World indigenous peoples day

What is World Indigenous Peoples Day, and WHY is It Celebrated: all You Need to Know!

Indigenous Peoples are the people who inherit and practice unique cultures. There are around 370 million such people, living across 90 countries. Indigenous people represent over 5000 different cultures, and speak an overwhelming majority of about 7000 languages in the world.

They form less than 5 percent of world population, but account for 15 percent of the poorest. Indigenous people have retained their social, cultural, economic and political characteristics which are distinct than the dominant societies they live in.

Across the world, indigenous people share common problems regarding the protection of their rights as distinct people. The United Nations undertook the initiative to help indigenous people get their rights in 1982 with the Working Group on Indigenous Populations.

August 9th is celebrated each year as the 'International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples' to mark inaugural session of above mentioned group at the UN. The theme for 2019's International Day is 'Indigenous Languages', which will focus on the current situation of these languages around the world.