Located outside the Capital City of La Paz is an area known as the Yungas Region. It’s not an easy area to access because of the jungles and rivers, but it’s home to the Afro-Bolivian community: one of the last remaining tribal kingdoms in the world. The Afro-Bolivians are descendants of African slaves during the Spanish Empire. The more than 2,000 people in the kingdom are mainly farmers who grow cocoa, coffee, and more. In Mururata, a village of around 350 people, is the center of the kingdom where Julio Bonifaz Piñedo is the king. It is believed that the natives thought that darker skin was more attractive, which is why they were impressed with the skin of the Africans when they first began arriving to Bolivia.
SOURCE: TRAVEL NOIRE
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