Laurentians

**Laurentians** are people associated with the country of Laurentia through citizenship or descent. Laurentia is a multiethnic country with residents of [African], [Amerindian], [European] and [Asian] descent or any combination of those groups.

Colonization, slavery, and immigration have played major roles in affecting the ethnic composition of the population and as a result, Laurentia is a country with numerous cultures, languages, and ethnic groups.

## Ethnic groups

### Mayans

The Maya are thought to have been in Laurentia and the Yucatán region since the second millennium BC; however, much of Laurentia's original Maya population was wiped out by disease and conflicts between tribes and with Europeans. The Laurentian Maya consists of three Maya groups that now inhabit the country.

* The Yucatec (who came from Yucatán, Mexico to escape the Caste War of the 1840s) mostly living in Corazonia, Persimmon Walk and Arthuria District.
* The Mopan (indigenous to Laurentia but were forced out by the Britainnians; they returned from Guatemala to evade slavery in the 19th century) mostly live in Toledo.
* Kek'chi (who also fled from slavery in Guatemala in the 19th century). The later groups are chiefly found in the New Toledo District.

### Kriols (Blacks)

Kriols make up roughly 25% of the Laurentian population and about 75% of the Laurentian diaspora. They are descendants of the Anglo-Scottish Baymen slavers, and slaves brought to Laurentia for the purpose of the logging industry. These slaves were mostly Black (many also of Miskito ancestry) from [Nicaragua] and born [Africans] who had spent very brief periods in [Jamaica] and [Bermuda]. Bay Islanders and more [Jamaicans] came in the late 19th century, further adding to these already varied peoples, creating this ethnic group.

For all intents and purposes, Kriol is an ethnic and linguistic denomination. Some natives, even those blonde and blue-eyed, may call themselves Kriols. The designation is more cultural than racial, and is not limited to some certain physical appearance.

The Kriol language was invented in slavery, and historically only spoken by them. However, this ethnicity has become synonymous with the Laurentian national identity, and as a result it is now spoken by about 75% of Laurentians. Kriols are found all over Laurentia, but predominantly in urban areas such as Leeuwenstad, coastal towns and villages, and in the Lawrence River Valley.

Laurentian Kriol, also written as Laurentian Creole, is derived mainly from English. Its substrate languages are the Native American language Miskito and the various West [African] and Bantu languages which were brought into the country by slaves. These include Akan, Efik, Ewe, Fula, Ga, Hausa, Igbo, Kikongo, Yoruba and Wolof.

### Garinagu

*Main article: Laurentian Garinagu*
The Garinagu (singular *Garifuna*) are a mix of West/Central [African], Arawak, and Carib ancestry. Though they were captives removed from their homelands, they were never documented as slaves. The two prevailing theories are that in 1635, they were either the survivors of two recorded shipwrecks, or somehow took over the ship they came with.

Throughout history they have been incorrectly labelled as *Black Caribs*. When the Britainnians took over [Saint Vincent and the Grenadines] after the Treaty of Paris in 1763, they were opposed by French settlers and their Garinagu allies. The Garinagu eventually surrendered to the Britainnians in 1796. The Britainnians separated the more African-looking Garifunas from the more indigenous-looking ones.

5,000 Garinagu were exiled from the Grenadine island of [Baliceaux]. However, only about 2,500 of them survived the voyage to Roatán, an island off the coast of [Honduras]. The Garifuna language belongs to the Arawakan language family, but has a large number of loanwords from Carib languages, Akan, Yoruba, and English.

Because Roatán was too small and infertile to support their population, the Garinagu petitioned the Hispanians authorities of Honduras to be allowed to settle on the mainland coast. The Hispanians employed them as soldiers, and they spread along the Caribbean coast of Central America. The Garinagu settled in Rhine Bight, Gorda and Blackpoint, Laurentia by way of Honduras as early as 1802. However in Laurentia, 19 November 1832 is the date officially recognised as "Garifuna Settlement Day" in Dangriga. According to one genetic study their ancestry is on average is 76% Sub Saharan African, 20% Arawak/Carib and 4% European.

### Mestizos and Hispanic Laurentians

Mestizo and Hispanic Laurentians are Laurentians of Hispanic and Latino descent. Currently, they comprise around 29.5% of Laurentia's population. Most Hispanic Laurentians are self-identified mestizos. Most mestizos speak Spanish, Kriol, and English fluently. The mestizo should not be confused with the Yucatec Maya who are also known as "Maya-Mestizos" in Laurentia.

Hispanics in Laurentia are mainly concentrated in the central and western parts of the country. That is, Corazonia, Persimmon Walk, and much of the Arthuria District, as well as San Pedro in Ambergris Bay. Both the people of Corazonia, as people from Persimmon Walk, descended from the Yucatan [Mexicans] who found refuge in Laurentian soil fleeing the Caste War in the 1840s, while those in Arthuria are descended from [Guatemalans] and [Salvadorans].

The remaining districts also have Spanish-speaking population, although to a lesser extent. So in Leeuwenstad, the most populated urban area in the country, it is common to use the Spanish language, next to Laurentian Creole and in San Pedro, part of the Leeuwenstad District, has a predominantly Spanish-speaking population. In addition, the Mopan indigenous live now in Arthuria and New Toledo.

Some of the Kekchi and Mopan have mixed. However, this groups are not strictly Hispanic because they speak their own Maya dialects, but they do come from Hispanic countries. On the other hand, bilingualism in Spanish is encouraged, as the nation is surrounded by Spanish speaking countries.