The Jola or Diola (endonym: Ajamat) are an ethnic group found in Senegal, the Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau.

[9] However, the Jola probably reached the Lower Casamance region in the 14th century, assimilating the previous Bainuk people and their rice tradition.

[10][11] In colonial times, the Jola began to cultivate peanuts as a cash crop in the drier forests.

[6] Other activities include palm wine tapping, honey collecting, livestock rearing and the production of other crops such as sweet potatoes, yams and watermelon.

However, the Jola populations living in well-connected areas have become Islamized due to the influence of the nearby Mandinka people.

[6] Unlike the dominant cultures of West Africa, most Jola communities lack any social or political stratification, being organised into families or neighbourhoods.

However, some communities have a central authority, a king, whose role resembles more that of a priest than of a traditional secular leader.

Some Jolas continue to follow their traditional religion and rituals in spite of the influence of Islam and Christianity in recent times.

[citation needed] Before the influence of Islam and Christianity in their ways of beliefs, all Jolas placed great respect in the proper observation of funeral ceremony, and still today some do, for they are of the belief that it enables the dead person's soul to go to its final destination to join his or her ancestors.

It was and still is strongly accepted by those Jolas who still practice their ancestral religion that without performing these funeral sacred rites, the soul is prevented from entering the presence of the creator (Ata Amit), and the ancestors.

Unlike most ethnic groups of the Senegambian region, the Jola do not have a caste system of Jewelers[clarification needed] griots, slaves, nobility, leather workers, etc.

This political achievement is not easy to reach if the society that runs it does not have well-defined rules of administration and penalties.

[16] Elders are considered very important in Jola society and are believed to possess occult powers and guard societal traditions.

Despite the patriarchal nature of Jola society, many women played major roles in the community and were often members in village councils, religious leaders, and landowners.

The galire is a one-string instrument of the Jola of Thionck-Essyl, with its strings stretched across a single 1-meter curve made of fine mangrove wood.

[24] The Serer and Jola people believe in a common ancestry and have a joking relationship with each other which they assign to their ancient shared cultural heritage.