The thesis examines the black population in contemporary Ecuador. In demographic terms, Ecuador is con-sidered the fourth largest country in South America, after Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela, with more nuclei of African descent. Therefore, the aim of this research is to explore how Afro-Ecuadorians, as a minority group, have constructed and continue to redefine their cultural identity in Ecuador, in order to understand whether and how it has been connected or is still connected to their African roots.

From the legislative perspective, the research presents an analysis of the rights of the Afro-Ecuadorians in the Constitutional Charters, focusing both on the 1998 Constitution, which adopted multiculturalism as a fundamental principle of the nation, thus recognizing for the first time the collective rights of Afro-Ecuadorians. In addition, the Constitutional Charter of 2008, in which multiculturalism extends to the con-cept of interculturality, conceptualized as a pillar of the State of Ecuador. The new constitution penalizes discrimination and adopts laws that provide a wide range of cultural, economic, and political rights for mi-nority groups.

Finally, the empirical part of this research was carried out during the fieldwork. My methods included partic-ipant observation, semi-structured individual interviews, and Focus Groups. My aim was to explore cultural identity, the perceptions, thoughts and feelings opinions of Afro – Ecuadorians in the province of Esmeraldas in Ecuador.