A new report by the United Nations says the life expectancy of indigenous people in several countries is much lower than the rest of the population.
The report, released on Thursday, says indigenous people have up to 20 years less life expectancy, and the worst off are those living in Australia, Nepal and Canada.
It says Maori die 11 years younger than non-indigenous New Zealanders.
It is the first time the UN has published such a comprehensive report looking at the condition of the world's indigenous people.
Australia's Aborigines and Nepal's ethnic Kirat descendants fared worst when their lifespans were compared to those of non-indigenous citizens, dying 20 years earlier on average than their better-off compatriots, AFP reports.
Canada's First Nations, Inuit and Metis lived 17 years less, while Guatemala's Amerindians had spans shorter by 13 years.
The report said poverty, malnutrition and various infectious diseases conspired to cut their lives shorter.
It stated that indigenous populations comprised about 370 million people in 90 countries - roughly 5% of the world's inhabitants.
Indigenous people make up more than a third of the 900 million people living in extreme poverty in rural zones, it said.
The report denounced the violence often suffered by indigenous people, as well as politics of assimilation, the expropriation of traditional lands, forced evictions, and the "alarming" unsanitary conditions they live in.
