Colombia has the second largest African descendant population in Latin America. According to the census of 2005, the government estimates that Afro-descendants make up 10.6% of the total population. This is 16% down from the government's previous estimations in 2002, which put the total Afro-descendant population at 26% and which is the figure still currently used by the United Nations. Census figures also continue to be disputed by Afro-descendant leaders such as Luis Giraldo Murillo Urritia, ex governor of the department of Choco, who claims that the Afro-Colombian population is as high as 36-40%