Distinct groups of people who self-identify as Indigenous Peoples and possess some or all of the following characteristics:

• they are descended from or have historical continuity with peoples who inhabited the region prior to colonisation or the establishment of present state boundaries
• they retain some or all of their own social, economic, cultural, and political institutions and legal systems, irrespective of their legal status in a given country
• they seek to preserve and perpetuate their distinct cultural identity, such as languages, traditional beliefs, customs, laws and institutions, worldviews, and ways of life
• they maintain a collective attachment to, and aspiration to control, their lands, territories, and natural resources, which they seek to transmit to future generations as a basis of their continued existence as peoples
• they have experienced or are experiencing subjugation, marginalisation, dispossession, exclusion, or discrimination^*
   

• Indigenous Peoples are recognised as such under international law regardless of the terms that may be applied to them by national laws, policy frameworks, or other instruments or entities. These terms may include ‘tribal people,’ ‘first peoples,’ ‘secluded tribes’, ‘hill people,’ or others.

• See the Operational Guidance on Respecting the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities for more information about the interpretation and application of this definition.

^{* This definition and its list of characteristics for identification of Indigenous Peoples is informed by multiple international laws and references, including the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989, (No. 169), Study on the Problem of Discrimination against Indigenous Populations, the UN Working Paper on the Concept of ‘Indigenous,’ and the jurisprudence of international and regional organisations as pertains to human rights.}