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Which Indigenous language groups have remained widely spoken in South America?

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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.

The linguistic landscape of South America is remarkably diverse, though many languages have become extinct due to historical factors such as colonization and acculturation. Despite this, several Indigenous language groups remain widely spoken today.1

The largest surviving Indigenous language groups in South America include:

Quechuan: Primarily spoken in the Andean highlands—stretching from southern Colombia to Bolivia—as well as in parts of the Amazon basin and northwestern Argentina. It is the third largest language group on the continent after Spanish and Portuguese.1
Tupí-Guaraní: These languages are widely used, most notably in Paraguay, where a dialect of Guaraní is an official language spoken by approximately 70 percent of the population.12
Aymaran: These languages are spoken in northwestern Bolivia, southeastern Peru, and smaller regions of northern Chile and northwestern Argentina.1
Mapuche: This group constitutes the largest Indigenous population in Chile, with speakers primarily located in the south-central part of the country and smaller groups in Argentina.1

While these groups represent the largest populations, many other smaller, localized languages persist, particularly on the periphery of lowland regions.1