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Kabila

Do uncontacted tribes still exist, and how many are there?

Yes. Well over 100 groups around the world live without peaceful contact with outsiders, according to Survival International and government agencies. Most are in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil and Peru. Others live in Indonesia's part of New Guinea and on North Sentinel Island in India. Exact numbers are unknown.

'Uncontacted' means a people has no ongoing peaceful contact with the wider society. It does not mean they are unaware of the outside world. They see aircraft, find metal tools and often know their neighbours. Many are descendants of people who fled violence, slavery or epidemics.

Brazil has the most. Its indigenous affairs agency, FUNAI, has recorded more than 100 reports of isolated groups, though only some are confirmed. Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay and Venezuela also have isolated peoples, most of them deep in the Amazon rainforest.

Outside South America, groups live in the forests of West Papua in Indonesia, and the Sentinelese live on North Sentinel Island in the Andaman Islands of India. Counts are estimates, because the only respectful ways to confirm a group's existence are indirect: aerial photographs, satellite images, abandoned camps and reports from neighbouring peoples.

Words used here

Uncontacted peoplesVoluntary isolationFirst contactTerritory

Sources

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