Wolof people
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 7,902,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Senegal | 7,192,000 |
| Gambia | 300,000 |
| Mauritania | 230,000 |
| France | 70,000 |
| Mali | 60,000 |
| Spain | 50,000 |
| Languages | |
| Wolof | |
| Religion | |
| Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Serer, Jola, Lebou | |
The Wolof people (UK: /ˈwoʊlɒf/) are a Niger-Congo ethnic group native to the Senegambia region of West Africa. Senegambia is today split between western Senegal, northwestern Gambia and coastal Mauritania; the Wolof form the largest ethnic group within Senegambia. In Senegal as a whole, the Wolof are the largest ethnic group (~39.7%), while elsewhere they are a minority. They refer to themselves as Wolof and speak the Wolof language, in the West Atlantic branch of the Niger–Congo family of languages; English inherited Wolof as both the adjectival ethnonym and the name of the language.
Their early history is unclear. The earliest documented mention of the Wolof is found in the records of 15th-century, Portuguese-financed Italian traveller Alvise Cadamosto, who mentioned well-established Islamic Wolof chiefs advised by Muslim counselors. The Wolof belonged to the medieval-era Wolof Empire of the Senegambia region.
Details of the pre-Islamic religious traditions of the Wolof are unknown, and their oral traditions state them to have been adherents of Islam since the founding king of Jolof. However, historical evidence left by Islamic scholars and European travelers suggest that Wolof warriors and rulers did not initially convert to Islam, although accepting and relying on Muslim clerics as counselors and administrators. In and after the 18th century, the Wolof were impacted by the violent jihads in West Africa, which triggered internal disagreements about Islam among the Wolof. In the 19th century, as the colonial French forces launched a war against the Wolof kingdoms, the Wolof people resisted the French and converted to Islam. Contemporary Wolofs are predominantly Sunni Muslims belonging to Mouride and Tijaniyyah Islamic brotherhoods.
The Wolof people, like other West African ethnic groups, historically maintained a rigid, endogamous social stratification that included nobility, clerics, castes, and slaves. The Wolof were close to the French colonial rulers, became integrated into the colonial administration, and have dominated the culture and economy of Senegal since the country's independence from France on 4 April 1960.
They are also referred to as the Wollof, Jolof, Iolof, Whalof, Ialof, Olof, and Volof, among other spellings.