[2] Most Afro-Ecuadorians are the descendants of enslaved Africans who were transported by predominantly British slavers to Ecuador from the early 16th century.

[3] In 1553, the first enslaved Africans reached Ecuador in Quito when a slave ship heading to Peru was stranded off the Ecuadorian coast.

[5][6] As a result, along with lack of government funding and low social mobility poverty affects their community more so than the white and mestizo population of Ecuador.

[12] Many Afro-Ecuadorians have participated in sports, for instance playing with the Ecuador national football team, many of whom hail from Valle del Chota.

[13] Afro-Ecuadorian culture may be analysed by considering the two main epicenters of historical presence: the province of Esmeraldas, and the Chota Valley.

[22] It gets its name from the prominent use of marimbas, but is accompanied along with dances, chants, drums and other instruments specific to this region such as the bombo, the cununo and the guasá.