Garifuna
The Garifuna people (/ˌɡɑːriːˈfuːnə/ GAR-i-Fu-na or Spanish pronunciation: [ɡa'ɾifuna]; pl. Garínagu in Garifuna) are a people of mixed free African and Amerindian ancestry that originated in the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and speak Garifuna, an Arawakan language, and Vincentian Creole.
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 400,000 (2011) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Honduras | 200,000 (2003) |
| United States | c. 200,000 (2011) |
| Belize | 15,000 (2003) |
| Guatemala | 5,000 (2003) |
| Nicaragua | 2,000 (2003) |
| Saint Vincent | 1,100–2,000 (1984): 3 |
| Languages | |
| Garifuna, Vincentian Creole, Spanish, Belizean Creole, English | |
| Religion | |
| Primarily Roman Catholic with syncretic Garifuna practices (e.g. Dugu ceremony). Rastafari and other Christian denominations minorities. | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Pardo, Kalinago, Afro-Caribbean people, Afro-Latin Americans, Taíno | |
The Garifuna are the descendants of indigenous Arawak, Kalinago (Island Carib), and Afro-Caribbean people. The founding population of the Central American diaspora, estimated at 2,500 to 5,000 persons, were transplanted to the Central American coast from the British West Indies island of Saint Vincent, which was known to the Garinagu as Yurumein, in the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles. Small Garifuna communities still live in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The Garifuna diaspora abroad includes communities in Honduras, in the United States, and in Belize.