Sokone is a town in the Fatick Region of central

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

. Sokone is a tranquil town on the south-eastern

Sine-Saloum Delta Saloum Delta or Sine-Saloum Delta is a river delta in Senegal at the mouth of the Saloum River where it flows into the North Atlantic Ocean. The delta covers 180,000 hectares. It extends 72.5 kilometers along the coastline and 35 kilometers inland. ...

amid the mangroves. It is located on the N5 road from

Kaolack Kaolack (; ) is a town with a population of 298,904 (2023 census) on the north bank of the Saloum River about from its mouth and the N1 road in Senegal. It is the capital of the Kaolack Region, which borders The Gambia to the south. Kaolack ...

Banjul Banjul (, (US) and ), officially the City of Banjul, is the capital city of The Gambia. It is the centre of the eponymous administrative division which is home to an estimated 400,000 residents, making it The Gambia's largest and most densely ...

, 50 km south of Kaolack and 66 km north of Banjul. During the colonial period, the town was a

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large ...

port and the old warehouses can still be seen around town along with a large number of peanut fields in the surrounding country side. Along with peanuts,

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae. Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...

cashews Cashew is the common name of a tropical evergreen tree ''Anacardium occidentale'', in the family Anacardiaceae. It is native to South America and is the source of the cashew nut and the cashew apple, an accessory fruit. The tree can grow as tal ...

, and many fruits and vegetables are grown. Agriculture and fishing continue to be the main economic activities in the area. The main ethnic group in the area is the

Sereer The Serer people ('' Serer proper'': Seereer or Sereer) are a West African ethnoreligious groupGastellu, Jean-Marc, ''Petit traité de matrilinarité. L'accumulation dans deux sociétés rurales d'Afrique de l'Ouest'', Cahiers ORSTOM, série Sci ...

people, followed by the

Wolof Wolof or Wollof may refer to: * Wolof people, an ethnic group found in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania * Wolof language, a language spoken in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania * The Wolof or Jolof Empire, a medieval West African successor of the Mal ...

Pulaar Pulaar (in Latin script, Latin: , in Ajami script, Ajami: ), often referred to as Pulaar du Nord, is dialect of the Fula language spoken primarily as a first language by the Fula people, Fula and Toucouleur peoples in the Senegal River valley ar ...

s, and

Mandinkas The Mandinka or Malinke are a West African ethnic group primarily found in southern Mali, The Gambia, southern Senegal and eastern Guinea. Numbering about 11 million, they are the largest subgroup of the Mandé peoples and one of the largest eth ...

. The

and

languages are the most commonly heard languages, but many people in the town speak French as well. In 2013, according to official estimates, Sokone had a population of some 14,500.

History

As of the 20th century, the area where Sokone meaning inside the house in Mandinka Language is located, specifically the extensive southwestern part of the Salum Delta, was densely populated. A process of migration from the Rip Region. The Mandinkas were the main settlers in this region, and this process continued into the late 1970s, when the Mandinkas were joined by different ethnic groups such as the Wolof, Fulani, Sereer and Sarakollés.

References

External links

* Populated places in Fatick region Communes of Senegal {{senegal-geo-stub