexican-US border.  Mr. Schmal has a passionate love of Mexican history and has been writing short histories of each state, which are being compiled at the following link:
http://www.houstonculture.org/mexico/states.html

http://www.hispanicvista.com/HVC/Columnist/jschmal/083006jpschmal.htm