Abstract

PIP: Some 6.4 million speakers of indigenous languages were enumerated in the 1990 Mexican census. The same census provided the basis for an indirect estimate of infant mortality using data on the numbers of live born and surviving children. Municipios with 40% or more of the population speaking an indigenous language were studied. The overall estimated infant mortality rate for indigenous municipios was 55.1/1000 live births, the equivalent of the Mexican infant mortality rate around 1982. Mexico's national infant mortality rate in 1990 was 34.8/1000. Great contrasts were found in indigenous infant mortality rates. Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan, the states of the Mayan region, had a low rate of 35.09/1000, very close to the national average. Infant mortality levels were relatively low in the indigenous populations of Hidalgo, the state of Mexico, and Michoacan, with rates of 44 to 48. Chiapas, Oaxaca, Puebla, Durango, Guerrero, and San Luis Potosi had rates of 55 to 65. The highest rates were in states with few indigenous municipios, including Chihuahua, Jalisco, and Nayarit. The Huichol of Jalisco had the highest rate at 100.01/1000. Infant mortality levels were found to be correlated in different degrees with socioeconomic indicators. The highest infant mortality rates were in the indigenous regions with the poorest socioeconomic conditions.