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Adivasi Janajati is a widely accepted categorization of those culturally distinct groups whose ancestors inhabited parts of present-day Nepal before the arrival of the Hindus, centuries ago, and who have been excluded from the dominant social and religious hierarchy, and political process.
The National Foundation for Development of Indigenous Nationalities Act of Nepal (2002) describes Adivasi Janajati, that is, indigenous peoples or nationalities of Nepal, as those ethnic groups or communities that "have their own mother tongue and traditional customs, distinct cultural identity, distinct social structure and written or oral history of their own." The Government of Nepal officially lists 59 groups as Adivasi Janajati, distributed throughout the mountains, hills and lowland regions.
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