About the African Diaspora
The African diaspora is the diaspora created by the movements and cultures of Africans and their descendants throughout the world, to places such as the Americas, (including the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America) Europe and Asia. Much of the African diaspora is descended from people sold into slavery during the transatlantic slave trade, with the largest population living in Brazil (Afro-Brazilian). Between 1500 and 1900, approximately four million African slaves were transported to island plantations in the Indian Ociean, about eight million were shipped to Mediterranean-area countries, and about eleven million were taken to the New Word. Their descendants are now found around the globe. Due to intermarriage and genetic assimilation, just who is a descendant of the African diaspora is not entirely self-evident. Among the Afro-Latin American populations in South and Central America there are populations that identify as negros. Some with high levels of admixture as well. Various people of the Middle east whose ancestors were also brought during the colonial slave trade period (1500-1850) established communities in Yemen, Pakistan, and India. Many share the similar name "Saeed" (Sheedis, Shudra, and Siddi). More broadly, the African diaspora comprises the indigenous peoples of Africa and their descendants, wherever they are in the world.
The African Union has defined
the African diaspora as "[consisting] of
people of African origin living outside the
continent, irrespective of their citizenship
and nationality and who are willing to contribute
to the development of the continent and the
building of the African Union."