HispanicVista Columnists

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).

 

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%).

 

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:

 

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%).

 

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:

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

 

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

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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