Ethnic Diversity in Côte d'Ivoire
Côte d'Ivoire can be divided into four major ethnic groups:
- East Atlantic
- West Atlantic
- Voltaic
- Mandé
About two thirds of the country's indigenous people live in the southern half of the country, with East Atlantic and West Atlantic cultures each making up one third of the population. In the northern half of the country, the Voltaic peoples in the northeast and the Mandé in the northwest constitute the remaining one-third of the population. Largely due to colonialism and the clash between political and ethnic boundaries, each of Côte d'Ivoire's ethnic groupings has more members outside the country than inside.
The majority of the East Atlantic cultures are the Akan people. Their language is in the Kwa branch of the Niger-Congo language family. Many of these people are descendants of 18th-century immigrants from the kingdom of Asante. Côte d'Ivoire's largest Akan populations are the Baoulé and the Agni, which together make up about 18% of the population. These cultures have a history of centralized hereditary chiefdoms through maternal links, but most are organized into farming villages.
The Bandama River separates the East Atlantic cultures from the West Atlantic. The West Atlantic cultures are most represented by the Kru peoples. This culture is the oldest of Côte d'Ivoire's present-day ethnic groups. Kru societies are organized into villages, and use hunting and gathering. They have little centralization, and they trace descent through paternal links. The largest Kru group in Côte d'Ivoire is the Bété.
In the northwest are descendants of early Mandé conquerors. The largest of these societies is the Malinké, from which the country Mali derives its name. Mandé cultures make up 17% of the population.
Of the Voltaic peoples, the Sénoufo are most numerous. They migrated from the northwest in the 16th and 19th centuries, and the descendants of the two migrations are differentiated by their social organization: part of the population has small groups and another has confederations.
There are over 5 million non-Ivoirians in Côte d'Ivoire. One-third to one-half are from Burkina Faso. Others are from Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, Benin, Senegal, Liberia, Mauritania, France, and Lebanon, and bring various cultures to Côte d'Ivoire.
LINKS
Some additional information about some ehtic groups and their languages:
The AkanThe Mandé Languages
~LM