Minister of Indigenous Peoples Sonia Guajajara said more Indigenous people felt comfortable identifying themselves as such. Tebet told reporters the new population numbers will allow for improved budget funding for policies to help Indigenous communities, in education but mainly in health services and basic sanitation to make up for government neglect. Half of Brazil's Indigenous communities live in the Amazon region, some 867,900, with the highest urban concentration in the city of Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state. But the main reason for the exponential growth in numbers, besides higher fertility rates among Indigenous communities, is the rise in visibility of Brazil's Indigenous movement, he said. "When you have strong Indigenous leaders bringing positive connotations to being Indigenous, this encourages people to begin identifying themselves," Barros said by telephone.

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Persons: Vanderlecia Ortega dos Santos, Vanda, Ueslei Marcelino BRASILIA, Sonia Guajajara, Guajajara, Simone Tebet, Tebet, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's, Jair Bolsonaro, Lula, Leonardo Barros, Barros, Anthony Boadle, Aurora Ellis, Jamie Freed Organizations: Brazilian Institute of Geography, Teatro, REUTERS, Ueslei, IBGE, Government, Indigenous, Federal University of Viçosa, Thomson Locations: Belem , Para, Brazil, Belem, Portugal, Venezuela, Manaus, Amazonas, Minas Gerais