New Guinea is the only example left of a major continuous indigenous territory.
Territories of indigenous populations are interwoven with settlements of exogenous and non-indigenous populations, but a few areas remain unoccupied. This is the most frequent pattern. This is the most dangerous situation because indigenous territory is coveted by others and gradually reduced. Generally speaking, most constitutions do not draw a distinction between indigenous populations and other groups in the national population, and, in most countries, all have citizen status. One of the best criteria to assess the will of a government to integrate these populations is the more or less protracted business of acquiring identity papers, for indigenous people, the materialization of their status as citizens.