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Mandé Peoples
The Mandé peoples are ethnic groups who are speakers of Mande languages. Various Mandé speaking ethnic groups are found particularly toward the west of West Africa. The Mandé Speaking languages are divided into two primary groups: East Mandé and West Mandé. The Mandinka or Manding (Malinke, Bambara and Dioula), a western branch of the Mandé, are credited with the founding of the largest ancient West African empires. Other large Mandé speaking ethnicities include the Soninke and Susu as well as smaller ethnic groups such as the Ligbi, Vai, and Bissa. Mandé speaking people inhabit various environments, from coastal rainforests to the sparse Sahel. They have a wide range of cuisines, cultures, and beliefs, and are organized mainly by their language group. Today they are predominantly Muslim and follow a caste system. Islam has played a central role in identifying the Mandé speaking people who originate and live in the Sahel regions the Mandinka and Soninke who have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mandinka People
The Mandinka or Malinke are a West African ethnic group primarily found in southern Mali, the Gambia and eastern Guinea. Numbering about 11 million, they are the largest subgroup of the Mandé peoples and one of the largest ethnic-linguistic groups in Africa. They speak the Manding languages in the Mande language family and a ''lingua franca'' in much of West Africa. Over 99% of Mandinka adhere to Islam. They are predominantly subsistence farmers and live in rural villages. Their largest urban center is Bamako, the capital of Mali. The Mandinka are the descendants of the Mali Empire, which rose to power in the 13th century under the rule of king Sundiata Keita, who founded an empire that would go on to span a large part of West Africa. They migrated west from the Niger River in search of better agricultural lands and more opportunities for conquest. Nowadays, the Mandinka inhabit the West Sudanian savanna region extending from The Gambia and the Casamance region in Senega ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River Niger
The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through Mali, Niger, on the border with Benin and then through Nigeria, discharging through a massive delta, known as the Niger Delta (or the Oil Rivers), into the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean. The Niger is the third-longest river in Africa, exceeded by the Nile and the Congo River. Its main tributary is the Benue River. Etymology The Niger has different names in the different languages of the region: * Fula: ''Maayo Jaaliba'' * Manding: ''Jeliba'' or ''Joliba'' "great river" * Tuareg: ''Egerew n-Igerewen'' "river of rivers" * Songhay: ''Isa'' "the river" * Zarma: ''Isa Beeri'' "great river" * Hausa: ''Kwara'' * Nupe: ''Èdù'' * Yoruba: ''Ọya'' "named after the Yoruba goddess Ọya, who is believed to embody the river" * Igbo: ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West African Cuisine
West African cuisine encompasses a diverse range of foods that are split between its 16 countries. In West Africa, many families grow and raise their own food, and within each there is a division of labor. Indigenous foods consist of a number of plant species and animals, and are important to those whose lifestyle depends on farming and hunting. The history of West Africa also plays a large role in their cuisine and recipes, as interactions with different cultures (particularly the Arab world and later Europeans) over the centuries have introduced many ingredients that went on to become key components of the various national cuisines today. History During the early modern period, European explorers and slave traders influenced regional cuisines in West Africa, but only to a limited extent. However, it was European merchant and slave ships which brought chili peppers, corn and tomatoes from the New World, and both have become ubiquitous components of West African cuisines, alo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sudano-Sahelian Architecture
Sudano-Sahelian architecture refers to a range of similar indigenous architectural styles common to the African peoples of the Sahel and Sudanian grassland (geographical) regions of West Africa, south of the Sahara, but north of the fertile forest regions of the coast. This style is characterized by the use of mudbricks and adobe plaster, with large wooden-log support beams that jut out from the wall face for large buildings such as mosques or palaces. These beams also act as scaffolding for reworking, which is done at regular intervals, and involves the local community. The earliest examples of Sudano-Sahelian style probably come from Jenné-Jeno around 250 BC, where the first evidence of permanent mudbrick architecture in the region is found. Difference between Savannah and Sahelian styles The earthen architecture in the Sahel zone region is noticeably different from the building style in the neighboring savannah. The "old Sudanese" cultivators of the savannah built their c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ajami Script
Ajami ( ar, عجمي, ) or Ajamiyya ( ar, عجمية, ), which comes from the Arabic root for ''foreign'' or ''stranger'', is an Arabic-derived script used for writing African languages, particularly those of Mandé, Hausa and Swahili, although many other African languages are written using the script, including Yoruba, Mooré, and Pulaar. It is considered an Arabic-derived African writing system. Since many African languages include phonetic sounds and systems not found in the standard Arabic language, an adapted Arabic script is used to transcribe those sounds not normally found in Arabic. Similar modified Arabic scripts exist in Iran, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. The West African Hausa is an example of a language written using Ajami, especially during the pre-colonial period when Qur'anic schools taught Muslim children Arabic and, by extension, Ajami. Following Western colonization, a Latin orthography for Hausa was adopted and the Ajami script declined in popularity. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boubou (clothing)
The boubou or grand boubou is a flowing wide-sleeved robe worn across West Africa, and to a lesser extent in North Africa, related to the dashiki suit. The garments and its variations are known by various names in different ethnic groups and languages. It is called agbádá in Yoruba, babban Riga in Hausa, boubou or mbubb in Wolof, k'sa or gandora in Tuareg, Kwayi Bèri in Zarma-Songhai, darra'a in Maghrebi Arabic, grand boubou in various French-speaking West African countries and the English term gown. The Senegalese boubou, a variation on the ''grand boubou'' described below, is also known as the Senegalese kaftan. The female version worn in some communities is also known as a m'boubou or kaftan. History Its origin lies with the clothing style of the Tuareg, Songhai- Zarma, Hausa, Kanuri, Toubou, and other trans-Saharan and Sahelian trading groups who used the robe as a practical means of protection from both elements (the harsh sun of the day and sub-freezing tempe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gur People
The Gur languages, also known as Central Gur or Mabia, belong to the Niger–Congo languages. They are spoken in the Sahelian and savanna regions of West Africa, namely: in most areas of Burkina Faso, and in south-central Mali, northeastern Ivory Coast, the northern halves of Ghana and Togo, northwestern Benin, and southwestern Niger. A few Gur languages are spoken in Nigeria. Additionally, a single Gur language, Baatonum, is spoken in Benin and in the extreme northwest of Nigeria. Three other single Gur languages, the Tusya, Vyemo and Tiefo languages, are spoken in Burkina Faso. Another unclassified Gur language, Miyobe, is spoken in Benin and Togo. In addition, Kulango, Loma and Lorhon, are spoken in Ghana, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. Additionally, a few Mossi speakers are in Senegal, and speakers of the Dagaare language are also found in Cameroon. The Samu languages of Burkina Faso are Gur languages. Typological features Like most Niger–Congo languages, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hausa People
The Hausa (Endonym, autonyms for singular: Bahaushe (male, m), Bahaushiya (female, f); plural: Hausawa and general: Hausa; exonyms: Ausa; Ajami script, Ajami: ) are the largest native ethnic group in Africa. They speak the Hausa language, which is the second most spoken language after Arabic in the Afro-Asiatic language family. The Hausa are a diverse but culturally homogeneous people based primarily in the Sahelian and the sparse savanna areas of southern Niger and northern Nigeria respectively, numbering around 83 million people with significant indigenized populations in Benin, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Chad, Sudan, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Togo, Ghana, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Senegal and the Gambia. Predominantly Hausa-speaking communities are scattered throughout West Africa and on the traditional Hajj route north and east traversing the Sahara, with an especially large population in and around the town of Agadez. Other Hausa have also moved t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wolof People
The Wolof people () are a West African ethnic group found in northwestern Senegal, the Gambia, and southwestern coastal Mauritania. In Senegal, the Wolof are the largest ethnic group (~43.3%), while elsewhere they are a minority. They refer to themselves as ''Wolof'' and speak the Wolof language, in the West Atlantic branch of the Niger–Congo family of languages. Their early history is unclear. The earliest documented mention of the Wolof is found in the records of 15th-century, Portuguese-financed Italian traveller Alvise Cadamosto, who mentioned well-established Islamic Wolof chiefs advised by Muslim counselors. The Wolof belonged to the medieval-era Wolof Empire of the Senegambia region. Details of the pre-Islamic religious traditions of the Wolof are unknown, and their oral traditions state them to have been adherents of Islam since the founding king of Jolof. However, historical evidence left by Islamic scholars and European travelers suggest that Wolof warriors and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Songhai People
The Songhai people (also Ayneha, Songhay or Sonrai)'' are an ethnolinguistic group in West Africa who speak the various Songhai languages. Their history and ''lingua franca'' is linked to the Songhai Empire which dominated the western Sahel in the 15th and 16th century. Predominantly a Muslim community, the Songhai are found primarily throughout Niger and Mali in the Sahel and Sahara. The name Songhai was historically neither an ethnic nor linguistic designation, but a name for the ruling caste of the Songhai Empire which are the Songhai proper of ''sunni'' and ''Askya'' dynasty found predominantly in present-day Niger. These people call themselves ''Ayneha''. Although some Speakers in Mali have also adopted the name ''Songhay'' as an ethnic designation, other Songhay-speaking groups identify themselves by other ethnic terms such as Zarma (or Djerma, the largest subgroup) or Isawaghen. The dialect of Koyraboro Senni spoken in Gao is unintelligible to speakers of the Zarma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fula People
The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, Pël; bm, Fulaw) are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. Inhabiting many countries, they live mainly in West Africa and northern parts of Central Africa, South Sudan, Darfur, and regions near the Red Sea coast in Sudan. The approximate number of Fula people is unknown due to clashing definitions regarding Fula ethnicity. Various estimates put the figure between 25 and 40 million people worldwide. A significant proportion of the Fula – a third, or an estimated 12 to 13 million – are pastoralists, and their ethnic group has the largest nomadic pastoral community in the world., Quote: The Fulani form the largest pastoral nomadic group in the world. The Bororo'en are noted for the size of their cattle herds. In addition to fully nomadic groups, however, there are also semisedentary Fulani � ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wassoulou
Wassoulou is a cultural area and historical region in the Wassoulou River Valley of West Africa. It is home to about 160,000 people, and is also the native land of the Wassoulou genre of music. Wassoulou surrounds the point where the borders of three present-day countries meet: Mali, Ivory Coast, and Guinea. It includes portions of southwestern Mali, northwestern Ivory Coast, and eastern Guinea. It is bordered by the Niger River to the northwest, and by the Sankarani River to the east. The name ''Wassoulou'' is alternately spelled Wassulu, Wassalou, and Ouassalou. Regions of Africa Culture Wassoulou is the birthplace of Wassoulou music, a style which blends traditional and modern influences with strong female vocalists and a pentatonic hunter's harp. Wassoulou music is one of the two forms of West African music ethnomusicologists believe to be the origin of the American blues, which developed out of music forms dating back to the American slave trade from West Africa. So ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
%2C_scene_at_the_river_front.jpg "Click for more on -> River Niger")
