Afro-Latin American

An Afro-Latin American is a Latin American person who is, at least in part, of African heritage or lineage.

African slaves were oriignally brought to America because of the rapidly decreasing numbers of Native American laborers available for work on the plantations. They were mostly brought from the West African nations of Nigeria, Ghana, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Gold Coast, and Morocco. Most of the slaves were unloaded in Brazil and the Caribbean. The rest were brought in small proportions to Central America and other areas of South America. Countries with a large amount of blacks include Brazil, Panama, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico.

Afro Brazil – Brazil has the largest population of blacks of any country outside of Africa. Most black Brazilians are descendents of Yoruban slaves brought from Nigeria to the northern areas of the country to work on sugar plantations. Blacks and mulattoes in Brazil make up almost half the population. The largest concentration of Brazilian Africans are in the town of Bahia where over 80% of the people are black.

Afro Panama – Panama has the largest black population in Central America. Most Black Panamanians live on the Caribbean coast and are of West Indian heritage. The West Indians (mostly Jamaicans) came to the country to help build the Panama Canal. The rest of the poulation are of pure African, mulatto, or mixed black and Kuni Indian heritage. Panamanian language and music is Spanish with a West Indian accent. The most popular music genre in Panama right now is Spanish-language reggae. The actual percentage of blacks in Panama is unclear but it is somewhere in the range of between 14% and 42%.

Afro Cuba – Most Cubans (65%) are mulattoes; an additional 11% are pure blacks. Black Cubans were brought from the Yoruba and Congolese people of West Africa as slaves to work on the sugar cane fields. The slaves did not lose their culture, but practiced it in secret. Most dances out of Cuba such as Mambo, Salsa, Son, Santeria vodoo chanting, and Rhumba are mostly African in origin.

Afro Colombia – Colombia's blacks make up 21% (mulatto 14%, pure blacks 4%, and zambos 2%) of the population, mostly concentrated on the northern coast. Black Colombians encounter a lot of racial injustice from the rest of Colombia's population. Even though they are treated wrongly they overcome prejedice and have greatly affected culture. One of Colombia's musical genres, cumbia, is of African origin.

Afro Dominican Republic – 84% of the Dominican Republic's people have some African blood: 76% are mulattoes and 11% are pure black. Dominican blacks were brought as slaves in large proportions from West Africa to sugar cane plantations on the island. Blacks from Dominican Republic and Haiti are in the majority along the border between the two countries, and that is also where the pure blacks are mainly concentrated. Dominican culture is greatly effected by African tradition. The music, religion, language, food, and dress of the Dominican people have very noticeable African roots.

Afro Puerto Rico – All most all Puerto Ricans have some African lineage. The actual racial statictics of Puerto Rico are not known, but research indicates that close to 10% of Puerto Rico's population are pure blacks, with most of the island's population being mulattoes or mulatto mixed with Native American lineage. Most pure blacks in Puerto Rico are found in the Northern Coastal area (especially in the towns Loiza, Guayama,and Ponce).The music (bomba) and (plena) of Puerto Rico are Afro Latin genres danced to during parties and African derived festivals. Most Black boricuas are descended of African slaves brought from the Yoruba people of Nigeria.

Afro-Venezuela – Black Venezuelans make up 10% of the population. Many of these Venezuelans live in small slum-like towns called campos. Afro-Venezuelans are descended from African slaves and West Indian immigrants. They have kept their traditions and culture alive especially through music. President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez is of an Afro-Venezuelan and he is the first and only black to be elected to a South American presidency.

Afro Central America – The blacks of Central America are few in number and are found mostly in coastal cities. The blacks of Guatemala (5%) and Honduras (3%) are of mainly Garifuna heritage. The Garifuna people are descended from African slaves brought from Ghana who later mixed with Carib Indians. The Guarifinu live in small secluded villages and preserve their culture. The blacks of Nicaragua (9%) and Costa Rica (3%) are of West Indian heritage (mainly Jamaican) who were brought over as slaves to work on on banana plantations. Black Nicaraguans and Costa Ricans are noticible because they speak Creole, Spanish, and have West Indian accents.

Afro South America – Most other South American countres do not have large black populations. For example, Uruguay (4%), Argentina (3%), and Chile (1%) all have very small populations of blacks who have preserved some of their culture, but have taken in the larger culture which is the broader Latin American culture. Ecuador (3%) and Peru (3%) are another group of South American countries with Blacks, but these African descendants have perserved their culture and live in predominately Afro-Ecuadorian or Afro-Peruvian nieghborhoods or towns. The province of Esmarelda in Ecuador is over 70% mulatto or pure Black.