Bolivia’s Cultural Groups

Main Languages: Spanish

Quechua, AymaraOther Amerindian languages (Guarini, Chiquitano)

The Breakdown: 55%: Amerindian

30%: Mestizo 15%: White*

0.5%: Afro-Bolivian About 3 dozen Native groups

Some Japanese: in Santa Cruz de la Sierra Middle Easterners: prosperous in commerce

Roman Catholic

The Whites

• European descent • Criollos: unmixed Spanish ancestry • Urban • Tend to be elite in Bolivian society

The Mestizos

• Spanish and Indian descent • Most socially, geographically, and economically

diverse• Term: cholo • Urban orientation• More modern attire• Speak Spanish

Simon Patino , mining

The Amerindians

• Over 3 dozen groups – Mostly based on languages

• Breakdown– Quechua: 2.5 million – Aymara: 2 million – Chiquitano: 180,000– Guarani : 125, 000– others

Quechuas

• Agricultural, marginal farmers

• In the Andes• From the Inca language• Trades: traditional fibre

handicrafts, spinning wool and weaving fabrics

• Mixed Catholic/ancient folk religion

Aymaras• Andes and Altiplano • Lake Titicaca Basin • Associated with high

civilized Tiwanku – Maybe even descendents

of Elite Incas

• Center of Culture: La Paz• Have a small urban

culture

• Cultural identity entertwined with the coca plant

• Oral tradition

http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/20538-countries-and-cultures-of-the-andes-bolivia-video.htm