Indigenous populations are distributed in regions throughout the globe. The numbers, condition and experience of Indigenous groups may vary widely within a given region. A comprehensive survey is further complicated by sometimes contentious membership and identification.
Africa Sub-Saharan Africa in Botswana in Congo In the
postcolonial period, the concept of specific Indigenous peoples within the African continent has gained wider acceptance, although not without controversy. The highly diverse and numerous ethnic groups that comprise most modern, independent African states contain within them various peoples whose situation, cultures and
pastoralist or
hunter-gatherer lifestyles are generally marginalized and set apart from the dominant political and economic structures of the nation. Since the late 20th century these peoples have increasingly sought recognition of their rights as distinct Indigenous peoples, in both national and international contexts. Though the vast majority of African peoples are indigenous in the sense that they originate from the continent, identity as an
Indigenous people via the modern definition of a political indigenous status is more restrictive, and certainly not every African ethnic group claims identification under these terms. Groups and communities who do claim this recognition are those who, by a variety of historical and environmental circumstances, have been placed outside of the dominant state systems, and whose traditional practices and land claims often come into conflict with the objectives and policies implemented by governments, companies and surrounding dominant societies.
North Africa The indigenous peoples of North Africa predominantly comprise the
Berbers in the
Maghreb and the
Copts and
Nubians in the
Nile Valley. The vast majority of them have been Arabized after the Islamic conquests under the
Rashidun and
Umayyad caliphates. •
Copts are an
ethnoreligious group, indigenous to
Egypt and parts of the
Sudan and
Libya, one of the oldest Christian communities in the world.
Americas on a traditional
qamutik (dog sled) in
Cape Dorset,
Nunavut, Canada headdress in
Yohualichan,
Veracruz. Indigenous peoples of the Americas are broadly recognized as being those groups and their descendants who inhabited the region before the arrival of European colonizers and settlers (i.e.,
pre-Columbian). Indigenous peoples who maintain, or seek to maintain, traditional ways of life are found from the high Arctic north to the southern extremities of
Tierra del Fuego. The impacts of historical and ongoing
European colonization of the Americas on Indigenous communities have been in general quite severe, with many authorities estimating ranges of significant
population decline primarily due to disease, land theft and violence. Several peoples have become extinct, or very nearly so. But there are and have been many thriving and resilient Indigenous nations and communities.
North America North America is sometimes referred to by Indigenous peoples as
Abya Yala or
Turtle Island. In Mexico, about 11 million people, or 9% of Mexico's total population, self-reported as Indigenous in 2015, making it the country with the highest Indigenous population in North America. In the southern states of
Oaxaca (65.73%) and
Yucatán (65.40%), the majority of the population is Indigenous, as reported in 2015. Other states with high populations of Indigenous peoples include
Campeche (44.54%),
Quintana Roo, (44.44%),
Hidalgo, (36.21%),
Chiapas (36.15%),
Puebla (35.28%), and
Guerrero (33.92%).
Indigenous peoples in Canada comprise the
First Nations,
Inuit and
Métis. The descriptors "Indian" and "
Eskimo" have fallen into disuse in Canada. More currently, the term "Aboriginal" is being replaced with "Indigenous". Several national organizations in Canada changed their names from "Aboriginal" to "Indigenous". Most notable was the change of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) to Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) in 2015, which then split into Indigenous Services Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Development Canada in 2017. According to the 2016 Census, there are around 1,670,000 Indigenous people in Canada. There are currently over 600 recognized
First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, such as the Cree, Mohawk, Mikmaq, Blackfoot, Coast Salish, Innu, Dene and more, with distinctive Indigenous cultures, languages, art, and music. First Nations peoples signed 11 numbered treaties across much of what is now known as Canada between 1871 and 1921, except in parts of British Columbia. The Inuit have achieved a degree of administrative autonomy with the creation in 1999 of the territories of
Nunavik (in Northern Quebec),
Nunatsiavut (in Northern Labrador) and
Nunavut, which was until 1999 a part of the Northwest Territories. The autonomous territory of
Greenland within the
Kingdom of Denmark is also home to a recognized Indigenous and majority population of Inuit (about 85%) who settled the area in the 13th century, displacing the Indigenous European
Greenlandic Norse. In the United States, the combined populations of Native Americans, Inuit and other Indigenous designations totaled 2,786,652 (constituting about 1.5% of 2003 U.S. census figures). Some 563 scheduled tribes are recognized at the federal level, and a number of others recognized at the state level.
Central and South America woman and child in the
Sacred Valley, Andes, PeruIn some countries (particularly in Latin America), Indigenous peoples form a sizable component of the overall national populationin Bolivia, they account for an estimated 56–70% of the total nation, and at least half of the population in Guatemala and the Andean and Amazonian nations of Peru. In English, Indigenous peoples are collectively referred to by different names that vary by region, age and ethnicity of speakers, with
no one term being universally accepted. While still in use in-group, and in many names of organizations, "Indian" is less popular among younger people, who tend to prefer "Indigenous" or simply "
Native", with most preferring to use the specific name of their tribe or Nation instead of generalities. In Spanish or Portuguese speaking countries, one finds the use of terms such as índios,
pueblos indígenas,
amerindios,
povos nativos,
povos indígenas, and, in Peru,
Comunidades Nativas (Native Communities), particularly among Amazonian societies like the
Urarina and
Matsés. In Chile, there the most populous indigenous peoples are the
Mapuche in the Center-South and the
Aymaras in the North.
Rapa Nui of
Easter Island, who are a
Polynesian people, are the only non-
Amerindian indigenous people in Chile. Indigenous peoples make up 0.4% of all Brazilian population, or about 700,000 people. Indigenous peoples are found in the entire territory of Brazil, although the majority of them live in Indian reservations in the North and Center-Western part of the country. On 18 January 2007,
FUNAI reported that it had confirmed the presence of 67 different
uncontacted peoples in Brazil, up from 40 in 2005. With this addition Brazil has now overtaken the island of
New Guinea as the country having the largest number of uncontacted peoples.
Asia girls in Pakistan
West Asia •
Armenians are the Indigenous people of the
Armenian Highlands. There are currently more Armenians living outside their ancestral homeland because of the
Armenian genocide of 1915. •
Anatolian Greeks, including the
Pontic Greeks and
Cappadocian Greeks, are the Greek-speaking minorities that existed in
Anatolia millennia before Turkic conquest. They are indigenous to Asiatic Turkey. Most were either killed in the
Greek genocide or displaced during the following
population exchange; however, some remain in Turkey. There has been a Greek presence in Anatolia since at least the 1000s BCE, and Greek traders visited western Anatolia beginning in 1900 BCE. •
Assyrians are indigenous to Mesopotamia. They claim descent from the ancient
Neo-Assyrian Empire, and lived in what was
Assyria, their original homeland, and still speak dialects of Aramaic, the official language of the Assyrian Empire. •
Kurds are one of the Indigenous peoples of
Mesopotamia. •
Yazidis are indigenous to
Upper Mesopotamia. Due to changes in the
demographic history of Palestine, there are competing claims that
Jews and
Palestinian Arabs are indigenous to the region (see
Indigeneity in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict). The argument entered the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict, with Jews claiming indigeneity, citing
historical and
religious connections to the land as their ancient homeland. Palestinians claim Indigenous status as a pre-existing population displaced by
Jewish settlement, and currently constituting a minority in the
State of Israel. In 2007, the
Negev Bedouin were officially recognized as Indigenous peoples of Israel by the United Nations. This has been criticized both by scholars associated with the Israeli state, who dispute the Bedouin's claim to indigeneity, and those who argue that recognizing just one group of Palestinians as indigenous risks undermining others' claims and "fetishizing" nomadic cultures.
South Asia India's
Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Indian Ocean are also home to several Indigenous groups such as the
Andamanese of
Strait Island, the
Jarawas of
Middle Andaman and
South Andaman Islands,
Northeast Asia man performing a traditional Ainu dance
Ainu people are an ethnic group indigenous to
Hokkaido, the
Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin. As Japanese settlement expanded, the Ainu were pushed northward and fought against the Japanese in
Shakushain's Revolt and
Menashi–Kunashir Rebellion, until by the
Meiji period they were confined by the government to a reservation near
Lake Akan in Hokkaido. In a ground-breaking 1997 decision involving the
Ainu people of Japan, the Japanese courts recognized their claim in law, stating that "If one minority group lived in an area prior to being ruled over by a majority group and preserved its distinct ethnic culture even after being ruled over by the majority group, while another came to live in an area ruled over by a majority after consenting to the majority rule, it must be recognized that it is only natural that the distinct ethnic culture of the former group requires greater consideration." The
Dzungar Oirats are indigenous to the
Dzungaria in Northern
Xinjiang. The
Sarikoli Pamiris are indigenous to
Tashkurgan in Xinjiang. The
Tibetans are indigenous to Tibet. The
Ryukyuan people are indigenous to the
Ryukyu Islands. The languages of
Taiwanese aborigines have significance in
historical linguistics, since in all likelihood Taiwan was the place of origin of the entire
Austronesian language family, which spread across Oceania. In
Hong Kong, the
indigenous inhabitants of the New Territories are defined in the
Sino-British Joint Declaration as people
descended through the male line from a person who was in 1898, before
Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory. There are several different groups that make up the indigenous inhabitants, the
Punti,
Hakka,
Hoklo, and
Tanka. All are nonetheless considered part of the
Cantonese majority, although some like the Tanka have been shown to have genetic and anthropological roots in the
Baiyue people, the pre-Han Chinese inhabitants of Southern China. The Russians
invaded Siberia and conquered the indigenous people in the 17th–18th centuries.
Nivkh people are an ethnic group indigenous to
Sakhalin, having a few speakers of the
Nivkh language, but their fisher culture has been endangered due to the development of oil field of Sakhalin from 1990s. In
Russia, definition of "Indigenous peoples" is contested largely referring to a number of population (less than 50,000 people), and neglecting self-identification, origin from indigenous populations who inhabited the country or region upon invasion, colonization or establishment of state frontiers, distinctive social, economic and cultural institutions. Thus, indigenous peoples of Russia such as
Sakha,
Komi,
Karelian and others are not considered as such due to the size of the population (more than 50,000 people), and consequently they "are not the subjects of the specific legal protections." The
Russian government recognizes only 40 ethnic groups as indigenous peoples, even though there are 30 other groups to be counted as such. The reason of nonrecognition is the size of the population and relatively late advent to their current regions, thus indigenous peoples in Russia should be numbered less than 50,000 people.
Southeast Asia in
Borneo The
Malay Singaporeans are the Indigenous people of Singapore, inhabiting it since the Austronesian migration. They had established the
Kingdom of Singapura back in the 13th century. The name "Singapore" is an
anglicisation of the Malay name
Singapura which is derived from the
Sanskrit word for 'lion city'. The native Malay name for the main island of Singapore is
Pulau Ujong. Dayak People are one of the Indigenous groups of
Borneo. It is a loose term for over 200 riverine and hill-dwelling ethnic groups, located in
Borneo, each with its own dialect, customs, laws, territory, and culture, although common distinguishing traits are readily identifiable. The
Cham are the Indigenous people of the former state of
Champa which was conquered by Vietnam in the
Cham–Vietnamese wars during
Nam tiến. The Cham in Vietnam are only recognized as a minority, and not as an Indigenous people by the Vietnamese government despite being indigenous to the region. The
Degar (Montagnards) are indigenous to
Central Highlands (Vietnam) and were conquered by the Vietnamese in the Nam tiến. The
Khmer Krom are the Indigenous people of the
Mekong Delta and
Saigon which were acquired by Vietnam from Cambodian King
Chey Chettha II in exchange for a Vietnamese princess. In
Indonesia, there are 50 to 70 million people who are classified as Indigenous peoples by the local Indigenous rights advocacy group
Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara. However, the
Indonesian government does not recognize the existence of indigenous peoples, classifying every
Native Indonesian ethnic group as "indigenous" despite the clear cultural distinctions of certain groups. This problem is shared by many other countries in the
ASEAN region. In the Philippines, there are 135 ethno-linguistic groups, 110 of which are considered as Indigenous peoples by the
National Commission on Indigenous Peoples. The Indigenous people of
Cordillera Administrative Region and
Cagayan Valley in the Philippines are the
Igorot people. The Indigenous peoples of
Mindanao are the
Lumad peoples and the
Moro (
Tausug,
Maguindanao Maranao and others) who also live in the
Sulu archipelago. There are also others sets of Indigenous peoples in
Palawan,
Mindoro,
Visayas, and the rest central and south
Luzon. The country has one of the largest Indigenous peoples population in the world. The recognition of the rights of Indigenous peoples was legally enshrined in 1997 with the
Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act.
Europe in
Lapland, 1936 Various
ethnic groups have
lived in Europe for millennia. However, the concept of Indigenous peoples is rarely used in the European context. Indigenous minority populations in Europe include the
Sámi peoples of northern
Norway,
Sweden, and
Finland and northwestern
Russia (in an area also referred to as
Sápmi); the
Basques of
Spain and
France, the
Inuit of
Greenland, and the
Irish travelers (also referred to as Pavees or Mincérs) of
Ireland. Some sources describe the Sámi as the only recognized Indigenous peoples in Europe, with others describing them as the only Indigenous people in the
European Union. Other groups, particularly in Central, Western and Southern Europe, that might be considered to fit the description of Indigenous peoples in the
Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989, such as the
Sorbs, are generally categorized as
national minorities instead. although terms such as First Nations and First Peoples are also used.
Pacific Islands Polynesian,
Melanesian and
Micronesian peoples originally populated many of the present-day
Pacific Island countries in the
Oceania region over the course of thousands of years. European,
American,
Chilean and
Japanese colonial expansion in the Pacific brought many of these areas under non-Indigenous administration, mainly during the 19th century. During the 20th century, several of these former colonies gained independence and nation-states formed under local control. However, various peoples have put forward claims for Indigenous recognition where their islands are still under external administration; examples include the
Chamorros of
Guam and the
Northern Marianas, and the
Marshallese of the
Marshall Islands. Some islands remain under administration from Paris, Washington, London or
Wellington. from the central highlands of
western New Guinea The remains of at least 25 miniature humans, who lived between 1,000 and 3,000 years ago, were recently found on the islands of
Palau in Micronesia. In most parts of Oceania, Indigenous peoples outnumber the descendants of colonists. Exceptions include Australia, New Zealand and
Hawaii. In New Zealand, based on various factors including census data and self-identification, the proportion of full or part
Māori of the population on 30 June 2021 was estimated to be 17%. Māori developed from Polynesian people who settled in New Zealand after migrations from other Pacific islands, probably in the 13th century. Many leaders of Māori nations (
iwi) signed a written agreement with the British Crown in 1840, known as the
Treaty of Waitangi. A majority of the
Papua New Guinea population is Indigenous, with more than 700 different nationalities recognized in a total population of 8 million. The country's constitution and key statutes identify traditional or custom-based practices and land tenure, and explicitly set out to promote the viability of these traditional societies within the modern state. However, conflicts and disputes concerning land use and resource rights continue between indigenous groups, the government, and corporate entities. == Indigenous rights and other issues ==