Indigenous Peoples of the World

The World's Indigenous Peoples

Select each location pin to learn more about the Indigenous Peoples in that part of the world.

6% Population

28% Global Land Ownership

What Characterises Indigenous People?

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Aboriginal Australians

Australia’s first people—known as Aboriginal Australians—have lived on the continent for over 50,000 years and are believed to be the oldest population of humans living outside Africa. As the world’s oldest living culture, and their unique identity and spirit continues to exist in every corner of the country. The Indigenous people from the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, are regarded as distinct from the Aboriginal peoples of mainland Australia and Tasmania. Today, there are 250 distinct language groups spread throughout Australia.

Native Americans

The Native Americans are the indigenous peoples and cultures of the North American continent. There were hundreds of tribes throughout the United States when Columbus first arrived. Many of them are well known such as the Cherokee, Apache, and the Navajo. Small tribes often made up part of larger tribes or communities and they largely lived in peace with each other. Today, there are over 500 recognised tribes in the United States alone and reflects great diversity of geographic location, language, socioeconomic conditions, school experience, and retention of traditional spiritual and cultural practices.

Māori

Member of a Polynesian people of New Zealand.

For millennia, Māori have been the tangata whenua, the indigenous people of Aotearoa. Arriving here from the Polynesian homeland of Hawaiki over 1,000 years ago, the great explorer Kupe, was the first Māori to reach these lands.

To most Māori, being Māori means recognizing and venerating their Māori ancestors, having claims to family land, and having a right to be received as tangata whenua (“people of the land”) in the village of their ancestors. It means the acceptance of group membership and the shared recognition, with members of the group, of distinctly Māori ways of thinking and behaving. There has been some revival of the teaching of the Māori language (te reo Māori), and in 1987 Māori was made an official language of New Zealand.

Inuit (Kalaallit) of Greenland

The population of Greenland is 88% Greenlandic Inuit with a total of 56,367 inhabitants. The majority of Greenlandic Inuit refer to themselves as Kalaallit. Ethnographically, they consist of three major groups:

• The Kalaallit of West Greenland, who speak Kalaallisut
• The Tunumi- it of Tunu (East Greenland), who speak Tunumiit oraasiat (East Greenlandic)
• The Inughuit/Avanersuarmiut of the north.

The word Inuit means “men” in the Inuit language, and they are traditionally subsistence hunters, living primarily from products from whales, Walrus, Caribou, Musk Oxen, Arctic Fox, Polar Bear and seals.

The Sami (or Sámi) People

The Sámi are the only indigenous people of the European Union and is the oldest culture in large areas of Northern Europe and is currently experiencing a strong renaissance. Their culture and history dates back tens of thousands of years and has been shaped by the harsh conditions of their traditional home in and around the Arctic Circle. The Sámi Homeland covers the municipalities of Enontekiö, Inari and Utsjoki as well as the Lappi reindeer-herding district in the municipality of Sodankylä.

THE QUECHUA PEOPLE

The Quechua Indians of the central Andes are the direct descendants of the Incas. The Inca Empire, which existed for a century before the arrival of the Spanish, was a highly developed civilization. Quechua Indians still live in the areas once governed by the Inca Empire in Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia.

The Quechua language is known by its speakers as Runa Simi, or the language of the people. The Quechua language was the administrative language of the Inca state and is still spoken by millions of people in Peru (about 8 million), Ecuador (nearly 2 million), and Bolivia (about 1 million).

6% Population, 28% Global Land Ownership

While Indigenous Peoples compromise 6% of the world’s population, their lands and territories constitute at least 28% of the global land surface including unique ecosystems and vital biodiversity.

Hausa People

Nigeria and Southern Niger

The African continent has over 1000 communities that identify as indigenous peoples or tribal. The Hausa are the largest ethnic group in West Africa. Located mainly in Northwestern Nigeria and parts of the southern Niger, they have an estimated population of 70 million.

Hausa is the most widely spoken language in west Africa. It is spoken by an estimated 22 million people. Another 17 million people speak Hausa as a second language. Hausa is written in Arabic characters, and about one-fourth of Hausa words come from Arabic. Many Hausa can read and write Arabic. Many can also speak either French or English.

What Characterises Indigenous Peoples?

“Indigenous Peoples” has no official definition by the UN due to diverse identities and histories. Instead, organisations use a modern understanding of traits including self-identification, historical continuity with pre-settler societies, distinct systems and culture, and a commitment to preserve heritage and environments.