Indigenous peoples of Panama, or Native Panamanians, are the native peoples of

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. According to the 2010 census, they make up 12.3% of the overall population of 3.4 million, or just over 418,000 people. The

Ngäbe The Ngäbe are an indigenous people within the territories of present-day Panama and Costa Rica in Central America. The Ngäbe mostly live within the Ngäbe-Buglé comarca in the Western Panamanian provinces of Veraguas, Chiriquí and Bocas del ...

and Buglé comprise half of the indigenous peoples of Panama."Panama History: Indigenous People."
''Panama Experts.'' (retrieved 23 Feb 2011) Many of the Indigenous Peoples live on ''

comarca indígena A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, ...

s'',"Indigenous Peoples in Panama."
''International Work Group for Indian Affairs.'' (retrieved 23 Feb 2011) which are administrative regions for areas with substantial

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

populations. Three ''comarcas'' (

Comarca Emberá-Wounaan A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, ...

Guna Yala Guna Yala, formerly known as San Blas, is a '' comarca indígena'' (indigenous province) in northeast Panama. Guna Yala is home to the indigenous people known as the Gunas. Its capital is Gaigirgordub. It is bounded on the north by the Car ...

, Ngäbe-Buglé) exist as equivalent to a province, with two smaller ''comarcas'' ( Guna de Madugandí and Guna de Wargandí) subordinate to a province and considered equivalent to a ''

corregimiento ''Corregimiento'' (; ca, Corregiment, ) is a Spanish term used for country subdivisions for royal administrative purposes, ensuring districts were under crown control as opposed to local elites. A ''corregimiento'' was usually headed by a ''corre ...

'' (municipality).

Indigenous groups

* Bokota, Bocas Del Toro * Embera, southeastern

Darién Province Darién (, , ) is a province in Panama whose capital city is La Palma. With an area of , it is located at the eastern end of the country and bordered to the north by the province of Panamá and the region of Kuna Yala. To the south, it is bord ...

* Guaymí (including the Movere and Murire peoples), mainly

Chiriquí Province Chiriquí () is a province of Panama located on the western coast; it is the second most developed province in the country, after the Panamá Province. Its capital is the city of David. It has a total area of 6,490.9 km², with a population ...

* Guna,

and

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

side. * Buglé, mainly

* Talamanca * Teribe * Wounaan, southeastern

Languages

Some native peoples speak

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

, while many more retain their traditional languages. According to the 2000 census, the following

indigenous languages An indigenous language, or autochthonous language, is a language that is native to a region and spoken by indigenous peoples. This language is from a linguistically distinct community that originated in the area. Indigenous languages are not neces ...

are spoken in Panama: * Bokota language: 933 speakers (in Panama) *

Bri-bri language Bribri, also known as Bri-bri, Bribriwak, and Bribri-wak, is a Chibchan language, from a language family indigenous to the Isthmo-Colombian Area, which extends from eastern Honduras to northern Colombia and includes populations of those countrie ...

: 2,521 speakers * Buglé language: 17,731 speakers *

Emberá language Embera or Emberá may refer to: * Emberá people, an ethnic group of Colombia and Panama * Embera language Embera or Emberá may refer to: * Emberá people, an ethnic group of Colombia and Panama * Embera language, a group of languages of Colombi ...

: 22,485 speakers *

Guna Language The Kuna language (formerly Cuna, and in the language itself Guna), spoken by the Kuna people of Panama and Colombia, belongs to the Chibchan language family. History The Kuna were living in what is now Northern Colombia and the Darién Provin ...

: 61,707 speakers * Naso-Teribe language: 3,305 speakers * Ngöbe language: 169,130 speakers *

Wounaan language The Wounaan language, also known as Noanamá and Woun Meu, is a Chocoan language, with around 10,000 speakers on the border between Panama and Colombia. Phonology The following tables show the vowel and consonant sounds of Wounann, transcribed ...

: 6,882 speakers

Notes

External links

Distribution of Indigenous Populations in Panama by Province and Comarca, 2000
{{DEFAULTSORT:Indigenous Peoples Of Panama Indigenous peoples of Central America Ethnic groups in Panama