Pre-colonization populations of the Americas ~1492| ��ƽ��

Estimated indigenous populations of the Americas at the time of European contact, beginning in 1492

Region	Lowest estimate	Middle estimate	Highest estimate
Mexico	3.2	21.4	37.5
Andes	3	11.5	37.5
Lowland South America	1	8.5	11.25
Caribbean*	0.2	5.85	0.55
Central America	0.1	5.65	13.5
North America	0.9	4.4	12.25

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Sources

Release date

1983

More information

Region

North America, Central and South America, Latin America and the Caribbean

Survey time period

~1492

Supplementary notes

The totals for each source are as follows:
Lowest estimate: 8.4 million
Middle estimate: 57.3 million
Highest estimate: 112.55 million

The "Middle estimate" source acknowledges the hazards and difficulties of estimating these populations. The numbers used in the "Middle estimate" source have been frequently cited by modern historians. The "Lowest estimate" and "Highest estimate" figures appear to be the most extreme figures from reputable sources.

*The source used for "Highest estimate" figures shows a lower number for the Caribbean population than those of the "Middle estimate".

The source used for the "Lowest estimate", from Alfred Kroeber's article in American Anthropologist (1934), can be found (page 24). Figures from Henry Dorbyns' article An Appraisal of Techniques with a New Hemispheric Estimate (1966) estimates can be found (page 3).

Citation formats

Prior to the arrival of European explorers in the Americas in 1492, it is estimated that the population of the continent was around sixty million people. Over the next two centuries, most scholars agree that the indigenous population fell to just ten percent of its pre-colonization level, primarily due to the Old World diseases (namely smallpox) brought to the New World by Europeans and African slaves, as well as through violence and famine.

Distribution

It is thought that the most densely populated region of the Americas was in the fertile Mexican valley, home to over one third of the entire continent, including several Mesoamerican civilizations such as the Aztec empire. While the mid-estimate shows a population of over 21 million before European arrival, one estimate suggests that there were just 730,000 people of indigenous descent in Mexico in 1620, just one hundred years after Cortes' arrival. Estimates also suggest that the Andes, home to the Incas, was the second most-populous region in the Americas, while North America (in this case, the region north of the Rio Grande river) may have been the most sparsely populated region. There is some contention as to the size of the pre-Columbian populations in the Caribbean, as the mass genocides, forced relocation, and pandemics that followed in the early stages of Spanish colonization make it difficult to predict these numbers.

Varying estimates

Estimating the indigenous populations of the Americas has proven to be a challenge and point of contention for modern historians. Totals from reputable sources range from 8.4 million people to 112.55 million, and while both of these totals were published in the 1930s and 1960s respectively, their continued citation proves the ambiguity surrounding this topic. European settlers' records from the 15^th to 17^th centuries have also created challenges, due to their unrealistic population predictions and inaccurate methodologies (for example, many early settlers only counted the number of warriors in each civilization). Nonetheless, most modern historians use figures close to those given in the "Middle estimate" shown here, with similar distributions by region.