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Gambia's Ethnic Groups / Tribes

• African 99% • Non-African 1%
   
Fulani 18% Serahule 9%
   
Jola 10% Wolof 16%
   
Mandinka 42% Other 4%

Information: See also PHOTOS of people

There are 8 main ethnic groups in Gambia living side by side with a minimum of inter-tribal friction, each preserving its own language, music, cultural traditions and even caste systems though there is an increasing amount of cultural interaction and fusion. Indeed, the average Gambian will tell you he feels he has more in common with his countrymen than he has with a Senegalese from the same tribe! This by no means suggests that there is a lack of individual identity. While there is growth in multi-ethnic expressions, the search by groups to reaffirm their identities remains.

Each of these communities speak their own language, all of which are classified as part of the Niger-Congo language group and as a whole represent a snap-shot of Senegambia society. However, classifying people by blood or ethnic traits is increasingly difficult as there has been extensive migrations and inter-marriages over the centuries. There were migrations of people into the Gambia before the 19th century but such movement of people greatly increased after the establishment of Bathurst (Banjul) in 1816. They came from Casamance, Futa Toro, Sierra Leone, Mali, Guinea Bissau and other West African countries.

The single largest ethnic group in Gambia is the Mandinka, (Mandingos) an agricultural people with a hereditary nobility. Before they migrated to the Gambia valley they lived in the northern slopes of Futa Jallon Plateau. The country of the Manding is in the Niger Valley.

The Wolofs are very prominent in the capital city of Banjul and are prominent in the Senegambia region. Their language is the lingua franca for Gambia and can be heard being spoken in trading centres and family compounds. In the up-river area of Gambia they are called the Fanafa.

The people called the Creoles or Akus are Christians who are descendants of freed slaves who first came to The Gambia in 1787 from Sierra Leone. and who rank among the bureaucratic elite as well a being prominent in the private professional classes.

The Jola or Kujamat people are predominantly organized around the cultivation of rice and are mainly based in the Foni district of the Western Division. Theirs is a uniquely segmentary society with no tradition of having a paramount chief. Their traditional location in swamps and deep forests meant that they were among the last people to be converted to Islam.

The Fulani's or Pol Futa a they are sometimes known  are mainly engaged in herding of cattle and running their ubiquitous small corner shops. They are generally of lighter skin than most of the population and several theories, some of which have proved controversial have been put forward as to where they originally came from.

The Serahule people are involved mainly in farming, trade and property development. They can be found in their largest numbers in the Basse region and speak in a number of dialects including Azer and Kinbakka. They created the Ghana Empire which encompassed Mauritania to present-day Ghana.

The other ethnic groups are the Serer who are predominantly involved in fisheries have customs and a language which bear considerable similarities to the Wolof. Then there are the TukulorTukulor woman who share strong ties with the Fulani's culture, history and traditions and are mainly engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry.

There also exists a small community of other groups such as the Lebanese, Europeans, Mansoanka, Bayot, Bambara, Badibunka, Balanta, Hausa, Mankanya and the Mandjak Christians.
 
 
 
 
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Akus Serer
   
Fulani Tukulor
   
Jola Wolof
   
Mandinka Other
   
Serahule  
 
 
       
 
 
 

 
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