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Total population | |
---|---|
76.3% of Jamaica[1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Throughout Jamaica | |
Languages | |
Jamaican Patois, Jamaican English | |
Religion | |
Mainly Christianity, with minorities of Irreligion, Rastafarism, Judaism Afro-Jamaican religions Rastafari, Convince, Jamaican Maroon religion, Kumina | |
Related ethnic groups | |
African Caribbean, British Jamaicans, Black Canadians, Jamaican Americans, Asante people |
Afro-Jamaicans are Jamaicans of predominantly African descent. They represent the largest ethnic group in the country.[2]
The ethnogenesis of the Black Jamaican people stemmed from the Atlantic slave trade of the 16th century, when enslaved Africans were transported as slaves to Jamaica and other parts of the Americas.[3] During the period of British rule, slaves brought to Jamaica by European slave traders were primarily Akan, some of whom ran away and joined with Jamaican Maroons and even took over as leaders.[4]