criollo populations. As a result of this racism, along with lack of government funding and low social mobility, poverty affects their community more so than the white and mestizo population of Ecuador. After slavery was abolished in 1851, Africans became marginalized in Ecuador, dominated by the plantation owners.

Afro-Ecuadorian people and culture are found primarily in the country's northwest coastal region. The majority of the Afro-Ecuadorian population (70%) are found in the province of Esmeraldas