Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Greenland, Canada and Alaska (United States). The Inuit languages are part of the Eskimo-Aleut family. Inuit Sign Language is a critically endangered language isolate used in Nunavut. Inuit live throughout most of Northern Canada in the territory of Nunavut, Nunavik in the northern third of Quebec, Nunatsiavut and NunatuKavut in Labrador and in various parts of the Northwest Territories, particularly around the Arctic Ocean, in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. With the exception of NunatuKavut these areas are known in the Inuit languages as Inuit Nunangat. In Canada, sections 25 and 35 of the Constitution Act of 1982 classify Inuit as a distinctive group of Aboriginal Canadians who are not included under either the First Nations or the Métis. The Greenlandic Inuit are descendants of Thule migrations from Canada by 1100 AD. Inuit of Greenland are Danish citizens, although not the citizens of the European Union. In the United States, the Alaskan Iñupiat are traditionally located in the Northwest Arctic Borough, on the Alaska North Slope, and on Little Diomede Island. In both Canada and the United States, the term Eskimo was once commonly used to describe Inuit and Siberia and Alaska's Yupik, Iñupiat, and Chukchi peoples. Inuit is not accepted as a term for the Yupik and Chukchi; Eskimo is the only term that applies across the Yupik, Chukchi, Iñupiat, and Inuit peoples. Since the late 20th century, indigenous people in Canada and Greenlandic Inuit have widely considered Eskimo to be an offensive term, and they more frequently identify as Inuit for an autonym.
Los inuit es un nombre común para los distintos pueblos que habitan en las regiones árticas de América del Norte. La palabra significa «la gente» (en inuktitut, inuit), el singular es inuk, que significa «hombre» o «persona». La palabra esquimal (eskimo en inglés) ha caído en desuso en Canadá, donde se considera despectivo y racista. Solo se utiliza oficialmente inuit. En Alaska y Siberia los pobladores yupik se siguen llamando esquimales, mientras que en Groenlandia se usan ambos términos.