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List of Indigenous peoples

Definition

Indigenous communities, peoples, and nations are those which have a historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories, and may consider themselves distinct from other sectors of the societies now prevailing on those territories, or parts of them. They form at present non-dominant sectors of society and are determined to preserve, develop and transmit to future generations their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity, as the basis of their continued existence as peoples, in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions and legal system.

This historical continuity may consist of the continuation, for an extended period reaching into the present of one or more of the following factors:

  • Occupation of ancestral lands, or at least of part of them
  • Common ancestry with the original occupants of these lands
  • Culture in general, or in specific manifestations (such as religion, living under a tribal system, membership in an Indigenous community, dress, means of livelihood, lifestyle, etc.)
  • Language (whether used as the only language, as mother-tongue, as the habitual means of communication at home or in the family, or as the main, preferred, habitual, general or normal language)
  • Residence in certain parts of the country, or in certain regions of the world
  • Other relevant factors.
  • On an individual basis, an Indigenous person is one who belongs to these Indigenous populations through self-identification as Indigenous (group consciousness) and is recognized and accepted by these populations as one of its members (acceptance by the group). This preserves for these communities the sovereign right and power to decide who belongs to them, without external interference.

Africa

African Great Lakes

Central Africa

Horn of Africa

Sudan

Southern Africa

West Africa

North Africa

West and Central Asia

West Asia

Caucasus

Central Asia

South Asia

Pakistan

India

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Northeast Asia

China

Western China

North China

South China

Mongolia

Taiwan

Japan

Korea

Siberia and Far East of Russia

Over 40 distinct peoples, each with their own language and culture in the Asiatic part of Russia (Siberia and Far East).

Southeast Asia

Mainland Southeast Asia (Indochina Peninsula)

Maritime Southeast Asia (Malay Archipelago)

Europe

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.

Northern Europe

Western Europe

Americas

The Americas consist of the supercontinent comprising North and South America, and associated islands.

List of peoples by geographical and ethnolinguistic grouping:

North America

North America includes all of the continent and islands east of the Bering Strait and north of the Isthmus of Panama; it includes Greenland, Canada, United States, Mexico, Central American and Caribbean countries. However, a distinction can be made between a broader North America and a narrower Northern America and Middle America due to ethnic and cultural characteristics.

Arctic

Subarctic

Pacific Northwest Coast

Northwest Plateau-Great Basin-California

Northwest Plateau
Great Basin
California

Great Plains

Eastern Woodlands

Northeastern Woodlands
Southeastern Woodlands

Southwest

Mesoamerica

Central America

Central America is generally defined as a subregion in North America located between the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and the Darién Gap.

Mesoamerica

Isthmo-Colombian Area

South America

South America generally includes all of the continent and islands south of the Isthmus of Panama.

Isthmo-Colombian Area

Amazon

Guianas

Eastern Highlands (Brazilian Highlands)

Chaco

Central Andes

Southern Cone

Araucania
Pampas
Patagonia

Caribbean

The West Indies, or the Caribbean, generally includes the island chains of the Caribbean Sea, namely the Lucayan Archipelago, the Greater Antilles, and the Lesser Antilles.

Oceania

Oceania includes most islands of the Pacific Ocean, New Guinea, New Zealand and the continent of Australia.

List of peoples by geographical and ethnolinguistic grouping:

Australia

Indigenous Australians include Aboriginal Australians on the mainland and Tiwi Islands as well as Torres Strait Islander peoples from the Torres Strait Islands.

Western Desert

Kimberley

Northwest

Southwest

Fitzmaurice Basin

Arnhem Land

Top End

Gulf Country

Cape York

West Cape
East Cape

Daintree Rainforest

Lake Eyre Basin

Spencer Gulf

Murray-Darling Basin

Northeast

Southeast

Tasmania

Torres Strait Islands

Melanesia

Melanesia generally includes New Guinea and other (far-)western Pacific islands from the Arafura Sea out to Fiji. The region is mostly inhabited by the Melanesian peoples.

Micronesia

Micronesia generally includes the various small island chains of the western and central Pacific. The region is mostly inhabited by the Micronesian peoples.

Polynesia

Polynesia includes New Zealand and the islands of Oceania, and has various Indigenous populations.

Polynesians

Polynesian outliers

Circumpolar

Circumpolar peoples is an umbrella term for the various Indigenous peoples of the Arctic. List of peoples by ethnolinguistic grouping:

See also

References

Notes

Citations

Sources