Internally Displaced Indigenous Children in Colombia

Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as "indigenous" according to one of the various definitions of the term, though there is no universally accepted definition. Most uses of the phrase refer to being the "original inhabitants" of a territory.

In the late twentieth century, the term began to be used to refer to ethnic groups that have historical ties to groups that existed in a territory prior to colonization or formation of a nation state, and which normally preserve a degree of cultural and political separation from the mainstream culture and political system of the nation state within the border of which the indigenous group is located. The political sense of the term defines these groups as particularly vulnerable to exploitation and oppression by nation states. As a result, a special set of political rights in accordance with international law have been set forth by international organizations such as the United Nations, the International Labour Organization and the World Bank. The United Nations have issued a Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to protect the collective rights of indigenous peoples to their culture, identity, language, employment, health, education and natural resources.

States designate the groups within their boundaries that are recognized as indigenous peoples according to international legislation using different terms, such as Native Americans, Pacific Islander (USA), Inuit, Métis, First Nations (Canada), Aborigines (Australia), Hill tribes (South East Asia), indigenous ethnic minorities, scheduled tribes or Adivasi (India), tribal groups, or autochtonous groups.

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Colombia, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

The Demography of Colombia is characterized for being the third-most populous country in Latin America, after Mexico. Colombia experienced rapid population growth like most countries, but four decades of civil war and urban violence combined with mass poverty rates pushed millions of Colombians out of the country. However, a rebound economy in the 2000s in urban centres (perhaps the most urbanized Latin American nation) improved the situation of living standards for Colombians in a traditional class stratified economy.

South America has an estimated population of 385 million (as of 2005) and a rate of population growth of about 0.6% per year.^{[citation needed]}