Estimates of the
Native Californian population have varied substantially, both with respect to California's pre-contact count and for changes during subsequent periods. Pre-contact estimates range from 133,000 to 705,000 with some recent scholars concluding that these estimates are low. Following the European people's arrival into California,
disease and other factors brought the population as low as 25,000. It is estimated that some 4,500
Indigenous Californians suffered violent deaths between 1849 and 1870. As of 2005,
California is the state with the largest self-identified
Native American population according to the
U.S. Census at 696,600.