Ethnicity, Language, & Religion of Bolivia
Ethnicity
Nearly a third of Bolivia's population is Quechua, which is an indigenous group in the Andes Mountains. Nearly another third is mestizo, or a combination of European and native (generally Quechua or Aymara). Another quarter of the people are Aymara and the almost everyone else is wholly European from an ethnic perspective.
The Quechuas are often considered an ethnic group, but in reality they are linked more closely by language and are technically a linguistic group who identify and often claim the ethnicity of Quechua. These people may be referred to as Runajuna, Nunakuna, Ingas (in Colombia), Kichwas (in Ecuador), and others depending on the individual and how he or she identifies. None-the-less, all are related to each other ethnically and are often referred to simply as "Quechua," although some people prefer to be referred to in one of the more specific ways mentioned above.
The Aymaras are, like the Quechuas, a group more closely related by language than ethnicity, although again all these speakers are ethnically related, although in some cases somewhat distantly. Over time the people considered to be "Aymara" has expanded to include many groups of people, nearly all of whom are ethnically related, but not the same ethnicity. There are over a dozen ethnic groups who claim to be Aymara in Bolivia alone.