| Group: | Afro-Arubans |
| Langs: | Papiamento, Dutch, Spanish, English |
| Rels: | Christianity |
| Related: | other Afro-Caribbeans, Afro-Curaçaoan, African people, Afro-Venezuelans |
Afro-Arubans are Arubans who have predominantly African ancestry. Afro-Arubans are a minority ethnic group in Aruba, although many Arubans may have African ancestry.[1] They speak Papiamento, an Afro-Portuguese language spoken in the ABC islands. The language dates back at least 300 years and is based on African linguistic structures combined with vocabulary from Portuguese, Dutch, and Spanish.[2] Like other Arubans, Afro-Arubans also speak Dutch, Spanish, English, as well as other languages.
While Aruba had enslaved Africans,[3] most Afro-Arubans descend from nearby islands and nations such as Sint Maarten, Dominican Republic, Suriname, Haiti, Jamaica, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, the Lesser Antilles, and/or South America.[4] Many Afro-Arubans live in Aruba's second largest city, San Nicolaas, located on the southern tip of the island.[5]
Africans were brought to Aruba by Dutch settlers during the colonial era.[6] [7] [8]
Many brought an English Creole to Aruba in the early 20th century.[9]