Afro–Latin Americans

Afro-Latin Americans (French: Afro-latino-américains; Haitian Creole: Afro-amerik-Latino; Spanish: Afrolatinoamericanos; Portuguese: Afro-latino-americanos), also known as Black Latin Americans (French: Latino-américains noirs; Haitian Creole: Nwa Ameriken Latin; Spanish: Latinoamericanos negros; Portuguese: Negros latino-americanos), are Latin Americans of total or predominantly sub-Saharan African ancestry. Genetic studies suggest most Latin American populations have at least some level of African admixture.

The term Afro-Latin American is not widely used in Latin America outside academic circles. Normally Afro–Latin Americans are called Black (Spanish: negro or moreno; Portuguese: negro or preto; French: noir or nègre; Haitian Creole: nwa or nègès). Latin Americans of African ancestry may also be grouped by their specific nationality, such as Afro-Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, Afro-Haitian, or Afro-Mexican.

The number of Afro–Latin Americans may be underreported in official statistics, especially when derived from self-reported census data, because of negative attitudes to African ancestry in some countries. Afro-Latinos are part of the wider African diaspora.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, many people of African origin were brought to the Americas by the English, Portuguese, Dutch, French and Spanish primarily as enslaved people, while some Spanish arrived as part of exploratory groups. A notable example of the latter was the black conquistador Juan Garrido, who introduced wheat to Mexico. Pedro Alonso Niño, traditionally considered the first of many New World explorers of African descent, was a navigator in the 1492 Columbus expedition. Those transported as part of the Atlantic slave trade were usually from West Africa, and were forced to work as agricultural, domestic, and menial laborers, and as mineworkers. They also worked in mapping and exploration (for example, Estevanico) and were even involved in conquest (for example, Juan Valiente) or in the army (for example, Francisco Menendez). These enslaved people largely belonged to ethnic groups such as the Gbe, Yoruba, Mande, Bakongo, Mbundu, and Wolof, among others.

Enslaved Africans brought to Latin America were obtained from inter-ethnic & inter-religious conflict throughout West and Central Africa.

Such inter-ethnic conflict include the wars between the Oyo Empire and the Kingdom of Dahomey, in the 18th and 19th centuries, in which Dahomey enslaved and sold a large number of Yoruba people into slavery in the New World.

The Fulani Jihads caused conflict between the highly Islamized Fulani people and ethnic groups that adhered to traditional West African religion. These ethnic groups include the Temne, Yoruba, Chamba, Bamileke, and Fang peoples. This led to inter-religious clashes that led to captives from both sides being traded to Europeans.

Furthermore, some enslaved people were obtained from civil and internal conflicts. Such an example include the succession disputes in the Kingdom of Kongo, which led to frequent civil war and caused many Bakongo people to be sold as slaves throughout the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.