The Senegambia is, in the narrow sense, a historical name for a geographical region in West Africa, which lies between the Senegal River in the north and the Gambia River in the south. However, there are also text sources which state that Senegambia is understood in a broader sense and equated with the term the Western region. This refers to the coastal areas between Senegal and Sierra Leone, where the inland border in the east was not further defined.
The music of the Gambia is closely linked musically with that of its neighbor, Senegal, which surrounds its inland frontiers completely. Among its prominent musicians is Foday Musa Suso. Mbalax is a widely known popular dance music of the Gambia and neighbouring Senegal. It fuses popular Western music and dance, with sabar, the traditional drumming and dance music of the Wolof and Serer people.
The Wolof people are a West African ethnic group found in northwestern Senegal, the Gambia, and southwestern coastal Mauritania. In Senegal, the Wolof are the largest ethnic group (~43.3%), 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.
The sabar is a traditional drum from Senegal that is also played in the Gambia. It is associated with Wolof and Serer people.
Senegal is a multilingual country: Ethnologue lists 36 languages, Wolof being the most widely spoken language.
N'Dour is a typical Gambian and Senegalese patronym of the Serer people. They are the same people but because the French colonised Senegal and the British colonised the Gambia, there are variations in spelling but pronounced the same way. They share the same surname with the 15th century Serer King of Saloum Maat Saloum Mbegani Ndour also known as Mbegan Ndour.
Diop, uncommonly spelled Dioup, is a popular Wolof surname in Senegal and Gambia, and may refer to:
The Serer people are a West African ethnoreligious group. They are the third-largest ethnic group in Senegal, making up 15% of the Senegalese population. They are also found in northern Gambia and southern Mauritania.
Diouf or "Joof" is a Serer surname. Notable people with the name include:
Senegalese wrestling is a type of folk wrestling traditionally performed by the Serer people and now a national sport in Senegal and parts of The Gambia, and is part of a larger West African form of traditional wrestling. The Senegalese form traditionally allows blows with the hands (frappe), the only one of the West African traditions to do so. As a larger confederation and championship around Lutte Traditionnelle has developed since the 1990s, Senegalese fighters now practice both forms, called officially Lutte Traditionnelle sans frappe and Lutte Traditionnelle avec frappe for the striking version.
Seck is a surname found both in German and Senegalese populations. Notable people with the surname include:
Senghor is a Serer surname - an ethnic group found in Senegal, Gambia and Mauritania. Personalities with this surname include:
Faye is a typical Serer surname - an ethnic group found in Senegal, Gambia and Mauritania. This Serer surname is unrelated to the similar given name in the Western world. They are also pronounced differently.
Guelowar, also spelled Gelwar, Guelwar, Guelware, Gueleware or Gueloware, was a maternal dynasty in the pre-colonial Serer kingdoms of Sine and Saloum. They were from the Mandinka ethnic group. The offspring of Mandinka women and Serer men became the kings of Sine and Saloum. The dynasty lasted from the mid-14th century to 1969, the year both kings died.
Sarr is a Senegalese, Mauritanian and Gambian surname common among the Serer people of West Africa, and their descendants.
Thiaw is a Senegalese and Gambian surname common among the Serer people of West Africa. Notable people with the surname include:
'Njie, N'jie, or Njai, N'Diaye, N'diay (German) or Njaay is a Serer patronym. It is worn by both Serer and Wolof people.
Notable persons with this surname include:
Musa Ngum was a singer and songwriter who was very popular in Senegal and Gambia. He was one of the pioneers of mbalax music, and "helped to define the mbalax style of popular music in the Senegambia" and "had a strong influence on Youssou N'Dour and other mbalax pioneers". He was "something of a cult icon back in the Senegambia region, and a pioneer of the mbalax fusion style". The mbalax, which originated from the Serer religious and ultra–conservative njuup music tradition sang during Ndut rites by circumcised boys was the foundation of Ngum's music career. He mastered many of the njuup classics and built a name for himself whilst at the same time developing his voice.
Babacar Sedikh Diouf or Babacar Sédikh Diouf is a Senegalese historian, author, researcher, campaigner against "Wolofization", a Pan-Africanist, and former teacher. He has written extensively about the history and culture of Senegal, Africa, and that of the Serer ethnic group to which he belong. He usually writes by the pen name Babacar Sedikh Diouf.
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