With a population of approximately 13 thousand people, the Terena, an Arawak-speaking people, presently live in a discontinuous territory, fragmented into small “islands” surrounded by ranches and scattered over six municipalities of Mato Grosso do Sul – Miranda, Aquidauana, Anastácio, Dois Irmãos do Buriti, Sidrolândia, Nioaque and Rochedo. There are also Terena families living in Porto Murtinho (Kadiweu Indigenous Land), Dourados (Guarani Indigenous Land) and in the state of São Paulo (TI "Araribá" Indigenous Land). In the last two places mentioned, Terena families were taken there during the administration of the Indian Protection Service (SPI) to serve as an “example” for the local Indians (an example of diligence in agriculture and also of “obedience” to the control system imposed by the employees of the agency).

The present-day Terena indigenous reserves were “requested” from the state of Mato Grosso by the SPI in the 1920s and ‘30s; two of them, however, (Cachoeirinha and Taunay/Ipegue) were “granted” by the state government at the beginning of the century.

The total Terena population in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul is around 16,000 people. Of this total, 13,629 still live on the indigenous lands cited above, or around 2,400 families.

The sizes of the lots which were granted and are actually demarcated are the following: