Kamala Harris has formally accepted the Democratic Party's presidential nomination to take on Republican rival Donald Trump in the November election.

Vice President Harris, who is of Indian and African heritage, on Thursday night accepted the nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, becoming the second woman to do so for the Democratic Party.

"On behalf of the people, on behalf of every American, regardless of party, race, gender or the language your grandmother speaks, on behalf of my mother and everyone who has ever set out on their own unlikely journey on behalf of Americans, like the people I grew up with, people who work hard, chase their dreams and look out for one another, on behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on earth, I accept your nomination the United States," she said.

Harris, 59, is the first-ever Indian-American and the first-ever Black woman nominated on a major presidential ticket in the US.

Harris also became the first-ever woman of colour to be on the top of a presidential ticket of a major American political party. She is also the first ever Indian-American to be nominated as presidential candidate of either the Republican or the Democratic party.

Taking the stage at the United Center in Chicago to accept her nomination, she said she is no stranger to unlikely journeys.

Harris’ mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was Indian and her father, Donald Jasper Harris, is Jamaican.

If elected, Harris would break one of the highest glass ceilings left for women in the United States -- that of occupying the country's top office.

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