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The Indigenous World 2023: African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR)

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) was established in accordance with Article 30 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, with a mandate to promote and protect human and peoples’ rights on the continent. It was officially inaugurated on 2 November 1987 and

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The Indigenous World 2023: Business and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights

The UN Human Rights Council established the Forum on Business and Human Rights[1] in 2011 to serve as a global platform to “discuss trends and challenges in the implementation of the Guiding Principles and promote dialogue and cooperation on issues

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The Indigenous World 2023: Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is an international treaty under the United Nations (UN), adopted in 1992. The Convention has three objectives: to conserve biodiversity, promote its sustainable use, and ensure the equitable sharing of the benefits arising from its utilisation (Art.

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The Indigenous World 2023: Defending the Rights of Indigenous Women

The strategy adopted by the Indigenous women's movement to confront the structural inequalities they face in all countries of the world has been to walk together, influencing strategic spaces from the local to the global both socially and politically. This has meant having a presence in the

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The Indigenous World 2023: IUCN Africa Protected Areas Congress (APAC)

Held in Kigali, Rwanda from 18 to 23 July 2022, the IUCN Africa Protected Areas Congress (APAC) was the “first ever continent-wide gathering of African leaders, citizens and interest groups to discuss the role of protected areas in conserving nature, safeguarding Africa’s iconic wildlife,

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The Indigenous World 2023: The Green Climate Fund (GCF)

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to assist so-called developing countries in climate adaptation and mitigation actions. The GCF aims to catalyse a flow of climate finance to invest in low-emission and climate-resilient

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The Indigenous World 2023: The Indigenous Navigator: Self-Determined Development

The Indigenous Navigator is an online portal providing access to a set of tools developed for and by Indigenous Peoples. By using the Indigenous Navigator, Indigenous organizations and communities, duty bearers, NGOs and journalists can access free tools and resources based on updated

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The Indigenous World 2023: The Inter-American Human Rights System (IAHRS)

The Inter-American Human Rights System (IAHRS) comprises two human rights bodies: the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR or the Commission) and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR Court). Both bodies work to promote and protect human rights in the Americas. The IACHR

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The Indigenous World 2023: UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an international treaty adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 to tackle climate change. After more than 20 years of climate negotiations, in 2015, UNFCCC State Parties adopted the Paris Agreement, a universal agreement

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The Indigenous World 2023: UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII)

The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (Permanent Forum) is an expert body of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) with a mandate to provide advice on Indigenous issues to ECOSOC and, through it, to the UN agencies, funds and programmes; to raise awareness on

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The Indigenous World 2023: UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

The Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples is one of the 59 “special procedures” of the United Nations Human Rights Council. The special procedures are independent human rights experts with mandates to report and advise on human rights from a thematic or country-specific

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The Indigenous World 2023: Aotearoa (New Zealand)

Māori, the Indigenous people of Aotearoa, represent 16.5% of the country’s 5 million population. The gap between Māori and non-Māori is pervasive: Māori life expectancy is 7 to 7.4 years lower than non-Māori; the median income for Māori is 71% that of Pākehā (New Zealand Europeans); 25.5% of

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The Indigenous World 2023: Thailand

The Indigenous Peoples of Thailand live mainly in three geographical regions of the country: Indigenous fisher communities (the Chao Ley) and small populations of hunter-gatherers in the south (Mani people); small groups on the Korat plateau of the north-east and east; and the many different

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The Indigenous World 2023: Taiwan

The officially recognized Indigenous population of Taiwan numbers 580,758 people, or 2.48% of the total population.

Sixteen distinct Indigenous Peoples are officially recognized: Amis (also Pangcah), Atayal (also Tayal), Bunun, Kavalan, Paiwan, Puyuma, Rukai, Saisiyat, Sakizaya, Sediq,

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The Indigenous World 2023: Philippines

The population census conducted in the Philippines in 2010 for the first time included an ethnicity variable although no official figure for Indigenous Peoples has been released yet. The country’s Indigenous population thus continues to be estimated at between 10 and 20 per cent of the national

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The Indigenous World 2023: Nepal

The preliminary results of the national census of 2021 revealed that the total population of Nepal is 29,192,480, being 51.04% female and 48.96% male. The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) has not yet revealed the census results relating to caste, ethnicity, language and religion....

The Indigenous World 2023: Myanmar

There is no accurate information on the number of Indigenous Peoples in Myanmar, partly due to a lack of understanding in the country of the internationally-recognised concept of Indigenous Peoples. The government claims that all citizens of Myanmar are “Indigenous

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The Indigenous World 2023: Malaysia

The 2020 Census shows that the Indigenous Peoples of Malaysia were estimated to account for around 11 % of the 32.4 million national population. They are collectively known as Orang Asal. The Orang Asli are the Indigenous Peoples of Peninsular Malaysia and they numbered 206,777 in 2020.

The Indigenous World 2023: Laos

With a population of just over 7 million,[1],[2] Laos is the most ethnically diverse country in mainland Southeast Asia.[3] The ethnic Lao,

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The Indigenous World 2023: Japan

The two Indigenous Peoples of Japan, the Ainu and the Ryūkyūans (or Okinawans), live on the northernmost and southernmost islands of the country’s archipelago. The Ainu territory stretches from Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands (now both Russian territories) to the northern part of present-day

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The Indigenous World 2023: India

In India, 705 ethnic groups are recognised as Scheduled Tribes. In central India, the Scheduled Tribes are usually referred to as Adivasis, which literally means Indigenous Peoples.[1] With an estimated population of 104 million, they comprise 8.6 %

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The Indigenous World 2023: China

The People’s Republic of China (PRC or China) officially proclaims itself to be a unified country with a diverse ethnic make-up and all nationalities equal in the Constitution. Besides the Han Chinese majority, the government recognizes 55 minority nationalities within its borders.

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The Indigenous World 2023: Cambodia

Cambodia is home to 24 different Indigenous Peoples who speak at least 19 Indigenous languages.[1],[2] With an estimated population of 170,000 to 400,000, they constitute approx.

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The Indigenous World 2023: Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a country of cultural and ethnic diversity, with over 54 Indigenous Peoples speaking at least 35 languages, along with the majority Bengali population. According to the 2022 census, the country’s Indigenous population numbers approximately 1,650,159...

The Indigenous World 2023: Venezuela

Of a total population of 27,227,930, 724,592 are Indigenous (2.8%) and belong to 51 different peoples, mostly concentrated (85%) in the state of Zulia and the Amazon region.

In 1999, the constitutional process ensured that the fundamental rights of Indigenous Peoples and communities

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The Indigenous World 2023: Suriname

The Indigenous Peoples of Suriname number approximately 20,344 people, or 3.8% of the total population of 541,638[i] (census 2012). The four most numerous Indigenous Peoples are the Kaliña (Carib), Lokono (Arawak), Trio (Tirio, Tareno) and Wayana.

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The Indigenous World 2023: Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Rapa Nui is an island of 16,628 hectares located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and separated from the coast of continental Chile by more than 3,700 kilometres. The Rapa Nui people live there, descendants of an age-old culture recognized for the creation of large megalithic structures known

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The Indigenous World 2023: Peru

The Peruvian State recognizes 47 Indigenous languages spoken by 55 different peoples. According to the 2017 National Population Census, almost six million people (5,972,603) self-identify as belonging to an Indigenous or native people, representing just over a quarter of the total population.

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The Indigenous World 2023: Paraguay

Five linguistic families and 19 Indigenous Peoples self-identify in Paraguay: the Guaraní (Aché, Avá Guaraní, Mbya, Pai Tavytera, Guaraní Ñandeva, Guaraní Occidental), Maskoy (Toba Maskoy, Enlhet North, Enxet South, Sanapaná, Angaité, Guaná), Mataco Mataguayo (Nivaclé, Maká, Manjui), Zamuco

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The Indigenous World 2023: Nicaragua

Nicaragua has seven Indigenous Peoples: the Chorotega (221,000), Cacaopera or Matagalpa (97,500), the Ocanxiu or Sutiaba (49,000) and the Nahoa or Nahuatl (20,000) live in the Pacific, centre and north of the country while the Caribbean (or Atlantic) coast is inhabited by the Miskitu (150,000),

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The Indigenous World 2023: Mexico

According to data from the 2020 Population and Housing Census, produced by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), 23.2 million people aged three years or above self-identify as Indigenous in Mexico, equivalent to 19.4% of the country's total population. This breaks down

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The Indigenous World 2023: Guyana

Indigenous Peoples – or Amerindians as they are identified both collectively and in legislation – number some 78,500 in the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, or approximately 10.5% of the total population of 746,955 (2012 census).[i] They

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The Indigenous World 2023: Guatemala

Guatemala has a population of 14.9 million inhabitants, of which 6.5 million (43.75%) belong to the Mayan peoples (Achi', Akateco, Awakateco, Chalchiteco, Ch'orti', Chuj, Itza', Ixil, Jacalteco, Kaqchikel, K'iche', Mam, Mopan, Poqomam, Poqomchi', Q'anjob'al, Q'eqchi', Sakapulteco, Sipakapense,

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The Indigenous World 2023: French Guiana

French Guiana is a French overseas territory located in the eastern Amazon, in South America. It shares a border to the west with Suriname, and to the east and south with Brazil. The area of the territory is 83,846 km². The population is estimated at 301,099 inhabitants (INSEE, 2023) living

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The Indigenous World 2023: Ecuador

According to February 2022 data from the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC), Ecuador's current population stands at 18,232,933. There are 14 Indigenous nationalities in the country totalling more than one million people, most of which are grouped into a number of organizations

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The Indigenous World 2023: Costa Rica

Eight Indigenous Peoples live in Costa Rica: the Huetar, Maleku, Bribri, Cabécar, Brunka, Ngäbe, Bröran, and Chorotega, accounting for 2.4% of the population. According to the 2010 National Census, a little over 100,000 people identify as Indigenous.

The Indigenous World 2023: Colombia

Colombia is noted for its geographic, biological and cultural diversity. Vast coastal and Andean regions, tropical rainforests along the Pacific Coast and in the north-west Amazon, the Orinoco plains, extensive desert areas and islands are all home to 115 Indigenous Peoples and Afro-descendant

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The Indigenous World 2023: Chile

Despite steadily increasing since the 1990s, the size of Chile’s Indigenous population has shown no major changes since the 2017 census. A total of 2,185,792 people self-identify as Indigenous, equivalent to 12.8% of the country's total population (17,076,076). The Mapuche are the most numerous

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The Indigenous World 2023: Brazil

According to data from the Demographic Census conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics in 2010, the Indigenous population in the country stands at 896,900 individuals distributed across 305 ethnic groups. They speak 274 languages and the proportion of Indigenous people

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The Indigenous World 2023: Bolivia

According to the 2012 National Census, 41% of the Bolivian population over the age of 15 is of Indigenous origin, although 2017 projections by the National Institute of Statistics indicate that this percentage is likely to now have increased to 48%. Of the 36 recognized peoples in the country,

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The Indigenous World 2023: Argentina

Argentina is a federal country made up of 23 provinces plus an autonomous city (Buenos Aires, the capital), with a total population of close to 47 million people, according to initial data from 2022. The 2010 national census gives a total of 955,032 people self-identifying as descending from or

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The Indigenous World 2023: Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland)

Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) has been a self-governing country within the Danish Realm since 1979. The population is 88.9% Greenlandic Inuit out of a total of 56,562 inhabitants (May 2022).[i] The majority of Greenlandic Inuit refer to themselves as

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The Indigenous World 2023: Zimbabwe

While the Government of Zimbabwe does not recognise any specific groups as Indigenous to the country, two peoples self-identify as such: the Tshwa (Tjwa, Cua) San found in western Zimbabwe, and the Doma (Vadema, Tembomvura) of Mbire District in north-central Zimbabwe. Population estimates

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The Indigenous World 2023: Uganda

Indigenous Peoples in Uganda include former hunter-gatherer communities such as the Benet and the Batwa. They also include minority groups such as the Ik, the Karamojong and Basongora pastoralists, who are not recognized specifically as Indigenous Peoples by the government.

The Indigenous World 2023: Tunisia

As elsewhere in North Africa, the Indigenous population of Tunisia is formed of the Amazigh. There are no official statistics on their number in the country but Amazigh associations estimate there to be around 1 million Tamazight speakers, accounting for some 10% of the total population.

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The Indigenous World 2023: Tanzania

Tanzania is estimated to have a total of 125-130 ethnic groups, falling mainly into the four categories of Bantu, Cushite, Nilo-Hamite and San. While there may be more ethnic groups that identify as Indigenous Peoples, four groups have been organizing themselves and their struggles around the

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The Indigenous World 2023: South Africa

South Africa’s total population is around 59 million, of which Indigenous groups are estimated to comprise approximately 1%.

The Indigenous World 2023: Namibia

The Indigenous Peoples of Namibia include the San, the Ovatue and Ovatjimba, and potentially a number of other peoples including the Damara, Nama, and Topnaars. Taken together, the Indigenous Peoples of Namibia represent some 8% of the total population of the country, which was 2,727,409 as of

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The Indigenous World 2023: Morocco

The Amazigh (Berber) peoples are the Indigenous Peoples of North Africa. The last census in Morocco (2016) estimated the number of Tamazight speakers at 28% of the population. However, Amazigh associations strongly contest this and instead claim a rate of 65% to 70%. This means that the

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The Indigenous World 2023: Kenya

The peoples who identify with the Indigenous movement in Kenya are mainly pastoralists and hunter-gatherers, as well as some fisher peoples and small farming communities. Pastoralists are estimated to comprise 25% of the national population, while the largest individual community of

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The Indigenous World 2023: Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is inhabited by four major ethnic groups: the Bantu, the Nilotic, the Sudanese and the Pygmy. The concept of “Indigenous Pygmy people” is accepted and approved by the government and civil society organizations (CSOs) in the DRC and the term refers to the

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The Indigenous World 2023: Burundi

The term “Twa” is used to describe minority populations historically marginalised both politically and socially in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.

The Indigenous World 2023: Botswana

Botswana is a country of 2,359,659 inhabitants,[1] having celebrated its 56th year of independence in 2022. Its government does not recognize any specific ethnic groups as Indigenous, maintaining instead that all citizens of the country

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The Indigenous World 2023: Algeria

The Amazigh are the Indigenous people of Algeria and other countries of North Africa. The Algerian government does not, however, recognize the Indigenous status of the Amazigh and refuses to publish statistics on their population. Because of this, there is no official data on the number of

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Recognition of Indigenous Peoples in Nationally Determined Contributions

Indigenous Peoples positioned themselves in multilateral climate negotiations through their advocacy. Although the international community gradually recognises Indigenous Peoples’ contributions to climate governance, a rights-based approach in national climate action is still largely

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The Indigenous World 2022

The Indigenous World is the unique result of a collaborative effort between Indigenous and non-indigenous activists and scholars who voluntarily document and report on the situation of Indigenous Peoples’ rights. For 36 consecutive years IWGIA has published The Indigenous World in

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Collective Punishment: Implementation of "Four Cuts"

This report details human rights abuses that took place in Mindat Township, Chin State from the period of April to December 2021. In May 2021, Martial Law was imposed on Mindat Town, pre-empting a large-scale assault by air and on the ground in order to engage with the Chin Defense Force –

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Written submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its causes & consequences: IWGIA inputs to the Report on violence against Indigenous Women and Girls

Indigenous Peoples all over the world face systemic discrimination rooted in persistent racism as well as past and present colonialism. Many Indigenous communities have been forcefully relocated, lands have been taken away, forests have been destroyed, mountains have been mined and valleys have

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70,000 Maasai in Loliondo, Tanzania, face another forceful eviction

According to reliable information received by Indigenous Peoples Rights International (IPRI) and the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania is currently planning the eviction of the Maasai Indigenous people from a 1,500

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Urgent Alert: 70,000 Maasai in Loliondo, Tanzania, face another forceful eviction

According to reliable information received by Indigenous Peoples Rights International (IPRI) and the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania is currently planning the eviction of the Maasai Indigenous people from a 1,500

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Sad news on the passing away of Zéphyrin Kalimba

It is with deep sadness that IWGIA received the news that Mr. Zéphyrin Kalimba passed away on the 2nd of January in a hospital in Kigali, Rwanda at the age of 62.

IWGIA & AIPP Joint Submission to the Commission on the Status of Women 66th Session

There are numerous challenges for Indigenous Women in relation to climate change. Indigenous Women are more severely affected by the challenges to produce or collect sufficient food, or challenges of water scarcity because of climate change (flooding, drought, unpredictable weather,

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The cost of ignoring human rights and Indigenous Peoples

Photo: Windmills at the Lake Turkana Wind Power project site. Credit: J M Ole Kaunga / IMPACT

In a historic judgment by the Kenyan Environment and Land Court in Meru the title deeds of the land on which the Lake Turkana Wind Project (LTWP) sit have been declared “irregular and unlawful”. The case which began in October 2014 and finally ended on 19 October 2021 found that the title deeds

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Indigenous Peoples call for Climate Action at COP 26

COP26 – the two-week UN Climate Change Conference – begins next week in Glasgow.

As in previous years, IWGIA will be there in partnership and alongside Indigenous Peoples to support their engagement, messages and mission to influence the outcomes of this key climate conference,

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Russia’s Indigenous Peoples call for international support to save the Arctic

Shifting to electric vehicles (EV) is seen as an important step towards a greener future. However, the process ofextracting nickel, a crucial component of EV batteries, very often is not environmental-friendly. The world’s largest producer of nickel, Nornickel, has been destroying

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IWGIA - International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs - is a global human rights organisation dedicated to promoting and defending Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Read more.

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Indigenous World

IWGIA's global report, the Indigenous World, provides an update of the current situation for Indigenous Peoples worldwide. Read The Indigenous World.

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