International Day of the Worlds Indigenous Peoples © Fabien Astre/Alamy

Today, the International Day of the World"s Indigenous Peoples invites a closer look at communities whose stories stretch far beyond recorded history. Proclaimed by the United Nations in 1994 and first observed in 1995, the day commemorates a landmark 1982 meeting on Indigenous rights. More than 476 million Indigenous people live across about 90 countries, representing thousands of cultures and protecting an estimated 80% of the planet"s remaining biodiversity despite making up around 6% of the global population.