The Aymara are an Indigenous people of the high Andes who have lived around Lake Titicaca since before the Inca, and still do. About 2.3 million people identify as Aymara today: roughly 1.6 million in Bolivia, 550,000 in Peru and 157,000 in northern Chile, according to each country’s latest census.
In Puno, where we run our Lake Titicaca tours, the Aymara are our neighbours. The towns along the lake’s southern shore, from Chucuito to the Bolivian border, still speak Aymara at home and in the market. This guide covers who the Aymara are, how they differ from the Quechua and the Uros, the festivals worth planning a trip around, and where you can meet Aymara communities on a day out from Puno.
Aymara quick facts
| Where they live | The altiplano around Lake Titicaca: western Bolivia (mainly La Paz and Oruro), the Puno region of Peru and northern Chile (Arica and Tarapacá) |
| How many | About 1.6 million in Bolivia (2024 census), 550,000 in Peru (2017 census, people aged 12 and over) and 157,000 in Chile (2017 census) |
| Language | Aymara, an official language in Bolivia and in the parts of Peru where it is the main language. Most Aymara also speak Spanish |
| Aymara towns near Puno | Chucuito, Acora, Ilave, Juli, Pomata, Yunguyo |
| Festivals | Candelaria in Puno (February), Alasita in La Paz (from January 24), Aymara New Year (June 21) |
Who are the Aymara?
The Aymara descend from the farming and herding peoples of the altiplano, the high plain that stretches from southern Peru into Bolivia at around 3,800 metres. After the city of Tiwanaku declined around 1000 AD, the lake was divided between Aymara-speaking kingdoms. The Colla held the northwest shore and built the burial towers at Sillustani. The Lupaca ruled the southwest shore from Chucuito, 18 km from Puno. The Pacajes held the south, in what is now Bolivia. Many Aymara regard Tiwanaku as their ancestors’ city, although archaeologists still debate which language was spoken there.
The Inca conquered these kingdoms in the 15th century, and the Spanish arrived in the 16th. Through both, the Aymara kept their language and their ayllu, the extended community that shares land and work. In 1781 the Aymara leader Túpac Katari besieged La Paz for months during the great Andean uprising against Spanish rule. In 2006 Evo Morales, who is Aymara, became Bolivia’s first Indigenous president.
Aymara, Quechua and Uros: what’s the difference?
Travellers on Lake Titicaca meet all three in one or two days, so it helps to know who is who.
| Aymara | Quechua | Uros | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Language | Aymara | Quechua, the language of the Inca | Aymara today. They lost their own Uru language about 500 years ago |
| Where around the lake | The southern shore, from Chucuito to the Bolivian border, and most of the Bolivian side | The northern shore, including the Capachica peninsula, and the islands of Amantaní and Taquile | The floating reed islands in the Bay of Puno |
| Where you meet them | Aymara Route day trip, Copacabana and Isla del Sol | Amantaní homestay, Taquile | Uros floating islands tour |
Puno city itself is a mix of both languages. In the Candelaria festival, Aymara and Quechua dance groups parade on the same streets.
The Aymara language
Aymara is one of the two great Indigenous languages of the Andes, alongside Quechua. The two share many words after centuries of contact, but they belong to different language families. Aymara’s only close relative is Jaqaru, spoken in a few villages in the mountains above Lima.
Aymara has an unusual way of talking about time. The word for the past, nayra, also means “eye” and “front”. The word for the future, qhipa, means “back” or “behind”. A 2006 study by the cognitive scientists Rafael Núñez and Eve Sweetser found that Aymara speakers also gesture forward when talking about the past and backward when talking about the future. The past is in front of you because you can see it; the future is behind you because you can’t. It is the first language documented to work this way.
A few words to use on your trip:
- Kamisaraki? means “How are you?” and works as a greeting.
- Waliki means “Fine”, the usual reply.
- Yuspajara means “Thank you”.
- Jikisiñkama means “See you later”.
For more words in both languages, see our Quechua and Aymara phrase guide.
Beliefs and daily life
Most Aymara are Christian, and many also keep the older Andean beliefs, with no sense of contradiction between them. Offerings go to Pachamama, Mother Earth, and to the achachilas, the spirits of the mountains and of the ancestors. The simplest offering is the ch’alla: a few drops of a drink poured on the ground before the first sip, or sprinkled on a new house, car or market stall.
Life around the lake still follows the farming year. At 3,800 metres families grow potatoes, quinoa, oca and broad beans, and keep llamas, alpacas and sheep. In June and July, the coldest months, they make chuño: potatoes left out to freeze at night, dry in the sun by day and trampled to squeeze out the water, which then keep for years. Fishing families take trout and the small native ispi from the lake.
Ancient farming methods are still visible. Waru waru are raised fields of earth separated by channels of water. The water stores the day’s heat and protects the crops from the night frost. Restored waru waru line the lakeshore south of Puno.
Communities work on ayni, the rule that help is returned in kind: you help a neighbour bring in the harvest, and they help with yours. In towns and markets, many Aymara women wear the bowler hat, layered pollera skirts and the striped aguayo cloth used to carry everything from babies to potatoes.
Aymara festivals worth planning around
- Fiesta de la Candelaria, Puno (February). Two weeks of processions and dance contests in honour of the Virgin of Candelaria, with thousands of Aymara and Quechua dancers and musicians. UNESCO added it to its list of intangible cultural heritage in 2014. Book Puno hotels early.
- Alasita, La Paz (from January 24). A fair of miniatures: tiny houses, cars, banknotes and diplomas, bought at noon and blessed so that the real thing arrives during the year. They are offered to Ekeko, the god of abundance. UNESCO added it in 2017.
- Aymara New Year (June 21). On the winter solstice, crowds gather before dawn at Tiwanaku and other sacred sites in Bolivia to greet the first sun of the new year, with hands raised to catch its rays. June 2026 began the Aymara year 5534. It has been a national holiday in Bolivia since 2009.
For more celebrations around the lake, see our guide to Lake Titicaca’s festivals.
Where to meet the Aymara from Puno
The Aymara Route. Our Aymara Route tour from Puno follows the southern shore through Aymara country in one day, from 8:00 AM to about 5:30 PM, in a small group of up to nine people:
- Chucuito, the old Lupaca capital, with its colonial plaza and the carved stones of the Inka Uyu enclosure.
- Molloco, a hill of stone funerary towers. See our guide to the Molloco chullpas.
- The waru waru fields by the lake, where the guide explains how the raised fields work.
- Aramu Muru, a doorway carved into a cliff of red rock, about seven metres high and seven wide. More in our Aramu Muru guide.
- Juli, the lakeside town the Jesuits used as their base in the 1570s, with four stone churches. Lunch is here.
Sillustani. The burial towers of the Colla, an Aymara kingdom, stand on a peninsula above Lake Umayo, 45 minutes from Puno. See our Sillustani half-day tour or the history behind the towers.
The Uros islands. The families on the floating islands speak Aymara today. Read more about the Uros people, or combine both visits on the Uros Islands and Sillustani tour.
Across the border in Bolivia. Copacabana, Isla del Sol and Tiwanaku are Aymara heartland, and La Paz is where Alasita takes place. See our Bolivia tours.
How to visit respectfully
- Ask before you photograph anyone. Some people will say no, and some will ask for a small tip; both are fair.
- Start with Kamisaraki. A greeting in Aymara gets a smile almost every time.
- Buy textiles from the people who make them, in the community or at the market, rather than from resellers.
- If you come across an offering or a ceremony, keep your distance unless you are invited to join.
There’s more in our guide to etiquette for meeting the Aymara.
Frequently asked questions
Are the Aymara and the Inca the same people?
No. The Inca were a Quechua-speaking people from Cusco who conquered the Aymara kingdoms around Lake Titicaca in the 15th century. The Aymara were there before them and kept their own language.
Where do most Aymara people live?
In Bolivia, where about 1.6 million people identified as Aymara in the 2024 census, mainly in the departments of La Paz and Oruro. In Peru they live mostly in the Puno region, on the southern shore of Lake Titicaca.
Do the Aymara speak Spanish?
Most do, especially in towns and among younger people. In rural communities around the lake, Aymara is still the language of home and the market.
What is the difference between Aymara and Quechua?
They are two separate Indigenous peoples with two separate languages. Around Lake Titicaca, the Aymara live mainly on the southern shore and the Bolivian side, and the Quechua on the northern shore and the islands of Amantaní and Taquile.
How do you say hello in Aymara?
Kamisaraki? (“How are you?”) is the common greeting. The usual answer is Waliki (“Fine”).
Can I visit an Aymara community from Puno?
Yes. The Aymara Route day trip visits Chucuito, Molloco, the waru waru fields, Aramu Muru and Juli, and the Uros islands are Aymara-speaking too.
Sources
- Peru 2017 census, self-identification: INEI, as reported by El Comercio
- Bolivia 2024 census, self-identification: INE Bolivia, as reported by Los Tiempos (August 2025)
- Chile 2017 census: INE Chile
- Núñez, R. and Sweetser, E. (2006), “With the Future Behind Them”, Cognitive Science
- UNESCO: Ritual journeys in La Paz during Alasita (2017); Festivity of Virgen de la Candelaria of Puno (2014)
Written by Sreeram Hariharan, founder of Planet Odysseys, a tour operator based in Cusco and Puno. Updated October 2026.