What was the estimated population of Native Americans in North America at the time of Columbus's arrival?

Question

North America is defined as the area of the current continental U.S. and Canada.

Answer 1

Good question but unfortunately there is no agreement on this even within an order of magnitude. Estimates range from a low of 8.4 million to a high of 112.5 million persons. Whatever the figure, scholars generally agree that most of the indigenous population resided in Central and South America, while about 10% resided in North America. Given the fragmentary nature of the evidence, precise pre-Columbian population figures are impossible to obtain, and estimates are often produced by extrapolation from comparatively small bits of data. In 1976, geographer William Denevan used these various estimates to derive a "consensus count" of about 54 million people, although some recent estimates are lower than that. Using the "10%" rule that would mean about 5 and a half million native peoples north of the Rio Grande at the time of contact.