The Biafada people is an ethnic group of Guinea-Bissau, Senegal and

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

. This group is often considered as a subgroup of the

Tenda people Tenda may refer to: Places * Tende (Italian: ), a commune and town in southeastern France, formerly part of Italy ** Col de Tende (Italian: ), an Alpine mountain pass *** Col de Tende Road Tunnel, between France and Italy * Tenta, Cyprus or Tend ...

. They are also known as Biafara, Beafada, Biafar, Bidyola, Dfola, Dyola, Fada, and Yola.

Demography

In Guinea Bissau, the Biafada are divided into four groups. A small group lives on the north bank of the

Geba River The Geba is a river of West Africa that rises in the northernmost area of Guinea in the Fouta Djallon highlands, passes through southern Senegal, and reaches the Atlantic Ocean in Guinea-Bissau. It is about in total length. In Senegal, the r ...

and speaks the Gool dialect. Two large groups reside in Quinara Region, the southwestern part of the country, and they speak the Bubwas and Guinala dialects. The fourth group live in the southern province of

Tombali Tombali is a town located in the Tombali Region of Guinea-Bissau. Populated places in Guinea-Bissau {{GuineaBissau-geo-stub ...

, on the border with Guinea Conakry, and speaks the dialect Bagandada.The Joshuaproject: Biafada people
Retrieved March 5, 2013, to 02: 18 pm.

History

They were once grouped into three kingdoms: Biguda, Guinala and Bissege.ORIGEN EN AFRICA DE ALGUNOS APELLIDOS
(in Spanish: African origin of some surnames). Retrieved in March 05, 2013, to 12:39 pm The Biafada speak the

Biafada language Biafada (''ga-njoola''Wilson, William André Auquier. 2007. ''Guinea Languages of the Atlantic group: description and internal classification''. (Schriften zur Afrikanistik, 12.) Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.) is a Senegambian language of Guinea- ...

, which belongs to the Niger-Congo languages family.

Economy

Like most West Africans, the Biafada are farmers. The staple crops for these people are cassava and rice. However, due to globalization, they also raise other crops that originated in other parts of the world: maize, squash, melons, potatoes, peppers and tomatoes. Devoted to livestock, the Biafadas raise sheep and goats for meat, as they do not drink milk from those animals. This reduces the importance of the hunting.

Culture

A ceremony celebrates as each child prepares to enter puberty. One characteristic of these ceremonies is the practice of circumcision. Normally, this applies to males, but sometimes also to females. In more conservative families it is forbidden for a woman to become

pregnant Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops (gestation, gestates) inside a woman, woman's uterus (womb). A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Pregnancy usually occur ...

outside of marriage. If this happens, the woman and the man are subject to heavy punishment known as "di minjer justisa" (literally:' justice for women"). This was banned by Guinea Bissau in the 1970s. However, actually, Polygamy is common. The majority of Biafadas are

Sunni Muslims Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

. However, some are

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

or animists who believe that objects have spirits. The Biafadas mix

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

with animistic rites. About a dozen Biafada are

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

, most resident in Biafada. Other Biafadas are Catholics in the capital.

References

{{authority control Ethnic groups in Senegal Ethnic groups in the Gambia Ethnic groups in Guinea-Bissau