Gambian Creole people

The Gambian Creole people, or Krio or Aku, are a minority ethnic group of Gambia with connections to and some roots from the Sierra Leone Creole people.[3][4] In Gambia the Aku account for about 2% of the population. Some estimates put the figure higher. However, according to the 2013 Gambian Census, the Aku make up 0.5% of the population or around 8,477 people. [5]

Aku
Total population
1-2% of The Gambia's population
Languages
Krio language, English
Religion
Majority: Christianity (51.1%) [1]
Significant Minority: Islam (48.8%) [2]
Related ethnic groups
Americo Liberian, African American, Black British, Gold Coast Euro-Africans, Sierra Leone Creoles, West Indian

Origins

Gambian Creoles are the descendants of Sierra Leone Liberated Africans, Sierra Leoneans of Nova Scotian and Maroon descent, transatlantic immigrants to the Gambia, and liberated Africans released in the Gambia directly.[6]

Gambian Creoles are partly an extension of the Sierra Leone Creole community, and some Gambian Creoles have roots in the West Indies, North America, England, and the various African communities. Some Gambian Creoles also have some European heritage through intermarriage and through their connections to Sierra Leone Creoles who settled in the Gambia between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.[7]

Historical population
YearPop.±%
19735,596—    
198310,741+91.9%
19937,458−30.6%
200324,492+228.4%
20138,477−65.4%
Population Change [8]

Language

Many Gambian Creoles speak the Krio, an English-based creole language also spoken by Sierra Leonian Creoles.

Aku Marabouts

In Sierra Leone, the terms 'Oku' or 'Aku Marabouts' or the 'Aku Mohammedans' refers to the Oku people, while in the Gambia, the term Aku refers to the Creole population not the Oku people. In the Gambia, "Aku Marabout" or Oku Marabout is the term used for the Oku people while Gambian Creoles or Akus in and around Banjul are Christian.

Notable Gambian Creole people
Main article: List of Gambian Creole people

References
  1. Juffermans, Kasper; McGlynn, Caroline (2009). "A sociolinguistic profile of The Gambia" (PDF). Retrieved July 11, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. Juffermans, Kasper; McGlynn, Caroline (2009). "A sociolinguistic profile of The Gambia" (PDF). Retrieved July 11, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. Frederiks, M. (2002). The Krio in the Gambia and the Concept of Inculturation, Exchange, 31(3), 219-229. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/157254302X00399
  4. Shaka Ashcroft (2015) Roots and Routes: Krio Identity in Postcolonial London, Black Theology, 13:2, 102-125, DOI:10.1179/1476994815Z.00000000051
  5. "Distribution of the Gambian population by ethnicity 1973,1983,1993,2003 and 2013 Censuses - GBoS". www.gbosdata.org. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  6. Frederiks, M. (2002). The Krio in the Gambia and the Concept of Inculturation, Exchange, 31(3), 219-229. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/157254302X00399
  7. Shaka Ashcroft (2015) Roots and Routes: Krio Identity in Postcolonial London, Black Theology, 13:2, 102-125, DOI:10.1179/1476994815Z.00000000051
  8. "Distribution of the Gambian population by ethnicity 1973,1983,1993,2003 and 2013 Censuses - GBoS". www.gbosdata.org. Retrieved 2021-06-17.

Sources
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