Chiefdoms of Hispaniola
The Taíno of Hispaniola were an Arawak people related to the inhabitants of the other islands in the Greater Antilles. At the time of European contact, they were suffering attacks from a rival indigenous group, the Island Caribs. In 1508, there were about 60,000 Taínos in the island of Hispaniola; by 1531 infectious disease epidemics and exploitation had resulted in a dramatic decline in population. An estimated 600.
Nicaraguans
About 5% of Nicaraguans are Native Americans, descendants of the country's indigenous inhabitants. Nicaragua's pre-Columbian population consisted of many indigenous groups. In the western region, the Nahua people (also known as the Pipil-Nicaraos) were present along with other groups such as the Chorotega people. Nicaragua's central region and the Caribbean coast were inhabited by indigenous peoples who were mostly Chibcha-related groups that had migrated from South America, primarily what is today Colombia and Venezuela. These groups include the present-day Miskitos, Ramas and Sumos. In the 19th century, there was a substantial indigenous minority, but this group was also largely assimilated culturally into the mestizo majority. In the mid-1980s, the government divided the department of Zelaya Department into two autonomous regions and granted the black and indigenous people of this region limited self-rule.