Serrekunda East Mini-stadium

Serekunda (proper: Sayerr Kunda or Sere Kunda, ar, سيريكوندا, sometimes spelled Serrekunda) is the largest urban centre in The Gambia. It is situated close to the Atlantic coast, south-west of the capital, Banjul, and is formed of nine villages which have grown together into a larger urban area.

History and toponymy

Sayerr Jobe, the founder of Serekunda, was a 19th-century lamane originally from the Sine-Saloum region of Senegal. He migrated to the Gambia in the mid 19th Century and is believed to have initially settled around Jinack Island in Banjul, before relocating to the southern bank of the country (near Sukuta) where he established Serrekunda.

Serekunda means "home of the Sayer r Sayerrfamily" and is named after its founder, Sayerr Jobe. The name ''Serrekunda'' (or "Sere Kunda") is a Mandinka corruption of the name ''Serrereh'' — denoting the Serer people in Mandinka, as the Mandinka people of Sabiji believed that Sayerr Jobe (the founder of SererkundaBriggs, Philip; Fenton, Simon; ''The Gambia'', Bradt Travel Guides (2017), p. 103,

/ref>) and his brother Massamba Koki Jobe/Diop (relative of Lat Dior - King of Cayor and Baol) and the Jobe family in general were members of the Wolof ethnic group. Thus, in the oral tradition of the Mandinkas of Sabaji (of which Serekunda was part), they initially referred to the area with the Mandinka saying: "mbitala serrereh kunda" (''I am going to Serer area/country''), later shortened to Serreh Kunda (or Serekunda). The word ''kunda'' or ''kundaa'' is a Mandinka word for place, area, country or compound. In essence, Sere Kunda means Serer country/area made in reference to Sayerr Jobe who was from the Serer Sine-Saloum area, and whom the Mandinkas believed to be of Serer origin.Sarr, Assan, ''Islam, Power, and Dependency in the Gambia River Basin: The Politics of Land Control, 1790-1940'', Boydell & Brewer (2016), pp. 64–95, 176,

/ref> Although born in Serer country, and possessed the Serer title ''lamane'', he was not of Serer origin, but of Lebou people, Lebou origin, as ''Jobe'' or ''Diop'' is a Lebou surname.

Population history

Districts or suburbs

The following districts form part of Serekunda:

# Bakoteh
# Bunungka Kunda
# Dippa Kunda
#Eboe Town
# Faji Kunda
#London Corner
#New Jeshwang
# Old Jeshwang
#Kololi
#Kotu
#Latri Kunda
# Latri Kunda Sabiji
# Manjai Kunda
# Serekunda District
# Talinding Kunjang
# Churchill's Town

Gallery

File:Gambia 001 from KG.jpg
File:Gambia Serekunda world66-2.jpg
File:Gambia-mosque.JPG
File:BundungMosque.jpg, Mosque on Bundung Highway
File:Gambia Serekunda 0008.jpg
File:Gambia Serekunda 0001.jpg

References

External links

Hotels, Photos and Maps for Serekunda

Populated places in the Gambia
Serer country

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