The African Diaspora in the Western Hemisphere, Part 2

One of the most important things we should push for within the Americas is for clear census data detailing our numbers in each state in the hemisphere. With that data, we can also analyze it for similar trends in poverty, lack of black leadership, and hopefully destroy the invisibility of the African diaspora in so many Latin American nations, including Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Argentina, and Central America. I will endeavor to give a list of the total population of African descent in the Americas below using data from wikipedia:

Total population of the Americas: 910,720,588 (July 2008 est.)
From conservative estimates, the Afro-descended (of Middle Passage descent, not recent immigrants from Africa) population of the Americas (USA, Canada, Mexico, Central America, Caribbean, and South America) is about 183,708,067. Out of the total population estimate in 2008 of 910,720,588, this would be about 20.2% of the entire human population in the Americas. Since data is lacking in so many countries or Afro-descended peoples are undercounted, I am quite sure that it's at least a few million higher than what I have written here. Furthermore, if one were to go by higher estimates for people of African descent than I've used for nations like Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Peru, and a few other nations, then the population is at least a few millions higher than my rather conservative estimate of 183,708,067.

Another total population estimate I found using wikipedia's African diaspora page is 178,588,078. The total population of the Americas according to that page is 919,547,596, which means that the proportion of people of African descent in the Americas would be 19.42%, a little lower than my estimate based on a 2008 estimate for the entire Americas. I believe both my guess and this estimate for the total population of African descent in the Americas is off, probably by a few millions.

Regardless, it's interesting that people of African descent are only about 1/5 of the entire population of the region given that, until the late 19th and 20th centuries, most people who crossed the Atlantic to settle in the Americas were Africans doing so against their will. The largest forced migration history, the Atlantic slave trade created the Black Atlantic world as well as drastically shaping the racial composition of the Caribbean, coastal South America and Central America, and the southern United States. If mortality rates were not so high in so many slave societies and there were more balanced ratios of males and females of African descent, the black population of the Americas would undoubtedly be much higher. When Europeans crossed the Atlantic in vast numbers during the late 19th and 20th centuries, the developing Industrial Revolution and advances in medicine allowed for, I suspect, greater access to medicine and fewer deaths, especially infant mortality. Moreover, many Latin American nations wishing to whiten their societies, encouraged and offered incentives for European immigrants in order to stem the social decay they associated with biologically inferior African and indigenous peoples, unfit for any modern democracy. Ironically, the other aspect of the whitening ideology was to have them mix with black and indigenous peoples and improve the morality and cultures of the nations they came, too.

1. United States of America: 42,020,743 African-Americans

2. Canada:  836, 912.2 (about 2.5% of total population)

3. Haiti: 9,719,932 total population with at least 90% or 95% 'black.' So about 9, 233, 935.4 people of African descent if one uses 95% as the estimate for 'blacks'

4. Dominican Republic: total population estimate of 9,927,320 (November 2011) and 73% mixed, 11% black giving us a total of 8338948.8 for people of African descent.

5. Cuba:  census of 2010 indicates the population was 11,241,161with estimates of Afro-Cubans ranging from  33.9% to 62%. Range of estimates varies because census data is based on how Cubans self-identify

6. Puerto Rico: 3,706,690 and As of the 2010 Census, 75.8% call themselves white, 12.4% are black, 0.5% Amerindian, 0.2% Asian, and 11.1% are mixed or other. It's estimated that 46% of the island has African descent, however, even though only 12.4% self-identify as black, which is about 459, 629.56

7. Mexico: Estimates vary, but a group of Black Mexican activists estimate the population of Afro-Mexicans at about 1 million, but there are no official figures. They have petitioned the Mexican government to include a category for people of African descent on the 2010 census. Total population in 2010 census was 113,724,226, the Spanish-speaking country with the greatest population in the world.

8. Martinique and Guadeloupe: 862, 924 with over 90% of the population of both islands being of African descent/black, so about 776, 632.

9. Jamaica: 2,868,380 (2011 est from CIA World Factbook). Majority of African descent, with 91.2% black. So about 2,615,962.56 people of African descent

10. Barbados: 284,589 (July 2009 est.) and about 90% black

11. Trinidad and Tobago: Blacks/African/Afro-Trinidadian 37.5%, mixed 20.5% out of a total population of (July 2011 estimate)1,227,505. About 460,314.375 'black' if one excludes mixed people of Afro-Indian-Trinidadian descent and mixed black/white people.

12. St. Lucia: 156,260 with 93% black and mixed.

13. Dominica: 98% Black and mulatto of a total population of 71,293

14. Guyana: 30.2% black and 16.7% mixed according to 2002 census, out of a total population of 751,223. So perhaps a total of 352,323.587

15. Suriname: According to the 2004 census, Suriname had a population of 492,829. About 41% are of African descent, giving a total of about 202,059.89

16. Brazil: About 50.1% identifies as Afro-Brazilian, including pardos and pretos. 14,517,961 'blacks' and about 82,277,333 pardos or 'brown' multiracial people. That is 96,795,294 out of a total population, according to a 2010 census of  190,755,799. About 50.7% of the nation is Afro-Brazilian or "black" if we define black very broadly. The largest black population in the hemisphere and the second largest black population in the world after Nigeria!

17. French Guiana: 231,000 and about 66% black or mixed, so a total of about 152,460.

18. Panama: total of 3,405,813 and about 14% black, so 476,813.82 people of 'black' ancestry, although a much higher proportion of Panama's population likely is of African descent.

19. Belize: Total population of Belize is 312,971. About 25% Kriol and 6.1% Garifuna/Afro-Amerindian. So perhaps an African-descended population of 97,021.01 but probably higher given the multiracial majority of the small nation.

20. Honduras: Estimates of people of African descent in Honduras vary widely, from 100,000 to 320,000 (1.8 to 5.8 percent of the country's 5.8 million people in 1994). Today, current population estimate in 2010 is about 8,249,574 and, using a low estimate of 2% for people of African descent, the 'black' population in Honduras would be about 164,991.

21. Guatemala: 13,824,463 from a July 2011 estimate for the total Guatemalan population. Perhaps 1-2% is of Afro-Guatemalan heritage, so, using a lower estimate of 1%, the black/mixed population would be 138,245 for people of African descent.

22. Nicaragua: 2010 Census estimate of 5,891,199 for total population of Nicaragua. With about 9% of the population being Afro-Nicaraguan, many of West Indian descent, Nicaragua's black population is somewhere around 530,208.

23. El Salvador: 5,744,113 according to a 2009 census. Due to laws banning the immigration of blacks into the country in the 1930s, Nicaragua's black population is very small and does not include large West Indian or even Garifuna communities, meaning that the small population imported during the slave trade era has mixed with the mestizo majority and indigenous peoples. Thus, although African heritage and influences are present in El Salvador, the numbers of people who self-identify as Afro-descended people is very small and unknown. However, estimates of 10,000 enslaved Africans imported during the colonial period indicates that African contributions to El Salvador and the genetic profile of El Salvador exist. About 86% of the natio's population of likely more than 6 million people is mestizo, with a portion of that population also having African ancestry.

24. Costa Rica:  2011 census counted a population of 4,301,712 people. The black population is concentrated in Limon and largely of West Indian descent. Perhaps around 2% of the population is of West Indian and African descent, according to a census from 2000. I estimate that around 86,034 of Costa Rica is of African descent, although, the proportion is probably a little higher.

25. Colombia: Estimates range from 4.4 to 10.5 million Afro-Colombians, with the higher estimates being that nearly 18-20% of Colombians are Afro-Colombians or of partial African descent. This is nearly 1 out of 5 46,366,364 Colombians. Afro-Colombians are mostly concentrated on the Caribbean and Pacific coasts, as well as in cities in the southwest, Antioquia, and Bogota. Their numerous contributions to Colombian culture include cumbia music, one of the most popular forms of Latin American music.

26.Venezuela: 2011 census gives a total population of 27,227,930. Those of African descent who identify as "Negro/negra" are only 2.8% of the population according to the census, and 0.7% as "Afrodescendiente." If a conservative estimate were to combine these two categories, then about 3.5% of Venezuela is "black" and about  952,977.55 of Venezuelans are black. However, the population of Venezuela of African descent is likely higher, especially since 49.9% of Venezuelans self-identified as "moreno/a" on this same census, which could include mestizos and mulattoes. The network of Afro-Venezuelan organizations that pushed for inclusion of Afro-descended and black/negro categories on the 2011 census estimated that there are more than seven million Venezuelans of African descent, so the census data and the estimates of Afro-Venezuelan organizations clearly indicates a huge gap...

27. Ecuador: A total population of 14,483,499 according to a 2010 census. Nearly 7.2% are of African descent, so there are at least 1,042,812 Afro-Ecuadorians.

28. Peru: 29,496,000 people from a 2010 estimate and at least 2% are of African descent (some claim 5-10%), giving us a total of 589,920 Afro-Peruvians whereas others estimate 2,000,000. The census data in Peru does not include race so it's really impossible to get an accurate number for people of African descent in Peru, who are mostly concentrated in the coastal lowlands and Lima. A famous Afro-Peruvian was Maria Elena Moyano one prominent person of African descent assassinated by Shining Path in the 1980s.

29. Argentina: The "whitest" country and most "European" in Latin America began as a colonial and early independent nation with significant black populations in Buenos Aires and other areas. Indeed, the population of the city was nearly 1/4 black or Afro-argentino until the mid-19th century, and by the end of the 19th century, hordes of European immigrants completely shifted the racial makeup of the city. George Reid Andrews has done extensive research on Argentina's black population, if anyone cares to do more research. 40,091,359 is the total population as of the 2010 census, which is the first in over a century to incude data since the late 19th century. Unfortunately, no census since 1887 has included blacks or Afro-Argentines as a separate category, so the population of African descent in Argentina is still unknown. The indigenous population of Argentina, based on self-identified people in the 2010 census was 955,032. A nivel población, la cantidad total de personas que se autoreconocieron como afrodescendientes es de 149.493, es decir  un 0,4 % de la población en viviendas particulares." The Afro-Argentine population according to those self-identifying as such in the 2010 census is about 149,493 or 0.4% of the population living in private homes. 92% of those identifying as Afro-Argentine were also born in the country, not abroad or migrants.

30. Uruguay: A 2006 study found that about 9.1% of Uruguay is black or of African descent. They concluded that would be about 300,000 people of African descent, black and 'mixed.' That would be, if we apply the 9.1% to the current population, still around 300,000 Afrodescendientes. Most of the black population is concentrated in Montevideo, where their candombe music is well-known.

31. Paraguay: 6,454,548  according to a 2009 estimate, perhaps 1% if is African descent. In 1990, the population was reported to be 150,000, but not enough data has been done to document their numbers. The Joshua Project found 68,000 more recently.

32. Bolivia: The total population is around 10,118,683 and there are at least 30,000, mostly in the Yungas region. Many were imported during the colonial period to work in the silver mines of Potosi. "The last census to list a black population separately was the 1900 census, in which 3,945
Afro-Bolivians were officially counted, out of a total population of just over 1.8 million (some
0.2% of the total population)." Assuming there are at least 30,000 Afro-Bolivians, then their proportion of the total population is only 0.3%, but that's assuming 30,000 is the total number of Afro-Bolivians.

33. The Bahamas: 316,182 and about 85% black according to the CIA world factbook. So about 268,755 blacks.

34. Curacao: 142,180 according to a 2010 census. Majority of African descent. The combined population of the Netherlands Antilles (Curacao, Aruba, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, Bonaire) is likely 200,000 with probably a majority, 85%, being mixed blacks out of a total estimated 2008 population of 225,369. Thus, the black population of the Netherlands Antilles is probably somewhere around 191,564.

35. Antigua and Barbuda: 81,799  and 91% black, so about 74,437 blacks.

36. Bermuda: 64,268 and about 61.2% black and mixed, so the total population of African descent is likely around 43,188.

37. British Virgin Islands: 83.4% of a total population of somewhere around 28,000 is 23,352.

38. Cayman Islands: About 60% of African descent if not more out of a total population of 54,878.

39. Chile: 15,116,435  from the 2002 census. The Afro-Chilean population is more difficult to discover.  Groups of Afro-descended people are demanding a category for them in the 2012 census. The Afro-Chilean population is mostly concentrated in Arica in the north. The Afro-Chilean Alliance's preliminary results from 2009 or 2010 found over 8,000 Afro-Chileans in Arica and other parts of the north of the country.

40. Grenada: 108,419 and 94% of African descent, so 101,914 people.

41. Montserrat: 5,164 and mostly of African descent.

42. St. Kitts & Nevis: around 90% of 51,300 of African descent. At least 46,170 people of African descent.

43. St. Martin: 36,824 on the French side of the island, predominantly of African descent. The Dutch side's population was incorporated into the Netherlands Antilles.

44. St. Pierre & the Grenadines: 104,574 and at least 86% of African descent. 89,934 people of African descent, but probably higher.

45. Turks & Caicos: 44,819 and at least 90% black. 40,337 people of African descent at least.

46. United States Virgin Islands: 109,750 and at least 80 if not 90% of African descent. Assuming it was only about 80%, then 87,800.

47. Saint Barthélemy: 8,902 but 90-95% of European descent. French Caribbean.

48. Anguilla: 13,600 with at least 90% being of African descent, 12,240.