AFRO-PANAMANIAN

Afro-Panamanians are Panamanians of Afro-descent. The first Africans were brought in 1514 and slavery was abolished in 1851. Afro-Panamanian make up 15% of the population. The Afro-Panamanian are in two group the "Afro-Colonial'', Afro-Panamanians descendants from slaves brought to Panama and the "Afro-Antillean'', West Indian immigrants from Trinidad, Barbados, and Jamaica, brought in to work in the Panama Canal. Afro-Panamanians are concentrated in Colon, Cristobal, Balboa, Río Abajo, the Canal Zone, Almirante, Bastimentos and Bocas del Toro. The African influences found in the Garifuna culture are: FOOD- seafood gaucho, sao, breadfruit and saltfish, rondon;  MUSIC AND DANCE- congos and el tamborito.