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62-594: Ziguinchor ( French: [zi.gɛ̃.ʃoʁ] ; Wolof : Siggcoor [sigːcɔːr] ; Arabic : زيغينكور ) is the capital of the Ziguinchor Region , and the chief town of the Casamance area of Senegal , lying at the mouth of the Casamance River . It has a population of 214,874 (2023 census). It is the eighth largest city of Senegal, but is nearly separated from the north of the country by

124-465: A slave port during much of the Portuguese rule. The post boasted a fort with a few pieces of artillery by 1700, but was never an important economic center. The French occupied Carabane island downstream in 1836, forcing Portuguese ships to pay duties there. Despite frantic diplomatic efforts by governor Honório Barreto , Portugal never really tried to defend their claim to the region. Ziguinchor

186-850: A French international school serving maternelle (preschool) through collège , is in Ziguinchor. The Catholic University of West Africa opened a campus in Ziguinchor in 2006. Ziguinchor University was founded in 2007. Ziguinchor is twinned with: 15th century 16th century 15th century 16th century 17th century 18th century 19th century 16th century 17th century 15th century 16th century Portuguese India 17th century Portuguese India 18th century Portuguese India 16th century 17th century 19th century Portuguese Macau 20th century Portuguese Macau 15th century [Atlantic islands] Wolof language Wolof

248-410: A council of elders make many of the daily decisions for the community and exert much influence. Despite the patriarchal nature of Jola society, many women played major roles in the community and were often members in village councils, religious leaders, and landowners. Women are also important as cultivators of wet rice fields in which they predominated. Polygamy and genital mutilation are not practiced by

310-569: A decree, as the effort by the Senegalese ministry of education was to be part of a multi-national standardization effort. This alphabet has been used since pre-colonial times, as the first writing system to be adopted for Wolof, and is still used by many people, mainly Imams and their students in Quranic and Islamic schools. Additionally, another script exists: Garay , an alphabetic script invented by Assane Faye 1961, which has been adopted by

372-652: A faint epenthetic schwa vowel. Of the consonants in the chart above, p d c k do not occur in the intermediate or final position, being replaced by f r s and zero, though geminate pp dd cc kk are common. Phonetic p c k do occur finally, but only as allophones of b j g due to final devoicing . Minimal pairs : Unlike most sub-Saharan African languages, Wolof has no tones . Other non-tonal languages of sub-Saharan Africa include Amharic , Swahili and Fula . In Wolof, verbs are unchangeable stems that cannot be conjugated. To express different tenses or aspects of an action, personal pronouns are conjugated – not

434-894: A locally made farming tool called the kajando . Like some of the other indigenous ethnic groups of the Senegambian region—the Baga, the Balanta , the Konyagi, etc.—the Jola ethnic group did not develop a political scale that expanded beyond village level compared to ethnic groups that migrated to the region like the Soninke and the Mandinka. But this does not mean they did not develop a sophisticated political system. The egalitarian nature of their societies (rare in most societies), structured around

496-419: A long neck, today are nylon fishing line. Before, they were made of palm tree roots (Jola language: kuhall kata kubekel ). The neck is a bamboo stick (Mandinka language: bangoe ) that passes through the calabash to the other side. A hole is made in the sound box to allow the sound to escape. The bridge of the ekonting is not fixed to its skin as many lutes are. It is free, and can be moved back and forth on

558-572: A nationally prominent leader of the Yewwi Askan Wi coalition. Ziguinchor was one of the venues for the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations football championship. The city Sports and Arts Associations conceived for the first time the concept of having specific suburbs barracking for each national team in order to give a vibrant and joyful atmosphere to the Football tournament that saw Algeria , Côte d'Ivoire , Ghana , Zambia , Egypt , Congo play

620-400: A political ploy by President Macky Sall to discredit a rival. Ziguinchor remains economically dependent on its role as a cargo port, transport hub and ferry terminal. The "Nationale 4" highway crosses the Casamance River just east of the city, linking the region with Bignona about 25 km to the north, and (via The Gambia ), the rest of Senegal. A vibrant tourist destination,

682-535: A population with a majority of Diola and Christian , the effects of a large migration of Wolof Muslims fleeing drought in the north during the 1970s caused tensions to flare. A 1983 demonstration against price rises in Ziguinchor Market was put down violently by Senegalese forces, and an insurgency by the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) followed, effectively wrecking the economy of

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744-460: A roaming spirit with no respect from the other spirits. Some Jola religious festivals include the Samay , Kumpo and Niasse . Unlike most ethnic groups of the Senegambian region, the Jola do not have a caste system of Jewelers griots , slaves , nobility , leather workers, etc. Their communities are based on extended clan settlements normally large enough to be given independent names, including

806-561: A small number of Wolof speakers. The first syllable of words is stressed ; long vowels are pronounced with more time but are not automatically stressed, as they are in English. The vowels are as follows: There may be an additional low vowel, or this may be confused with orthographic à . All vowels may be long (written double) or short. /aː/ is written ⟨à⟩ before a long (prenasalized or geminate) consonant (example làmbi "arena"). When é and ó are written double,

868-557: A traditional secular leader. The most prominent Jola kingdom is in Oussouye . Among the Muslim Jola, there is also the marabout , a religious leader and teacher. Traditional animist rituals are overseen by elders, who have an important role in Jola society. For Jola boys to attain manhood, they must take part in the initiation festival known as futamp , which takes place every 15 to 20 years in every Jola village. The word Jola

930-703: A −ATR root, any further suffixes harmonize with the root. That is, the +ATR suffix/clitic is "transparent" to vowel harmony. An example is the negative -u- in, Door-u-ma-leen-fa /dɔːrumalɛːnfa/ begin- NEG - 1SG - 3PL - LOC Door-u-ma-leen-fa /dɔːrumalɛːnfa/ begin-NEG-1SG-3PL-LOC 'I did not begin them there.' where harmony would predict *door-u-më-léén-fë . That is, I or U behave as if they are their own −ATR analogs. Authors differ in whether they indicate vowel harmony in writing, as well as whether they write clitics as separate words. Consonants in word-initial position are as follows: All simple nasals, oral stops apart from q and glottal, and

992-475: Is a melting pot of all the ethnic groups co-existing in Senegal: Mandinka , Jola , Wolof , Fula / Halpulaar , Mancagne , Manjack , Soninke , Serer , Bainouk , Balanta and Creole . Jola have been the majority of the population in the region since at least 1500, and culturally share much with the people of Guinea-Bissau . One of three dialects of Guinea-Bissau Creole , Cacheu–Ziguinchor ,

1054-480: Is also home to a large peanut oil factory . The MV Joola , which sank in 2002, was sailing from Ziguinchor to Dakar . The loss of the ferry, which was not replaced until 2005, cut the main link between Casamance and the rest of the country. The new ferry, which began regular runs in 2007, is named for local anti-colonial martyr Aline Sitoe Diatta , and promises a boost to the local economy. The city has an airport, Ziguinchor Airport . A number of buildings in

1116-465: Is approximately 1,550 millimetres or 61 inches, which is more than three times that of Dakar, although less than half that of Conakry . In the decades following independence, Ziguinchor was a stronghold of the Socialist Party of Senegal (PS). Robert Sagna , a long-time minister in Socialist Party governments, was also Mayor of Ziguinchor from 1984 to 2009. In the beginning of 2007 Sagna left

1178-472: Is centered around the city. Resistant to first Islam and later Christianity , many Jola retain a degree of animist practices, while Basse Casamance is the only majority Catholic area in Senegal . Ziguinchor is the birthplace of some famous Senegalese people. Ziguinchor has a tropical savanna climate ( Köppen Aw ). It has hot, rainless winters and warm, very wet summers. The average annual rainfall

1240-419: Is divided into a variety of dialects which may not, at times, be mutually intelligible. These dialects correspond to the different Jola tribes: Overall, more than half of Jolas (54%) are Muslims. In Gambia, 90% of Jolas are Muslims. Some Jolas continue to follow their traditional religion and rituals in spite of the influence of Islam and Christianity in recent times. Even though some accepted Islam after

1302-488: Is most often written in this orthography, in which phonemes have a clear one-to-one correspondence to graphemes . Table below is the Wolof Latin alphabet and the corresponding phoneme. Highlighted letters are only used for loanwords and are not included in native Wolof words. The Arabic -based script of Wolof, referred to as Wolofal , was set by the government as well, between 1985 and 1990, although never adopted by

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1364-716: Is one of the Senegambian languages , which are characterized by consonant mutation . It is often said to be closely related to the Fula language because of a misreading by Wilson (1989) of the data in Sapir (1971) that have long been used to classify the Atlantic languages. Senegalese/Mauritanian Wolof and Gambian Wolof are distinct national standards: they use different orthographies and use different languages (French vs. English) as their source for technical loanwords. However, both

1426-429: Is rice cultivation, which is tied closely to their religion and social organization. Jolas are also palm oil manufacturers and palm wine tappers in the Senegambian region. They farm cows, pigs, goats, chickens, sheep and ducks. Jola crafts include basket weaving, pottery, and building. Elders are considered very important in Jola society and are believed to possess occult powers and guard societal traditions. In villages,

1488-461: Is spoken by more than 10 million people and about 40 percent (approximately 5 million people) of Senegal's population speak Wolof as their native language. Increased mobility, and especially the growth of the capital Dakar, created the need for a common language: today, an additional 40 percent of the population speak Wolof as a second or acquired language . In the whole region from Dakar to Saint-Louis , and also west and southwest of Kaolack , Wolof

1550-568: Is spoken by the vast majority of people. Typically when various ethnic groups in Senegal come together in cities and towns, they speak Wolof. It is therefore spoken in almost every regional and departmental capital in Senegal. Nevertheless, the official language of Senegal is French . In The Gambia , although about 20–25 percent of the population speak Wolof as a first language, it has a disproportionate influence because of its prevalence in Banjul ,

1612-558: Is the Mandinka name for this ethnic group and means 'payback', since Jolas are renowned for doing back what has been done to them, be it a good or a bad deed. The name of the Jola tribe in their own language is Ajamat (singular) or Ajamataw (plural). Diola is the traditional transliteration in French , which is also very common in English sources. The Jola speak the Jola language , which

1674-495: Is the most widely spoken language in Senegal, spoken natively by the Wolof people (40% of the population) but also by most other Senegalese as a second language. Wolof dialects vary geographically and between rural and urban areas. The principal dialect of Dakar , for instance, is an urban mixture of Wolof, French , and Arabic . Wolof is the standard spelling and may also refer to the Wolof ethnicity or culture. Variants include

1736-622: The Gambian capital, where 75 percent of the population use it as a first language. Furthermore, in Serekunda , The Gambia's largest town, although only a tiny minority are ethnic Wolofs, approximately 70 percent of the population speaks or understands Wolof. In Mauritania , about seven percent of the population (approximately 185,000 people) speak Wolof. Most live near or along the Senegal River that Mauritania shares with Senegal. Wolof

1798-500: The Jola Karon, Jola Mlomp, Jola Elinnkin, Jola Caginol, Jola Huluf, Jola Jamat, Jola Joheyt, Jola Bayot, Jola Brin, Jola Seleky, Jola Kabrouse, Jola Jiwat, and Jola Foni. Jolas are also able herbal medicine practitioners. Their high adaptation to nature and the environment allowed them to be able to create a civilisation centred on music, natural medicine, and most important of all, rice cultivation, which they do effectively by using

1860-445: The Jola although outside influence has made these more common in certain villages. The ekonting is a three-string gourd instrument, the folk lute of the Jola people. It has an internal pass through body dowel stick with a round gourd body and its sound box is made of a hemispherical calabash, with a nailed goatskin. Before the invention of nails, palm tree thorns or wood pegs were used as nails. The three strings, which are attached to

1922-451: The Jola began to cultivate peanuts as a cash crop in the drier forests. Other activities include palm wine tapping, honey collecting, livestock rearing and the production of other crops such as sweet potatoes, yams and watermelon. The traditional religion of the Jola is animism , which is practised through fetishistic rituals and ceremonies. However, the Jola populations living in well-connected areas have become Islamized due to

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1984-587: The Jola language, Fogni , is one of the six national languages of Senegal . Their economy has been based on wet rice cultivation for at least one thousand years. This system has been characterised "one of the most significant examples of 'agrarian civilizations' in West Africa ". However, the Jola probably reached the Lower Casamance region in the 14th century, assimilating the previous Bainuk people and their rice tradition. In colonial times,

2046-454: The Jola people of Casamance and the Gambia. Below is a list of few Jola instruments. Note: The Jola language of Thionck Essyl is used to name them. Their names may differ somewhat in other villages ' languages . The Jola are widely considered the first inhabitants of the lower reaches of the Casamance and Gambia rivers . The megaliths and stone circles of the area may have been built by

2108-636: The PS and led the Taku Défaraat Sénégal coalition in a failed presidential bid. In 2001's legislative elections, a big push by President Abdoulaye Wade 's ruling PDS party, spearheading the Sopi coalition (joined in 2008 by And-Jëf/Pads ), was led by Ziguinchor politician Abdoulaye Baldé , a former General Secretary to the President. In the 2001 elections, the a Ziguinchor National Assembly seat

2170-691: The Soninke-Marabout war, they honour the traditional use of palm wine in their rituals. They have one God that they associate with the natural phenomena like sky, rain, and the year, Emit or Ata Emit, literally, "To Whom Belongs The Universe" or "The Master-Owner Of The Universe". They have charms and sacred precincts that they honour and with which they communicate (but do not worship). The Jola people believe that spirits called Bakin or Eneerti (Mandinka Jalang ) can protect their families, their villages, and their rice fields; and can even protect them from conversion to Islam and Christianity. Before

2232-522: The accent mark is often only on the first letter. Vowels fall into two harmonizing sets according to ATR : i u é ó ë are +ATR, e o a are the −ATR analogues of é ó ë . For example, Lekk-oon-ngeen /lɛkːɔːnŋɡɛːn/ eat- PAST - FIN . 2PL Lekk-oon-ngeen /lɛkːɔːnŋɡɛːn/ eat-PAST-FIN.2PL 'You (plural) ate.' Dóor-óon-ngéen /doːroːnŋɡeːn/ hit- PAST - FIN . 2PL Dóor-óon-ngéen /doːroːnŋɡeːn/ hit-PAST-FIN.2PL 'You (plural) hit.' There are no −ATR analogs of

2294-481: The ancestors of the Serer people or of the Jola. Around the 11th century, in response to a progressively drying climate, Jola farmers created a padi system for growing rice, impounding rain and stream water during the wet season in padis. The Serer and Jola people believe in a common ancestry and have a joking relationship with each other which they assign to their ancient shared cultural heritage. According to

2356-454: The arc's string, while the other hand holds one end of the arc and adjusts the tune with the thumb. The other end of the arc rests in the mouth of the player, who sings. The vibration from the player's song on the string of the arc and the beating with the fine flexible string leads to the pleasant and characteristic sound of the galire. The exile of young people to cities has led to the stark decline in usage of this traditional instrument among

2418-520: The area at least once, pursuing PAIGC rebels. Cannon fire could be heard in the city for much of the war. During this period Ziguinchor became a main post for both the Senegalese Army and French forces, guarding the frontier that cut Jola families and communities in two. As the capital of Casamance, Ziguinchor has been at the center of a three-decade-long conflict with Dakar that has flared into open civil war on more than one occasion. With

2480-417: The beaches of nearby Cap Skirring were discovered by foreign tourists in the 1960s, and the location was built up to become one of the first Club Med resorts. Ziguinchor region is also known for growing great quantities of rice, oranges, mangoes , bananas, cashews , tropical fruits and vegetables, fish, and prawns, much of which are processed locally and exported from the city, its port, and its airport. It

2542-528: The end of the Bainuk migrations in their traditional history. It could also come from "ji gi cor,"' meaning "place of several fields." The oldest habitation of the area was a Jola village. The first European settlement in the area was founded by the Portuguese in 1645 as a dependency of Cacheu populated by settlers from Cape Verde , and lancados and other Afro-Europeans. The Portuguese objective

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2604-501: The first half of the Championship in that city. This successful and original experience inspired other tournament organisers from then on. Mali hosting the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations used the same concept through the famous Ndiatiguiya, (having specific suburbs barracking for a specific team throughout the tournament), and then Korea/Japan during the 2002 World Cup used the same concept as well. École française François-Rabelais ,

2666-426: The high vowels i u . They trigger +ATR harmony in suffixes when they occur in the root, but in a suffix, they may be transparent to vowel harmony. The vowels of some suffixes or enclitics do not harmonize with preceding vowels. In most cases following vowels harmonize with them. That is, they reset the harmony, as if they were a separate word. However, when a suffix/clitic contains a high vowel (+ATR) that occurs after

2728-444: The influence of Islam and Christianity in their ways of beliefs, all Jolas placed great respect in the proper observation of funeral ceremony, and still today some do, for they are of the belief that it enables the dead person's soul to go to its final destination to join his or her ancestors. It was and still is strongly accepted by those Jolas who still practice their ancestral religion that without performing these funeral sacred rites,

2790-413: The influence of the nearby Mandinka people . As a result, many Jola no longer speak their own language and more than half are now Muslims. Unlike the dominant cultures of West Africa, most Jola communities lack any social or political stratification, being organised into families or neighbourhoods. However, some communities have a central authority, a king, whose role resembles more that of a priest than of

2852-503: The legend of Jambooñ and Againe (an ancient Serer and Jola legend ), two sisters boarded a pirogue with their parties. Due to act of nature , the pirogue broke into half at the Point of Sangomar . Those who headed south became the ancestors of the Jola (descendants of Agaire) and those who headed north became the ancestors of the Serer people (descendants of Jambooñ). The Point of Sangomar

2914-720: The limited village environment gave them the possibilities to develop a political system based on collective consciousness, which they worked through their initiation rites. In a sense, the Jolas' political achievement in the village was socialism. It was totally tied to their religious belief in the Bakin. This political achievement is not easy to reach if the society that runs it does not have well-defined rules of administration and penalties. Jolas have many traditional economic activities like fishing, farming groundnuts, tapping palm wine, and processing palm oil: their most intensive economic activity

2976-497: The nation of The Gambia . Unlike the semi-arid to arid north of Senegal, Ziguinchor has a tropical savanna climate , as it is under the influence of the West African Monsoon . It has an average annual accumulated rainfall of approximately 1,547 millimetres or 61 inches. There are several competing etymologies for Ziguinchor's name. The best known comes from the time when Portuguese traders and explorers came to

3038-666: The older French Ouolof , Jollof , or Jolof , which now typically refers either to the Jolof Empire or to jollof rice , a common West African rice dish. Now-archaic forms include Volof and Olof . English is believed to have adopted some Wolof loanwords , such as banana , via Spanish or Portuguese , and nyam , used also in Spanish: 'ñam' as an onomatopoeia for eating or chewing, in several Caribbean English Creoles meaning "to eat" (compare Seychellois Creole nyanmnyanm , also meaning "to eat"). Wolof

3100-580: The region to form a trading post. It is derived from a Portuguese phrase, Cheguei e choram , "I came and they cry". The local people, seeing the Europeans, began crying, thinking they were about to be enslaved. Other scholars believe that the name likely predates the Portuguese arrival. The earliest sources mention the Bainuk of Ezigichor . The term may come from the Bainuk language words "asi nin core," meaning "places to go are finished," relating to

3162-488: The region. The 2004 peace accords, signed in Ziguinchor, were hoped to be the end of the violence, but in 2006, sporadic fighting by an MFDC split and laying of land mines again erupted in rural areas nearby. Ousmane Sonko , a prominent opposition leader, was elected mayor of Ziguinchor in 2022. The city was the scene of large protests in June 2023 after his conviction on charges that many Senegalese, especially youth, view as

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3224-414: The skin of the sound box and it is always held in position by the pressure of the strings when it is in playing position. The galire is a one-string instrument of the Jola of Thionck-Essyl, with its strings stretched across a single 1-meter curve made of fine mangrove wood. At first sight, it looks like a hunter's bow. It is played with one hand holding a flexible fine string (made of palm leaves) beating on

3286-414: The sonorants l r y w may be geminated (doubled), though geminate r only occurs in ideophones . (Geminate consonants are written double.) Q is inherently geminate and may occur in an initial position; otherwise, geminate consonants and consonant clusters, including nt, nc, nk, nq ( [ɴq] ), are restricted to word-medial and -final position. In the final place, geminate consonants may be followed by

3348-485: The soul is prevented from entering the presence of the creator (Ata Amit), and the ancestors. Jolas believed strongly in living a good humanistic life in this world. They believe that if one lives a bad life in this world, when the person dies the soul of the dead person is punished to become an exile spirit with no bed to lie on. In the Jola Cassa subgroup this exile spirit is called a Holowa . This exile spirit becomes

3410-515: The spoken and written languages are mutually intelligible. Lebu Wolof , on the other hand, is incomprehensible to standard Wolof speakers, a distinction that has been obscured because all Lebu speakers are bilingual in standard Wolof. Note: Phonetic transcriptions are printed between square brackets [] following the rules of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The Latin orthography of Wolof in Senegal

3472-538: The town have classified by government decree as historic, the cemetery and several government buildings, like the Ziguinchor Regional Council. Among the places of worship , they are predominantly Christian churches and temples: Roman Catholic Diocese of Ziguinchor ( Catholic Church ), Assemblies of God , Universal Church of the Kingdom of God . There are also Muslim mosques. Ziguinchor

3534-600: The traditional crop of the region, was hurt by the government's push to cultivate groundnuts. They forced the clearing of extensive forest areas. The French government also imported rice from the intensive farming they encouraged in French Indochina , shrinking the market for Casamance's traditional main produce. After independence, the city's economic growth slowed, in part due to the War of Independence in neighboring Guinea-Bissau . The Portuguese military crossed into

3596-474: The verbs. Therefore, the term temporal pronoun has become established for this part of speech. It is also referred to as a focus form. Jola people The Jola or Diola ( endonym : Ajamat ) are an ethnic group found in Senegal , the Gambia , and Guinea-Bissau . Most Jola live in small villages scattered throughout Senegal, especially in the Lower Casamance region. The main dialect of

3658-535: Was eventually transferred to France on 22 April 1888, fulfilling a deal brokered at the Berlin conference of 1886. Under the French, Ziguinchor became a major trade port, mostly due to the intensive groundnut cultivation which the colonial government encouraged in the interior. By 1900, the area was largely converted to Christianity, although significant Syncretist and Muslim communities flourish. Rice growing,

3720-526: Was gained by the PDS, and held again in 2007, prompting speculation that Sagna and his party's days of dominating local politics were numbered. Sagna, though, won a legislative seat on proportional representation in 2007, and continued in both offices until 2009. The Sopi Coalition won the March 2009 local election in Ziguinchor, and Baldé was elected Mayor. He served until 2022, when he was defeated by Ousmane Sonko ,

3782-434: Was set by government decrees between 1971 and 1985. The language institute " Centre de linguistique appliquée de Dakar " (CLAD) is widely acknowledged as an authority when it comes to spelling rules for Wolof. The complete alphabet is A, À, B, C, D, E, É, Ë, F, G, I, J, K, L, M, N, Ñ, Ŋ, O, Ó, P, Q, R, S, T, U, W, X, Y. The letters H, V, and Z are not included in native Wolof words. They are only used in foreign words. Wolof

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3844-525: Was to found a trading post and establish an alliance with the local mansa or king of the Kasa kingdom . Chroniclers described him as the ruler most friendly to the Portuguese along the Guinean coast. The king started to live in a European manner, with table, chairs and western clothing. His court included several Portuguese merchants. One of the commodities for trade were enslaved Africans, and Ziguinchor became

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