Languages in Bolivia
In Bolivia , Spanish , Quechua and Aymara are the main languages spoken . There are also a number of less widely spoken indigenous languages . According to the 2001 census, around 41% of Bolivians were multilingual, 47% only spoke Spanish and 11% only spoke indigenous languages.
The most widely spoken language was Spanish with 82.6%, followed by Quechua with 24% and Aymara with 18.4%. The remaining languages combined were spoken by just over 1% of Bolivians.
In the Andean highlands, alongside Spanish, the indigenous languages Quechua and Aymara dominate. In the lowlands east of the Andes, Spanish is by far the predominant language, followed by Guaraní and a number of smaller languages.
Official languages
In 1997, 34 indigenous languages were declared official languages. The 2009 constitution recognizes 37 official languages. In addition to Spanish , these are: Aymara , Araona, Bau, Bésiro , Canichana, Cavineño, Cayubaba, Chácobo, Chimán , Ese Ejja, Guaraní , Guarasu'we (extinct), Guarayu, Itonama, Leco, Machjuyai-Kallawaya, Machineri , Maropa, Mojeño-Trinitario, Mojeño-Ignaciano, Moré, Mosetén , Movima, Pacawara, Puquina (extinct), Quechua , Sirionó, Tacana, Tapiete, Toromona, Uru-Chipaya , Weenhayek , Yaminawa , Yuki, Yuracaré , Zamuco.
Development of the language areas in the highlands
At the time of the Spanish conquest, the main languages spoken in the Bolivian highlands were Aymara , Puquina , Uru-Chipaya and Quechua . Puquina was one of the major lingua franca in the Inca Empire , but was gradually pushed back by the Aymara even before the conquest. There is evidence of even larger language areas for the 16th century, especially east of Lake Titicaca and around Sucre. Uru-Chipaya languages were spoken by members of the Urus people around Lake Titicaca, around Lake Poopó and scattered along the Río Desaguadero , which connects the two lakes . The Uruquilla belonged to the same language group, who lived southwest of Lake Titicaca and on the salt lakes of Coipasa and Uyuni . The main language of the Inca Empire, Quechua, was still limited to a few larger cities, mining areas and the coca- growing areas in the Yungas. These were population groups that were first relocated or deported from other areas by the Inca and later by the Spanish conquerors. In the colonial times they served mainly as slaves and forced laborers in the mining industry, but also as coca farmers and domestic servants.
In the course of the following centuries, the puquina was mainly replaced by the Aymara, but also partly by the Quechua. A last remnant is still preserved today as the language of the Kallawaya , a secret language used by the healers of this people and which is essentially based on the vocabulary of Puquina and the grammar of the Quechua that is predominant there today. Of the Uru-Chipaya languages, only the Chipaya in the municipality of the same name survives today . It is spoken there by almost all of the approximately 1800 (as of 2001) residents.
Aymara is now the predominant indigenous language in most of the departments of La Paz and Oruro and smaller areas in the departments of Cochabamba and Potosí .
Quechua is the indigenous language of a smaller part of La Paz and Oruro as well as most of Cochabamba, Potosí and Chuquisaca . Due to colonization, especially since the 1970s, the language is also present in some parts of the eastern lowlands, especially Santa Cruz .
The development in the 20th century was mainly characterized by the widespread use of Spanish as both a second and mother tongue. In the 1976 census, only between 10 and 17% of the over 70 age group in highland cities said they spoke only Spanish. Even in the capital La Paz, considering the multilingualism, more over seventy-year-olds spoke Aymara than Spanish. In rural areas, knowledge of Spanish was the exception in this age group and Spanish monolingualism was practically unknown.
| Department | 1976 speaker | 1976 in percent | 2001 speaker | 2001 in percent | 2012 speaker | 2012 in percent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chuquisaca | 210.094 | 65.0% | 298.227 | 56.1% | 317,378 | 57.3% |
| La Paz | 123,440 | 9.3% | 158.401 | 6.7% | 156.928 | 6.0% |
| Cochabamba | 531.792 | 81.7% | 872.969 | 60.0% | 956.721 | 56.6% |
| Oruro | 134,893 | 48.2% | 134,350 | 34.2% | 145.775 | 30.6% |
| Potosí | 495.091 | 83.7% | 515.095 | 72.6% | 560,890 | 71.1% |
| Tarija | 11,844 | 7.0% | 37,420 | 9.6% | 43,049 | 9.3% |
| Santa Cruz | 79,043 | 12.5% | 256,647 | 12.6% | 306.953 | 12.1% |
| Beni | 2,226 | 1.5% | 8,647 | 2.4% | 9,848 | 2.4% |
| Pando | 411 | 1.6% | 1,709 | 3.3% | 3,706 | 3.5% |
| Department | 1976 speaker | 1976 in percent | 2001 speaker | 2001 in percent | 2012 speaker | 2012 in percent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chuquisaca | 2,088 | 0.6% | 4,311 | 0.7% | 4,042 | 0.7% |
| La Paz | 919,648 | 69.3% | 1,182,064 | 50.3% | 1,225,054 | 46.9% |
| Cochabamba | 26.204 | 4.0% | 84,977 | 5.8% | 91.199 | 5.4% |
| Oruro | 121.105 | 43.2% | 127.117 | 32.4% | 135,726 | 28.5% |
| Potosí | 66,368 | 11.2% | 57,767 | 8.1% | 57,516 | 7.3% |
| Tarija | 1,744 | 1.0% | 7,234 | 1.8% | 6,627 | 1.4% |
| Santa Cruz | 11,641 | 1.8% | 52,727 | 2.6% | 51,641 | 2.0% |
| Beni | 1,648 | 1.1% | 7.912 | 2.2% | 8,554 | 2.1% |
| Pando | 153 | 0.6% | 1,848 | 3.5% | 5,213 | 5.0% |
| Department | 1976 speaker | 1976 in percent | 2001 speaker | 2001 in percent | 2012 speaker | 2012 in percent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chuquisaca | 208,692 | 64.6% | 376.617 | 70.9% | 467.767 | 84.5% |
| La Paz | 1,025,668 | 77.2% | 1,976,170 | 84.1% | 2,399,374 | 91.8% |
| Cochabamba | 435.183 | 66.8% | 1,104,160 | 75.9% | 1,468,454 | 86.9% |
| Oruro | 232,574 | 83.0% | 342,591 | 87.3% | 442,956 | 93.1% |
| Potosí | 343,474 | 58.1% | 439.394 | 62.0% | 623,404 | 79.1% |
| Tarija | 168,454 | 99.6% | 366.811 | 93.8% | 453.524 | 97.5% |
| Santa Cruz | 617.399 | 97.9% | 1,848,301 | 91.1% | 2,413,060 | 94.8% |
| Beni | 148.393 | 99.4% | 331,768 | 91.5% | 383,783 | 95.4% |
| Pando | 25,791 | 99.2% | 46,036 | 87.6% | 100.233 | 95.6% |
Individual evidence
- ↑ [1] Características de la población por departamento - Censo 2001 (pdf documents with extensive information on the results of the 2001 census)
- ↑ [2] Constitution of Bolivia, Art. 4
- ^ Alfredo Torero: "Lenguas y pueblos altiplánicos en torno al siglo XVI", in: Revista Andina 10, 1987, pp. 329-405
- ↑ a b c d Resultados del Censo Nacional de Población y Vivienda 1976, vol. 1-9. Ed .: República de Bolivia. 1976 census, each panel P11: Población total por sexo y grupo de edad según idioma
- ↑ a b c [3] 2001 Census, accessed on September 26, 2019
- ↑ a b c [4] 2012 census, accessed on March 10, 2013 (the data on the second, third, fourth and fifth languages are no longer available online).