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How many Indigenous people may have lived in South America before European conquest?

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distribution of aboriginal South American and circum-Caribbean cultural groups — South American Indian Distribution of aboriginal South American and circum-Caribbean cultural groups.

Determining the exact number of Indigenous people living in South America prior to the European conquest is difficult due to a lack of precise data, leading to significant uncertainty among scholars.

Historical estimates for the total pre-conquest population of North, South, and Central America combined have varied widely, ranging from 8 million to 100 million people. Regarding South America specifically, more recent and widely accepted estimates suggest a pre-conquest population of approximately 20 million people.1

These populations were not evenly distributed; the highest densities were found in complex societies located along the Pacific Ocean coast, within the Andes Mountains, and along the major rivers of the Amazon River basin. Following the arrival of Europeans in the 16th century, these populations experienced a drastic decline due to factors such as disease, enslavement, and the disruption of established economic and cultural patterns.12