of many Palenques that existed in the seventeenth century that served as a refuge for escaped slaves. San Basilio was home to the first free Africans in the Americas and many other famous Afro-Colombians, as well as the rich traditions that are embedded within Colombian
culture.
Champeta, a music and folk dance that originated among inhabitants of African descent of the Colombian city of Carta-gena De Indias, is linked with the culture of the Palenque of San Basilio. The word “champeta” originally denoted a short, curved knife, and in the 1920s started to be applied to residents outlying the districts of Cartagena, who were poor and of African descent. In the 1970s it was used to identify a dance and then a musical genre in the 1980s. The conception of champeta includes four central aspects: musical expression, the distinctive language, the loudspeakers (picós), and celebrations (perreos).
Race and ethnicity in Colombia descend mainly from three racial groups: Amer-indians (native indigenous), Africans, and Caucasian (White Colombians also descended from Spanish, Lebanese, and Syrian peoples) that have mingled throughout the last 500 years. Demographers describe Colombia as one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the Western Hemisphere and in the world, with 85 different ethnic groups.
With Champeta permeating through Colombian culture over the years, it has taken on other forms of expression, such as dance, political activism, costume, and literature. Lyrics often display the rebellious attitude of challenging social and economic exclusion or relate to dreams of change and progress. In addition, Champeta culture has become better-known in Colombia due to the develop-ment of complex dances set to the rhythms of salsa, jibaro, and reggae.