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Indigenous religions are the spiritual practices of the descendants of the original inhabitants of many lands. Although the term "indigenous religions" includes a great variety of faith traditions, they are united not only by being native practices of a given region, but also by a special relationship to the land. All have a profound respect for the natural cycle and the balance necessary to maintain the health of society and the environment. Stasis and change are elements of the natural world, which is always coming into being and - no matter the particulars of the tradition - pairs of complementary opposites play a life-giving role: female/male; night/day; birth/death; earth/sky; Yin/Yang; moist/dry, to name a few.
Included in this very large designation are the religions of each of the globe's major continents, as well as many islands and island conclaves. The richness in number and variety defies identification in this space, for there are at least 5,000 indigenous groups identifiable by linguistic and cultural differences and geographical separation. Africa, Australia, New Zealand, the American continents, Asia - all contain a variety of vital living faith traditions. They are found from the circumpolar regions of Europe and the Americas and the southernmost inhabited spaces of Australia and New Zealand. China and India together have more than 50 million indigenous and tribal people.
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