Hello, Greetings from the
children of Gunjur Lower Basic
School. How is everyone Heron
Way Primary School?
Do you remember
last time we said
we would tell you
about the census
that has just
happened in The
Gambia. Well that is
what we are doing
today.
We want to
start by saying
thank you for
being our
friends.
And we love receiving your letters and learning
about life in England. We really like the wonderful
postcards you made and sent us.
The Muslim Holy month
of Ramadan is just
beginning here. Do you
celebrate Ramadan in
England?
Because it is nearly the end
of the school year we are
sorting out all the furniture
that needs fixing.
So let’s tell you want
we have learned
about the census.
The census
happened a few
weeks ago. Our
government does it
to find out how
many people live in
The Gambia, how
old are and things
like that.
Every compound
or house is
numbered and
marked. This is
compound 554 in
the Gunjur area for
the 2013 census.
The census is done
every 10 years
The census officer came here and completed
the form. So now they know all about
everyone who lives here. And when all the
figures for all the compounds in The Gambia
are added up we will know all about
everyone who is living in the country. They
use computers to calculate and analyses the
figures.
Here is what the figures show.
There are now 1.8 million living
in The Gambia. This figure has
grown from 1 million just 20
years ago. But we are still the
smallest African country.
As a developing
country our
population is
still young. 44
% of the
population in
under 15 and
54 % are aged
15 to 64 years.
Only 2 per cent
are aged over
65
And because we are still developing our
economy over half the population still live
on the land growing food.
But more
people are
coming to
the towns
to find jobs.
As yet
there are
not enough
jobs for
everyone.
Before the
Europeans
came to Africa
and made
countries
there was just
tribes living in
different
areas.
And the area that the English
made The Gambia from had
several tribes living here. We
are going to tell you about the
main four tribes.
There are four main
tribes in The Gambia.
They are: Mandinka,
Wolloff, Jola, and Fula.
The Mandinkas are some times refer
to as Mandingo, Manlike or Mande
and make up of 42% of the
population of The Gambia – so they
are the largest group.
The Mandinkas
are widespread
through out the
whole of west
Africa particularly
in Mali, Senegal,
and Guinea plus
all of The Gambia.
The Mandinkas are mostly farmers.
They were once nomadic but now
many live in the kiangs and jarras
settlements in the upper region.
They migrated from mandin empire
in ancient mali. They moved in
search of good farm lands. They now
grow much of Gambia’s rice taking
water from The River Gambia.
The Mandinka tribe
speak their own tribal
mandinka language.
They have surnames
Fattys’ Sonkos’
Drammehs’ and
Jawaras..
People from the Fula tribe
are to be found in many
West African countries.
They make up 18% of The
Gambian population.
They are by tradition
nomadic herdsman but
now they settle and also
grow crops.
Many Fula’s like
me are lighter in
skin – may be
because we
come from the
North of Africa
originally. There
are several
dialects of Fula.
Common Fula surnames
include Jallow Bah Baldeh
Bendeh Barry Sowe
The photo shows a Fula lady in
traditional dress. She also has a
traditional mask. They were
once common and permanent
but now Fula’s use temporary
ink and only for special
ceremonies like weddings.
The Wollof ethnic group (or jollof, as they
some times known) in Gambia make up
16% of the population and are the third
largest ethnic group. They speak their
own tribal language of Wollof. Wollof
surnames include Jobe, Njie ,Joof
,Sarr, Jeng.
The Wollofs are to be
found in fairly large
numbers in the areas of
land up river, but also by
the sea as many of them
are fishermen. But most of
the Wollof people are to
be found in Senegal.
Do you recognise this man? He is
Akon, the American singer. He is
from the Wollof tribe originally
from Senegal. Majority of the
Wollofs live in Senegal – the
country that surrounds The
Gambia.
This is our traditional way of
dressing. In the future I will
dress like this – but only on
special occasions like religious
festivals or family celebrations.
Do you like the dress?
The Jolas are located mainly in
the Kombo and Foni in the
Western Region and midGambia. Our president is from
the Jola tribe. He is from the
Foni Region.
No one is sure were we
tradionally came from.
And we have no griots to
hand down our history.
But is known that we were
the first group in The
Gambia area
Do you what a griot
is? It is a story teller
who remembers all
the important things
about a tribe and
tells his children. So
important
information passes
from one generation
to another through
the griot
We are traditionally farmers. We
have the common surnames
Jarju, Nyassi, Colley and
Sambou. My own surname is
Sambou. We have sub branches
too called the karonincas, foni
and casas.
Well we hope you
enjoyed finding out
about the census
and the people of
The Gambia. It is
nearly time for the
summer break for
both us and you. We
will write again in
September. For now
we say good bye and
thank you to you all
at Heron Way
Primary School for
being our friends.
Hey we almost forgot . . .
We hope you have a
GREAT summer break and
let’s write in September.