Human Settlements - the Places Where People Live and Work

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.

With a population 112,336,538 in 2010, Mexico is the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world, the second-most populous country in Latin America after Portuguese-speaking Brazil, and the second in North America, after the United States. Throughout most of the twentieth century Mexico's population was characterized by rapid growth. Even though this tendency has been reverted and average annual population growth over the last five years was less than 1%, the demographic transition is still in progress, and Mexico still has a large cohort of youths. The most populous city in the country is the capital city, Mexico City, with a population of 8.7 million (2005), and its metropolitan area is also the most populous in the country with 19.2 million (2005). Approximately 50% of the population lives in one of the 55 large metropolitan areas in the country.

The Census Bureau in Mexico is the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI). The National Population Council (CONAPO), is an institution under the Secretary of the Interior in charge of the analysis and research of population dynamics. The National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples (CDI), amongst other things, undertakes research and analysis of the sociodemographic and linguistic indicators of the indigenous peoples in Mexico.