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The Caribbean has a very diverse ethnic composition, a creation of the region's colonial history. Almost all Caribbean ethnic groups originated outside the Caribbean. Each island has its own destinct ethnic mix, but the primary ethnic group is Africans--people brought to the Caribbean as slaves during the 15th-18th centuries to work on sugar and other plantations. The primary exceptions are the Greater Antilles where the Hispanic population is also important. There are also Asians, Europeans, and Hispanics. Almost all the original Native American population perished during the early colonial period because of disease and mistreatment. Few Caribbean people are full Native Americans, but uite a number claim a degree of Native American ancestry. The Native Americans were the Arawaks, Caribs, and Tainos. The Arawaks were not the original population, but they at the time of the arrival of the Spanish being replaced by the more war-like Caribs. The Tains inhabited western Cuba. The Africans were a vast mixture of African tribes, but the Akan, Igbo, Fon, Kongo, and Yoruba were especially important. Most Afro-Caribbeans have lost their tribal idebtity, but it can now be traded through DNA. The Spanish at first dominated the Caribbean which came to be called the Spanish Main. Other Europeans eventually arrived including the Dutch, English, and French. The Europeans are concentrated on the islands of their former colonial possessions. There are also Asians, both Chinese and Indians. The Indians arrived after emancipation (1830s). The freed slaves did not want to work on sugar plantations, especially at the wages offered. So the British imported indentured workers from South Aasia. Indians are particularly important on Trinidad. Hispanics are mostly concentrated in the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Doiminican Republic, and Puerto Rico. And many Caribbean people are increasingly a mix of these various peoples.
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