Bambara people
ߓߡߊߣߊ߲ | |
|---|---|
Bambara people in upper Sénégal river valley, 1890. (illustration from Colonel Frey's Côte occidentale d'Afrique, 1890, Fig.49 p.87) | |
| Total population | |
| 5,000,000 (2019) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Mali, Guinea, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Niger, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Gambia, Morocco | |
| Mali | 6,705,796 (33.3%) |
| Senegal | 91,071 (1.34%) (1988 census) |
| Gambia | 22,583 (1.3%) |
| Morocco | 400 |
| Languages | |
| Bambara language, French, Arabic (historically) | |
| Religion | |
| Sunni Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Mandinka people, Soninke people, other Mande speaking groups. | |
The Bambara (Bambara: ߓߡߊߣߊ߲, romanized: Bamana or ߓߊ߲ߡߊߣߊ߲ Banmana) are a Mandé ethnic group native to much of West Africa, primarily southern Mali, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Senegal. They have been associated with the historic Bambara Empire. Today, they make up the largest Mandé ethnic group in Mali, with 80% of the population speaking the Bambara language, regardless of ethnicity.