Afro-Caribbean people explained

Group:Afro-Caribbean people
Population: (2025 est.)[1]
Pop1:8.9 million[2]
Pop2:2.88 million[3]
Pop3:2 million[4]
Pop4:2 million[5]
Pop5:1.2 million[6]
Pop6:1.03 million[7]
Pop7:1.0 million[8]
Pop8:517,000[9]
Region9: Canada
Pop9:383,533[10]
Region10: Bahamas
Pop10:372,000[11]
Pop11:342,000[12]
Pop12:273,985[13]
Pop13:253,771[14]
Pop14:225,860[15]
Pop15:202,500[16]
Pop16:173,765[17]
Pop17:148,000[18]
Pop18:101,309[19]
Pop19:98,693[20]
Pop20:93,394[21]
Pop21:106,365[22]
Pop22:80,868[23]
Pop23:72,660[24]
Pop24:51,000 (approx) in Bay Islands Department[25]
Pop25:38,827[26]
Pop26:18,837[27]
Pop27:15,000 (approx)[28]
Pop28:4,389[29]
Rels:Majority:

Minority:

Related:Afro-Haitians • Afro-Jamaicans • Afro–Trinidadians and Tobagonians • Afro-Barbadians • Afro–Saint Lucians • Afro-Grenadians • Afro-Dominicans (Dominica) • Afro–Antiguans and Barbudans • Afro-Curaçaoans • Afro-Saint Kitts and Nevisian • Afro-Bahamians • Afro-Cubans • Afro-Puerto Ricans • Afro-Dominicans (Dominican Republic) •African Americans • Afro-Colombians • Afro-Venezuelans

Afro-Caribbean or African Caribbean people are Caribbean people who trace their full or partial ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of the modern Afro-Caribbean people descend from the Africans (primarily from West and Central Africa) taken as slaves to colonial Caribbean via the trans-Atlantic slave trade between the 15th and 19th centuries to work primarily on various sugar plantations and in domestic households. Other names for the ethnic group include Black Caribbean, Afro- or Black West Indian, or Afro- or Black Antillean. The term West Indian Creole has also been used to refer to Afro-Caribbean people,[30] as well as other ethnic and racial groups in the region,[31] [32] [33] though there remains debate about its use to refer to Afro-Caribbean people specifically.[34] [35] The term Afro-Caribbean was not coined by Caribbean people themselves but was first used by European Americans in the late 1960s.[36]

People of Afro-Caribbean descent today are largely of West African and Central African ancestry, and may additionally be of other origins, including European, Chinese, South Asian and Amerindian descent, as there has been extensive intermarriage and unions among the peoples of the Caribbean over the centuries.

Although most Afro-Caribbean people today continue to reside in English, French and Spanish-speaking Caribbean nations and territories, there are also significant diaspora populations throughout the Western world, especially in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands. Caribbean peoples are predominantly of Christian faith, though some practice African-derived or syncretic religions, such as Santeria, Vodou and Winti. Many speak creole languages, such as Haitian Creole, Jamaican Patois, Sranantongo, Saint Lucian Creole, Martinican Creole or Papiamento.

Both the home and diaspora populations have produced a number of individuals who have had a notable influence on modern African, Caribbean and Western societies; they include political activists such as Marcus Garvey and C. L. R. James; writers and theorists such as Aimé Césaire and Frantz Fanon; US military leader and statesman Colin Powell; athletes such as Usain Bolt, Tim Duncan and David Ortiz; and musicians Bob Marley, Nicki Minaj, Wyclef Jean, Rihanna, and the actor and musician Jacob Anderson.

History

See main article: Afro-Caribbean history.

16th–18th centuries

During the post-Columbian era, the archipelagos and islands of the Caribbean were the first sites of African diaspora dispersal in the western Atlantic.

In the early 16th century, more Africans began to enter the population of the Spanish Caribbean colonies, sometimes arriving as free men of mixed ancestry or as indentured servants, but increasingly as enslaved workers and servants. This increasing demand for African labour in the Caribbean was in part the result of massive depopulation of the native Taíno and other Indigenous peoples caused by the new infectious diseases, harsh conditions, and warfare brought by European colonists. By the mid-16th century, the slave trade from West Africa to the Caribbean was so profitable that Francis Drake and John Hawkins were prepared to engage in piracy as well as break Spanish colonial laws, in order to forcibly transport approximately 1500 enslaved people from Sierra Leone to Hispaniola (modern-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic).

During the 17th and 18th centuries, European colonial development in the Caribbean became increasingly reliant on plantation slavery to cultivate and process the lucrative commodity crop of sugarcane. On many islands shortly before the end of the 18th century, the enslaved Afro-Caribbean people greatly outnumbered their European masters. In addition, there developed a class of free people of color, especially in the French islands, where certain individuals of mixed race were given rights.[37] On Saint-Domingue, free people of color and slaves rebelled against harsh conditions, and constant inter-imperial warfare. Inspired by French revolutionary sentiments which pronounced all men free and equal, Toussaint L'Ouverture and Jean Jacques Dessalines led the Haitian Revolution. When it became independent in 1804, Haiti became the first Afro-Caribbean republic in the Western Hemisphere and the first state which was both free from slavery (though not from forced labour)[38] and ruled by non-whites and former captives.[39]

19th–20th centuries

In 1804, Haiti, with its overwhelmingly African population and leadership, became the second nation in the Americas to win independence from a European state. During the 19th century, continuous waves of rebellion, such as the Baptist War, led by Sam Sharpe in Jamaica, created the conditions for the incremental abolition of slavery in the region by various colonial powers. Great Britain abolished slavery in its holdings in 1834. Cuba was the last island to be emancipated, when Spain abolished slavery in its colonies.

During the 20th century, Afro-Caribbean people, who were a majority in many Caribbean societies, began to assert their cultural, economic, and political rights with more vigor on the world stage. Marcus Garvey was among many influential immigrants to the United States from Jamaica, expanding his UNIA movement in New York City and the U.S.[40] Afro-Caribbean people, such as Claude McKay and Eric D. Walrond, were influential in the Harlem Renaissance as artists and writers.[41] [42] [43] Aimé Césaire developed a négritude movement.[44]

In the 1960s, the West Indian territories were given their political independence from British colonial rule. They were pre-eminent in creating new cultural forms such as reggae music, calypso and Rastafari within the Caribbean. Beyond the region, a developing Afro-Caribbean diaspora in the United States, including such figures as Stokely Carmichael and DJ Kool Herc, was influential in the development of the Black Power movement of the 1960s and the hip-hop movement of the 1980s. African-Caribbean individuals also contributed to cultural developments in Europe, as evidenced by influential theorists such as Frantz Fanon[45] and Stuart Hall.[46]

Notable people

Politics

Science and philosophy

Arts and culture

Sports

Main groups

Genetic ancestry

Average proportions of African, West Eurasian (European and MENA), Native American and Asian admixtures in Caribbean countries and dependencies:

Population estimates, as of 1 July 2023[48] !Country!Population!African %!West Eurasian %!Native American %!Asian %!Source (study)!Sample size
Bahamas413,00074.4%17.3%8.3%0.0%Simms et al. 2012[49] 756
Barbados282,00088.0%11.0%1.0%0.0%Montinaro et al. 2015[50] 75
Cuba11,020,00021.0%71.0%8.0%0.0%Fortes-Lima et al. 2018[51] 860
Dominica72,00056.0%28.0%16.0%0.0%Torres et al. 2013[52] 37
Dominican Republic11,331,00038.0%52.0%10.0%0.0%Mathias et al. 2016[53] 47
Grenada117,00081.0%12.0%7.0%0.0%Torres et al. 201348
Haiti11,637,00095.4%4.3%0.3%0.0%Simms et al. 2010[54] 111
Jamaica2,840,00082.0%10.0%8.0%0.0%Torres et al. 201344
Puerto Rico3,242,00021.0%61.0%18.0%0.0%Pérez-Mayoral et al. 2019[55] 831
Saint Kitts and Nevis51,00085.9%8.2%5.9%0.0%Torres et al. 201347
Saint Lucia179,00075.0%18.0%7.0%0.0%Torres et al. 201350
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines111,00081.0%13.0%6.0%0.0%Torres et al. 201351
Trinidad and Tobago1,503,00075.0%15.8%9.2%0.0%Torres et al. 201343
86,00077.4%16.9%5.7%0.0%Torres et al. 201399
Anguilla16,000------
Antigua and Barbuda101,000------
Aruba108,000------
Belize411,000------
25,000------
39,000------
Cayman Islands88,000------
185,000------
Guadeloupe377,000------
Guyana826,000------
Martinique346,000------
4,000------
2,000------
11,000------
31,000------
3,000------
58,000------
Suriname629,000------
49,000------

Culture

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Zong . Jie . Caribbean Immigrants in the United States . Migration Policy Institute . 11 May 2017 . 18 May 2025.
  2. Web site: Haiti - Population 2024 . Worldometer . 18 May 2025.
  3. Web site: Anderson . Monica . Key findings about Black immigrants in the U.S. . Pew Research Center . 24 January 2018 . 18 May 2025 .
  4. Web site: Jamaica Population 2024 . Worldometer . 18 May 2025.
  5. http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_13_1YR_B04003&prodType=table Results
  6. Web site: Populations légales 2017 des départements et collectivités d'outre-mer . . 2021-01-29 . fr .
  7. Web site: Archived copy . www.miamiherald.com . 3 September 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130821113550/http://www.miamiherald.com/multimedia/news/afrolatin/part4/index.html . 21 August 2013 . dead.
  8. http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/key-statistics-for-local-authorities-in-england-and-wales/rft-table-ks201ew.xls 2011 Census
  9. Web site: Trinidad and Tobago 2011 population and housing census demographic report. 94. Central Statistical Office. 30 November 2012. 5 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20171019211618/https://guardian.co.tt/sites/default/files/story/2011_DemographicReport.pdf. 19 October 2017. dead. dmy-all.
  10. Web site: Visible Minority and Population Group by Generation Status: Canada . Statistics Canada . Government of Canada . 18 May 2025.
  11. Web site: Bahamas Population 2024 . Worldometer . 18 May 2025.
  12. Web site: Race and Hispanic Origin in Puerto Rico: 2020 Census . U.S. Census Bureau . 18 May 2025.
  13. Web site: Martinique Population 2024 (Live) . worldpopulationreview.com . 8 October 2024.
  14. Web site: Barbados Population 2024 . Worldometer . 18 May 2025.
  15. Web site: Guyana Population 2024 . Worldometer . 18 May 2025.
  16. Web site: Suriname Population 2024 . Worldometer . 18 May 2025.
  17. Web site: Saint Lucia Population 2024 . Worldometer . 18 May 2025.
  18. Web site: Curaçao Population 2024 . Worldometer . 18 May 2025.
  19. Web site: Grenada Population 2024 . Worldometer . 18 May 2025.
  20. Web site: Archived copy . www.stats.gov.vc . 11 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180911195540/http://www.stats.gov.vc/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=jSipdTnsXwM%3D&tabid=60 . 11 September 2018 . dead.
  21. Web site: Belize Population 2024 . Worldometer . 18 May 2025.
  22. Web site: Antigua and Barbuda Population 2024 . Worldometer . 18 May 2025.
  23. Web site: U.S. Virgin Islands Population 2024 . Worldometer . 18 May 2025 .
  24. Web site: Dominica Population 2024 . Worldometer . 18 May 2025.
  25. Web site: Honduras Population 2024 . Worldometer . 18 May 2025.
  26. Web site: Saint Kitts and Nevis Population 2024 . Worldometer . 18 May 2025.
  27. Web site: Cayman Islands Population 2024 . Worldometer . 18 May 2025.
  28. Web site: Aruba Population 2024 . Worldometer . 27 June 2025.
  29. Web site: Montserrat Population 2024 . Worldometer . 28 July 2025.
  30. Book: Dictionary of Jamaican English . 2009 . Cambridge Univ. Press . 978-0-521-11840-8 . Cassidy . Frederic Gomes . 2. ed., digitally printed version . Cambridge . 130.
  31. Web site: 2024-07-27 . Creole History, Culture & Language Britannica . 2024-09-17 . www.britannica.com . en.
  32. Web site: Dictionary.com Meanings & Definitions of English Words . 2024-09-17 . Dictionary.com . en.
  33. Web site: Definition of CREOLE . 2024-09-17 . www.merriam-webster.com . en.
  34. Cohen . Robin . 2007-09-30 . Creolization and Cultural Globalization: The Soft Sounds of Fugitive Power . Globalizations . 4 . 3 . 369–384 . 10.1080/14747730701532492 . 2007Glob....4..369C . 1474-7731. subscription .
  35. Allen, C., 1998. "Creole then and now: the problem of definition". Caribbean Quarterly, 44(1-2), pp.36–7.
  36. Web site: Committee on Foreign Affairs. United States Congress House. Hearings. 1970. 2. 64–69.
  37. [Stephen D. Behrendt]
  38. Web site: Other Revolution . 2024-10-17 . www.brown.edu .
  39. Knight . Franklin W. . 2000 . The Haitian Revolution . The American Historical Review . 105 . 1 . 103–115 . 10.2307/2652438 . 2652438 . 0002-8762. subscription .
  40. Martin, Tony. Race First: The Ideological and Organizational Struggle of Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1976.
  41. Tillery (1992). Claude McKay: A Black Poet's Struggle for Identity. p. 42.
  42. Villalon, Oscar (16 January 2013). "'Tropic Death' Presents Life's Horrors In Beautiful Prose". NPR.org. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  43. Barceló, Margarita, "Walrond, Eric", in William L. Andrews, Frances Smith Foster & Trudier Harris (eds), Oxford Companion to African American Literature, New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 754.
  44. Book: Heller, Ben A. . Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Latin American and Caribbean Literature, 1900-2003 . 2004-02-12 . Routledge . 978-0-203-31611-5 . Balderston . Daniel . 0 . 128–130 . en . Césaire, Aimé . 10.4324/9780203316115 . Gonzalez . Mike . https://books.google.com/books?id=i-aBAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA128.
  45. Nigel C. Gibson, Fanon: The Postcolonial Imagination (2003: Oxford, Polity Press)
  46. Chen, Kuan-Hsing. "The Formation of a Diasporic Intellectual: An interview with Stuart Hall," collected in David Morley and Kuan-Hsing Chen (eds), Stuart Hall: Critical Dialogues in Cultural Studies, New York: Routledge, 1996.
  47. Web site: The Hon. Wendy Phipps . Ministry of Finance [St Kitts and Nevis] . 31 January 2024 . 5 February 2019.
  48. Web site: World Population Prospects 2024 . 2025-08-16 . population.un.org.
  49. Simms . Tanya M. . Barrett . Dianne A. . McCartney . Quinn . Herrera . Rene J. . 2012-01-01 . Divergent genetic strata in five Bahamian islands . Forensic Science International: Genetics . English . 6 . 1 . 81–90 . 10.1016/j.fsigen.2011.02.005 . 1872-4973 . 21482214.
  50. Montinaro . Francesco . Busby . George B. J. . Pascali . Vincenzo L. . Myers . Simon . Hellenthal . Garrett . Capelli . Cristian . 2015-03-24 . Unravelling the hidden ancestry of American admixed populations . Nature Communications . 6 . 6596 . 10.1038/ncomms7596 . 2041-1723 . 4374169 . 25803618 . 2015NatCo...6.6596M .
  51. Fortes-Lima . Cesar . 2019 . Exploring Cuba's population structure and demographic history using genome-wide data . Hal Open Science . 8 . 1 . 2018NatSR...811422F . 10.1038/s41598-018-29851-3 . 6065444 . 30061702 . 11422.
  52. Torres . Jada Benn . Stone . Anne C. . Kittles . Rick . 2013 . An anthropological genetic perspective on creolization in the anglophone caribbean . American Journal of Physical Anthropology . en . 151 . 1 . 135–143 . 10.1002/ajpa.22261 . 23553646 . 2013AJPA..151..135T . 1096-8644. subscription .
  53. Mathias . Rasika Ann . Taub . Margaret A. . Gignoux . Christopher R. . Fu . Wenqing . Musharoff . Shaila . O'Connor . Timothy D. . Vergara . Candelaria . Torgerson . Dara G. . Pino-Yanes . Maria . Shringarpure . Suyash S. . Huang . Lili . Rafaels . Nicholas . Boorgula . Meher Preethi . Johnston . Henry Richard . Ortega . Victor E. . 2016-10-11 . A continuum of admixture in the Western Hemisphere revealed by the African Diaspora genome . Nature Communications . 7 . 12522 . 10.1038/ncomms12522 . 2041-1723 . 5062574 . 27725671 . 2016NatCo...712522M .
  54. Simms . Tanya M. . Rodriguez . Carol E. . Rodriguez . Rosa . Herrera . Rene J. . 2010 . The genetic structure of populations from Haiti and Jamaica reflect divergent demographic histories . American Journal of Physical Anthropology . en . 142 . 1 . 49–66 . 10.1002/ajpa.21194 . 19918989 . 2010AJPA..142...49S . 1096-8644. subscription .
  55. Perez-Mayoral . Julyann . Gonzalez-Pons . Maria . Centeno-Girona . Hilmaris . Montes-Rodríguez . Ingrid M. . Soto-Salgado . Marievelisse . Suárez . Belisa . Rodríguez . Natalia . Colón . Giancarlo . Sevilla . Javier . Jorge . Daphne . Llor . Xavier . Xicola . Rosa M. . Toro . Doris H. . Tous-López . Luis . Torres-Torres . Marla . 2023-04-11 . Molecular and Sociodemographic Colorectal Cancer Disparities in Latinos Living in Puerto Rico . Genes . 14 . 4 . 894 . 10.3390/genes14040894 . free . 2073-4425 . 10138302 . 37107652.