Indigenous peoples of Mexico  Indigenous peoples of Mexico (), Native Mexicans () or Mexican Native Americans (), are those who are part of communities that trace their roots back to populations and communities that existed in what is now Mexico prior to the arrival of Europeans. The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the "cultural-ethnicity" of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs, and cultures. According to the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples ("Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas", or CDI in Spanish) and the INEGI (official census institute), in 2015, 25,694,928 people in Mexico self-identify as being indigenous of many different ethnic groups, which constitute 21.5% of Mexico's population. At the time of European conquest in the late 15th century, the indigenous population of Mexico has been estimated at about 25 million, and has therefore only reached this figure again over 500 years later."" In the second article of its Constitution, Mexico is defined as a "pluricultural" nation in recognition of the diverse ethnic groups that constitute it and where the indigenous peoples are the original foundation. The number of indigenous Mexicans is judged using the political criteria found in the 2nd article of the Mexican constitution. The Mexican census does not report racial-ethnicity but only the cultural-ethnicity of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages, traditions, beliefs and cultures. The category of "indigena" (indigenous) can be defined narrowly according to linguistic criteria including only persons that speak one of Mexico's 89 indigenous languages, this is the categorization used by the National Mexican Institute of Statistics. It can also be defined broadly to include all persons who self identify as having an indigenous cultural background, whether or not they speak the language of the indigenous group they identify with. This means that the percentage of the Mexican population defined as "indigenous" varies according to the definition applied; cultural activists have referred to the usage of the narrow definition of the term for census purposes as "statistical genocide". The indigenous peoples in Mexico have the right of free determination under the second article of the constitution. According to this article the indigenous peoples are granted:  among other rights. Also, the Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Languages recognizes 89 indigenous languages as "national languages", which have the same validity as Spanish in all territories where they are spoken.