Today: International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

The International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, observed on 9 August, promotes the rights of the world’s indigenous peoples and recognizes the achievements and contributions that indigenous peoples make to advance world issues such as environmental protection.

There are more than 370 million self-identified indigenous peoples in some 70 countries. An estimated 70 per cent live in Asia and the Pacific. In Latin America alone there are more than 400 different indigenous peoples, each with a distinct language and culture. Most indigenous peoples live in developing countries and are disproportionately represented among the poor: they account for an estimated 5 per cent of the world’s population, but 15 per cent of those people living in poverty. In many countries, particularly in Latin America and Asia, rural poverty is increasingly concentrated in indigenous and tribal communities.