Afro-Latin Americans or Black Latin Americans refers to Latin American people of significant African ancestry. The term may also refer to historical or cultural elements in Latin America thought to have emanated from this community.[20]

The term Afro-Latin American refers specifically to people of African ancestry and not to European ancestry, such as Sub-Alpine European white.[21] [22] The term is not widely used in Latin America outside academic circles. Normally Afro-Latin Americans are called black (Spanish: negro; Portuguese: negro or preto; French: nègre or noir). More commonly, when referring to cultural aspects of African origin within specific countries of Latin America, terms carry an Afro- prefix followed by the relevant nationality. Notable examples include Afro-Cuban,[23] Afro-Brazilian,[24] and Afro-Haitian.[25]

The accuracy of statistics reporting on Afro-Latin Americans has been questioned, especially where they are derived from census reports in which the subjects choose their own designation, because in various countries the concept of African ancestry is viewed with differing attitudes.[24] [26]

In the 15th and 16 centuries, many people of African origin arrived in the Americas with the Spanish and Portuguesese. Pedro Alonso Niño, traditionally considered the first of many New World explorers of African descent[27] was a navigator in the 1492 Columbus expedition. Those who were directly from West Africa mostly arrived in Latin America as part of the Atlantic slave trade, as agricultural, domestic, and menial laborers and as mineworkers. They were also employed in mapping and exploration (for example, Estevanico) and were even involved in conquest (for example, Juan Valiente.) The Caribbean and Latin America received 95 percent of the Africans arriving in the Americas with only 5 percent going to Northern America.[28] [29] [30] [31]

Countries with significant African, Mulatto, or Zambo populations today include Brazil (57 million, if including the pardo Brazilian population with Mulatto