Afro-Arubans

Afro-Arubans
Languages
	Papiamento, Dutch, Spanish, English
Religion
	Christianity
Related ethnic groups
	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 (15% of the population), although many Arubans may have African ancestry.^[1] They speak Papiamento, an Afro-Portuguese creole language commonly spoken on the ABC islands.^[2] The language dates back at least 300 years and is based on African linguistic structures combined with vocabulary from Portuguese, Dutch, and Spanish.^[3] Like other Arubans, Afro-Arubans also speak Dutch, Spanish, English, as well as other languages.

While Aruba had enslaved Africans,^[4] 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.^[5] Many Afro-Arubans live in Aruba's second largest city, San Nicolaas, located on the southern tip of the island.^[6]

History

Africans were brought to Aruba by Dutch settlers during the colonial era.^[7]^[8]^[9] Although not in large numbers as in nearby Curaçao and Bonaire.

Many immigrants from the British West-Indies (namely from Trinidad and Grenada) settled in San Nicolaas in the early 20th century, namely to work in the Aruban oil industry. Many brought their local English Creoles and dialects to the town,^[10] later developing into what is today known as San Nicolaas English (or Bush English).