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In most Latin American countries, the term "negro" is sometimes used for people with very dark skin or even as a term of endearment regardless of ancestry. People of mixed ancestry are called Mulatto , Mestizo , or Zambo . The difference between the terms is subjective and influenced by cultural biases. Because of the highly miscegenated nature of the majority of Latin America and the subjectivity of terminology, the number of "Afro-Latin Americans" is not able to be calculated. Africa ns first arrived with the Spanish and Portuguese in the 16th Century . For example, Pedro Alonso Niño was a navigator in the 1492 Columbus expedition. Africans arrived in Latin America mostly as part of the Atlantic Slave Trade as agricultural, domestic and menial laborers and mineworkers. They were also employed in mapping and exploration (for example, Estevanico ); and were even involved in conquest (for example, Juan Garrido and Juan Valiente). They were mostly brought from the West Africa and Central African nations of Nigeria , Benin , Angola , and Congo . There was also an existing African Diaspora born in Spain and Portugal. Most of the slaves were delivered to Brazil and the Caribbean , but also were to be found everywhere along the Atlantic coast between Mexico and Brazil, including Central America , Colombia and Venezuela . Countries with significant black populations include Brazil (60 million), Honduras , Panama , Colombia , Venezuela , Cuba , Dominican Republic , and Puerto Rico . Traditional terms for an Afro-Latinos with Amerindian ancestry (or vice versa) include '' Miskito '' and '' Garifuna '' (in Honduras , Guatemala and Belize ), ''lobo'' in Mexico , '' Cafuzo '' or '' Mameluco '' (in Brazil); and ''zambo'' in the Andes and Central America. The mix of these African cultures with the Spanish, Portuguese and indigenous cultures of Latin America has produced many unique forms of Language (e.g., Palenquero and Garífuna ), Religions (e.g., Candomblé , Santería , Lucumi and Vodun ), Music (e.g., Salsa , Bachata , Cumbia , Plena ), martial arts ( Capoeira ) and Dance ( Rumba , merengue). Many of these cultural expressions are now pervasive in Latin America. Central and Latin America were affected more directly by the slave trade, Afro-Latinos are more prevalent there. ARGENTINA During the Spanish ruling period, almost half of the Argentineans were of African blood, most of them are in Buenos Aires . In 1850s to present, the number of Afro-Argentines has been lessened, as a result of intermarriages between whites, blacks, and Native Americans. Afro-Argentines are descendants of slaves who were first brought from Angola and Congo, but there were those who came from Cape Verde , Senegal , and Gold Coast, now Ghana . Although Afro-Argentines have been lessened, there is still some influence in music, Tango . BRAZIL ''Main Article : Afro-Brazilian '' most of the black brazilians originate from countries like the Gambia, Nigera,Benin and Angola COLOMBIA Afro-Colombians make up 26% of the population, mostly concentrated on the northwest Caribbean coast and the Pacific coast in such departments as Chocó . Not all mulattos and zambos define themselves by their ethnic and racial origins, though many are apparently beginning to do so. In practice, it has been argued by observers that Black Colombians may often encounter a noticeable degree of passive racial discrimination and prejudice, as a socio-cultural leftover from colonial times. Many of their traditional settlements around the Pacific coast have remained underdeveloped, for the most part. Black Colombians are affected by Colombia's ongoing internal conflict, both as victims of violence and displacement and also as members of armed factions, such as the FARC and the AUC . Despite these problematic issues, Black Colombians have been able to overcome prejudices and have played a role in contributing to the development of certain aspects of Colombian culture. For example, several of Colombia's musical genres, such as '' Cumbia '', have African origins or influences. Also many black Colombians can be found in Cali,Cartagena,and Barranquilla.Colombia has the third largest Black/African-descent population in the western hemisphere, after Brasil which is 1st, and the USA that is 2nd. There's said to be more than 11 million AfroColombians as of 2005. CUBA See Also: Afro-Cuban Most Cubans (about 60-70 percent, according to a 2001 census) characterise themselves as "mulatto", that is of mixed-race ancestry, while close to 15 percent characterise themselves as black. A large majority of those living on the island thus affirm some part of African ancestry. The matter is further complicated by the fact that a fair number of people still locate their origins in specific African ethnic groups or regions, particularly Yoruba and Congo , but also Arará, Carabalí, Mandingo, Fula and others. Nevertheless, and despite the egalitarian project of the Cuban revolution, racial discrimination still exits in Cuba, though arguably less so than in most other countries of the Americas, including the United States. While institutionalized racism is illegal, some who lived before 1959 still harbor certain resentments towards those persons of color. . CENTRAL AMERICA The blacks of Central America are mostly found mostly in or near Caribbean coast. The blacks of Guatemala and Honduras are both of Garífuna , Afro-Caribbean, Mestizo , and/or Miskito heritage whereas those of Nicaragua , Costa Rica and Panamá are almost entirely of African-Caribbean heritage. Recent studies show that most people from El Salvador have at least one African ancestor in their family tree because it is said that African Slaves working for the Spanish mixed their blood with the locals thus descending El Salvadors Mestizos . The Garífuna people are descended from Africans who, after gaining their freedom from slavery, evolved their own language in isolation. Some of the Garífuna live in small secluded villages and preserve their culture to some extent. Many Afro-Caribbean islanders came to Panamá to help build the Panama Canal and to Honduras to get work in the Banana plantations. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Around 84% of the 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 affected by African traditions. The music, religion, language, food, and dress of the Dominican people have very noticeable African roots. ECUADOR The Afro-Ecuadorian culture is found in the northwest coastal region of Ecuador . Afro-Ecuadorians make up the majority (70%) in the province of Esmeraldas , and are also found in Guayaquil . The culture developed among people who were descendants of slaves brought to work sugar plantations. It is known outside of Ecuador for a distinctive kind of Marimba music. Afro-Ecuadorians make up 5 to 10% of the population of the country, where they have been the victims of Discrimination . MEXICO See Also: Black Mexican Although importation of black-slaves was limited in Mexico, many communities in coastal areas such as Veracruz and Guerrero received African laborers to work in plantations of sugar-cane. In some areas blacks became a majority in the population although most of them were absorbed in the non-black population. Many black slaves fled the Sugar Cane Plantation s in the United States during the XIX Century and escaped to the Mexican state of Coahuila , including several thousand Texas slaves. Fugitive slaves were a perennial bone of contention between Texas slaveholders and the Mexican government in the years after Texas won independence. Texas slaveholders staged several failed expeditions attempting to recover and capture fugitives. Slaveholders in particular targeted a community of Maroons known as the Black Seminoles who had emigrated to Mexico in 1850. The maroons—descendants of free blacks and runaway slaves traditionally allied with Seminole Indians in Florida and the western U.S.—fled slaveholders in the Oklahoma Indian Territory to establish a free black community in Coahuila. They successfully resisted the Texas incursions. Known in Mexico as los mascogos, the Black Seminole maroons settled in Nacimiento, Coahuila, and later in communities along the Texas border, where their descendants still live to this day. Map showing Black Seminole migration to Mexico PUERTO RICO According to the 2000 U.S. Census taken in Puerto Rico , 8% of the population is black and 10.9% is of mixed or other race, but these numbers are widely thought to be low, owing to the broad and somewhat ambiguous racial categories cited on the census questionnaire. In reality, Puerto Ricans are mixed Spanish,Black and,Amerindian. Most "pure" blacks in Puerto Rico are found in the coastal area (especially in the towns Loiza , Guayama , Ponce , and Carolina ). The Puerto Rican musical genres of Bomba and Plena are of African and Caribbean origin respectively and danced to during parties and African-derived festivals. Most Black Boricua s are descendants of enslaved Congo and Yoruba tribes from Africa. As a U.S.-ruled territory, a number of African American s settled Puerto Rico. In all, about 31 African tribes have been recorded in Puerto Rico. They have been blended into the Puerto Rican population (as all the others have been) with Taino ancestry being the common thread that binds. Sources:
UNITED STATES In the United States, Afro- Colombia n, Afro- Peruvian , Dominican, Afro-Cuban and other black Latino communities exist. In Brooklyn , New York , for example, the Panamanian community has an Afro-Panamanian Chamber of Commerce. Puerto Rican and Dominican communities exist in many long-established neighborhoods, such as Spanish Harlem , Inwood , and the Bronx , while the few Panamanian communities that exist in the U.S. are often nestled neatly within larger Anglophone West Indian neighborhoods, as in parts of Los Angeles and Brooklyn's Flatbush and Crown Heights . VENEZUELA Black Venezuela ns make up 10% of the population. Many of these Venezuelans live in small coastal towns in the region called Barlovento . Afro-Venezuelans are descendants from African slaves. They have kept their traditions and culture alive especially through music. President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez is of Amerindian, African and Spanish ancestry; his father was a Zambo and mother a Mestiza . PERU See Also: Afro-Peruvian Afro-Peruvians are citizens of Peru descended from African Slaves who were brought to the New World from the arrival of the Conquistadores to the end of the Slave Trade . They make about 1% of the Peruvian population. OTHER PARTS OF SOUTH AMERICA Most other South American countries do not have significant black populations. For example, , Bolivia and Chile all have very small populations of blacks. Ecuador ( 3% ) is another South American country with Blacks, but these African descendants have preserved their culture and live in the predominantly Afro-Ecuadorian province of Esmeraldas or largely black neighborhoods in coastal towns. SEE ALSO
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