Hinduism is a minority religion in South America, which is followed by even less than 1% of the total continent's population. Hinduism is found in several countries, but is strongest in the Indo-Caribbean populations of Guyana and Suriname. There are about 320,000 Hindus in South America, chiefly the descendants of Indian indentured laborers in the Guianas. There are about 185,000 Hindus in Guyana, 120,000 in Suriname, and some others in French Guiana. In Guyana and Suriname, Hindus form the second largest religion and in some regions and districts, Hindus form the majority. Though in recent times, due to influence of Hindu culture the number of Hindus converts have increased in other countries in South America, including Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and others.
Chutney music is a fusion genre of Indian folk music, specifically Bhojpuri folk music, with Caribbean calypso and soca music, and later with Bollywood music. This genre of music that developed in Trinidad and Tobago is popular in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, other parts of the Caribbean, Fiji, Mauritius, and South Africa. Chutney music emerged mid-20th century and reached a peak of popularity during the 1980s. Several sub-genres have developed.
Indo-Caribbeans or Indian-Caribbeans are people in the Caribbean who are descendants of the Jahaji indentured laborers from India and the wider subcontinent, who were brought by the British, Dutch, and French during the colonial era from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century. A minority of them are descendants from people who immigrated as entrepreneurs, businesspeople, merchants, engineers, doctors, religious leaders and other professional occupations beginning in the mid-20th century.
Indo-Trinidadians and Tobagonians or Indian-Trinidadians and Tobagonians are people of Indian origin who are nationals of Trinidad and Tobago, whose ancestors came from India and the wider subcontinent beginning in 1845 during the period of colonization.
Hinduism is the leading single religion of the Indo-Caribbean communities of the West Indies. Hindus are particularly well represented in Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. The Cayman Islands also hosts a sizable Hindu population, with 2.4 percent of the country affiliating with the religion. Smaller groups of Indo-Caribbeans live elsewhere in the Caribbean, especially Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Belize, Barbados, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, and Bahamas.
Hinduism in Trinidad and Tobago is the second largest religion. Hindu culture arrived to Trinidad and Tobago in 1845, with the arrival of the first Indian indentured laborers, whom an overwhelming majority of were Hindu. According to the 2011 census there were 240,100 declared Hindus in Trinidad and Tobago.
Indo-Guyanese or Indian-Guyanese, are Guyanese nationals of Indian origin who trace their ancestry to India and the wider subcontinent. They are the descendants of indentured servants and settlers who migrated from India beginning in 1838, and continuing during the British Raj.
Indo-Caribbean Americans or Indian-Caribbean Americans, are Americans who trace their ancestry ultimately to India, though whose recent ancestors lived in the Caribbean, where they migrated beginning in 1838 as indentured laborers. There are large populations of Indo-Trinidadian and Tobagonians and Indo-Guyanese along with a smaller population of Indo-Surinamese, Indo-Jamaicans and other Indo-Caribbeans in the United States, especially in the New York metropolitan area and Florida. The Washington metropolitan area, Texas, and Minnesota also have small numbers of Indo-Guyanese and Indo-Trinidadians. Indo-Caribbean Americans are a subgroup of Caribbean Americans as well as Indian Americans, which are a subgroup of South Asian Americans, which itself is a subgroup of Asian Americans.
Hosay is a Muslim Indo-Caribbean commemoration that is popularly observed in Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica. In Trinidad and Tobago, multi-coloured model mausoleums or mosque-shaped model tombs known as tadjah are used to display the symbolic part of this commemoration. They are built and paraded, then ritually taken to the sea on last day of observance, and finally discarded into the water. The word tadjah derived from the Arabic word ta'zieh and signifies different cultural meanings depending on the region, time period, occasion, and religion. In Guyana, and Suriname, the festival is called Taziya or in Caribbean Hindustani tadjah in reference to these floats, arguably the most visible and decorative element of this festival.
Caribbean Hindustani is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by Indo-Caribbeans and the Indo-Caribbean diaspora. It is a koiné language mainly based on the Bhojpuri and Awadhi dialects. These Hindustani dialects were the most spoken dialects by the Indians who came as immigrants to the Caribbean from India as indentured laborers. It is closely related to Fiji Hindi and the Bhojpuri-Hindustani spoken in Mauritius and South Africa.
Indo-Jamaicans are the descendants of people who came from the Indian subcontinent to Jamaica. Indians form the third largest ethnic group in Jamaica after Africans and Multiracials.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to South America.
Indo-Canadians or Indian Canadians are Canadians who have ancestry from India. The term East Indian is sometimes used to avoid confusion with the Indigenous peoples of Canada. Categorically, Indo-Canadians comprise a subgroup of South Asian Canadians which is a further subgroup of Asian Canadians. According to Statistics Canada, Indians are one of the fastest growing communities in Canada, and one of the largest non-European ethnic groups.
The people of Guyana, or Guyanese, come from a wide array of backgrounds and cultures including aboriginal natives, African and Indian origins, as well as a minority of Chinese and European descendant peoples. Demographics as of 2012 are Afro-Guyanese 39.8%, Indo-Guyanese 30.1%, mixed race 19.9%, Amerindian 10.5%, other 1.5%. As a result, Guyanese do not equate their nationality with race and ethnicity, but with citizenship. Although citizens make up the majority of Guyanese, there is a substantial number of Guyanese expatriates, dual citizens and descendants living worldwide, chiefly elsewhere in the Anglosphere.
British Indo-Caribbean people are British citizens, whose recent ancestors came from the Caribbean, and who further trace their ancestry back to India and the wider subcontinent. The UK has a large population of Indo-Caribbean people.
The Punjabi diaspora refers to the descendants of ethnic Punjabis who emigrated out of the Punjab region in the northern part of the South Asia to the rest of the world. Punjabis are one of the largest ethnic groups in both the Pakistani and Indian diasporas. The Punjabi diaspora numbers around the world has been given between 2.5 and 10 million, mainly concentrated in Britain, Canada, United States, Western Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.
Indians in Venezuela form one of the smaller populations of the Indian diaspora. According to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (IMEA), among the approximately 690 East Indians living in Venezuela, 400 were Venezuelans of East Indian origin, 280 were Indian citizens and 10 were stateless residents. However, unofficial records put the Indo-Caribbean community from Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago over 50,000.
Persaud is a Hindu surname primarily found in the Caribbean, especially Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago. It is derived from the Hindi surname प्रसाद which is predominantly transliterated as Prasad in India. Other variant forms include Persad, Persard, Pershad, Prasada, Prashad, Presad, and Presaud.
Hinduism is the second-largest religion in Suriname. According to ARDA, there are 129,440 Hindus in Suriname as of 2015, constituting 23.15% of the population. Suriname has the second largest percentage of Hindus in the Western Hemisphere, after Guyana (24.8%).
Caribbean Shaktism, also known as Kalimai or Madras Religion in Guyana, refers to the syncretic Shakti Kali/Mariamman worship that has evolved within the Indo-Caribbean Tamil community in countries such as Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Jamaica and Suriname. It can be found across the Caribbean and any South American country with an Indo-Caribbean community. It is a syncretic blend of Dravidian folk religion and Hinduism and has also been influenced by other cultural and religious traditions found in the Caribbean such as Catholicism, Trinidad Orisha, Comfa and Obeah. It is considered to be a form of Folk Tamil Hinduism and many attend services of Vedic Origin, more Orthodox Tamil Origin, and Madrasi origin.
