Indigenous Peoples in the Americas

The thematic map in Figure 5.19 shows the percentage of indigenous peoples living in the Americas. It does not include mixed-race populations, such as the mestizo. We can see that southern Mexico (including the Yucatan Peninsula) and Guatemala have a high percentage of indigenous people compared to the rest of the mainland. In the rimland, percentages are low, but it is important to note that "no data" is included for the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, the Bahamas, and some of the Leeward Islands. Areas with high percentages of indigenous people coincide with the locations of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca Empires.