The exact size of the Afro-Peruvian population is unknown, and estimates vary. Credible sources state that up to 3,000,000 people – that’s 10% of the Peruvian population – are Afro-descendent.
The regions with the highest concentration of Afro-Peruvians are found in and around the capital of Lima, the neighbouring district of El Callao, along the southern coast in Chincha and Cañete and in the northern region of Piura, particularly in Zaña and Yapatera.
From the 1500s through to the mid 1800s, the slave trade flourished in Peru. Thousands of the enslaved African trafficked to the Americas were brought to Peru, often to El Callao just outside of Lima, which was a major slave trading port.
Across Peru today, you can visit former haciendas, or plantations, where Peru’s wealthy elite once lived. Here you will find secret slave tunnels. Many of the haciendas sit on top of a secret labyrinth of tunnels that stretch for many kilometres under the ground, and were used to smuggle in enslaved Africans so that slave owners could avoid paying tax on their ‘products’.
The abolition of slavery in Peru came in two main stages. In 1821 a decree was passed called ‘Freedom of the Womb’ which meant that anyone born to an enslaved mother from then on was born free. It wasn’t until 1854 that slavery was totally and officially abolished.
The first Afro-descent saint in Latin America was a mixed-race Peruvian man named Martin who is known today as San Martin de Porres. He was born in 1579, to a Spanish father and an Afro-Panamanian mother who had formerly been a slave. He is the patron saint of mixed-race people and those seeking racial harmony.
Afro-Peruvian culture manifests itself most prominently in food and music. The two best known styles of Afro-peruvian music and dance are Zapateo and Festejo. Percussive instruments are key to both genres and include the Calabaza and the Quijada, of course the Cajon.
Examples of Afro-Peruvian cuisine include the beloved dish Anticucho, made from cow’s heart, and the Turon, a biscuit-based dessert flavoured with Anaseed and decorated with hundreds and thousands.
Every year June 4th is celebrated as Afro-Peruvian day. The Ministry of Culture holds and annual event in December called Somos Familia, which unites Afro-Peruvian organisations across the country. Organisations such as Ashanti, ASONEDH and the Peruvian Rastafarian society continue to do grass roots work among the community.