Warao people

Warao
A Warao family in their canoe.
Total population
c. 54,771
Regions with significant populations
 Venezuela49,271 (2011)[1]
 Guyanac. 5,000[2]
 Surinamec. 500[3]
 Trinidad and Tobagounknown
Languages
Warao, Spanish, English, Guyanese Creole, Dutch, Sranan Tongo
Religion
Traditional beliefs, Christianity

The Warao are an Indigenous Amerindian people inhabiting northeastern Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Suriname. Alternate common spellings of Warao are Waroa, Guarauno, Guarao, and Warrau. The term Warao translates as "the boat people", after the Warao's lifelong and intimate connection to the water.[4] Most Warao inhabit Venezuela's Orinoco Delta region, with smaller numbers in neighbouring Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname. With a population of 49,271 people in Venezuela during the 2011 census, they were the second largest indigenous group after the Wayuu people.[1] They speak an agglutinative language, Warao.

  1. ^ a b "Censo 2011 - Estructura poblacional indígena". 2011 Census Venezuela (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference bank was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Warao in Suriname". Joshua Project. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  4. ^ Edwards, W.; Gibson, K. (1979). "An Ethnohistory of Amerindians in Guyana". Ethnohistory. 26 (2): 163–164. doi:10.2307/481091. ISSN 0014-1801. JSTOR 481091.