Senegambia

However, there are also text sources which state that Senegambia is understood in a broader sense and equated with the term the Western region.

[1] The region encompasses the modern states of Senegal, The Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau, as well as portions of Mauritania, Mali, and Guinea.

"[4][5] According to Professor Abdoulaye Camara [fr] of IFAN and the Senghor University in Alexandria, Egypt, early humans appeared in Senegal around 350,000 years ago.

[6] Benga and Thiam posit that, it is in the Falémé valley in the southeast of the country where we find the oldest traces of human life.

[7] In Senegambian Neolithic history, the period when humans became hunters, fishermen and producers (farmers and artisans) is well represented and studied.

[8][9] The Diakité excavation in Thiès shows evidence of human mobility over a distance of about 600 km, during the Senegambian Neolithic age.

According to UNESCO : "Together the stone circles of laterite pillars and their associated burial mounds present a vast sacred landscape created over more than 1,500 years.

[5] The Senegambia region has a rich culture including joking relationships (Sanankuya) between patrilineal clans and ethnic groups.

This joking relationship ensures peaceful coexistence where one ethnic group can criticize or even insult another without the recipient taking offence.

This bond of cousinage is called maasir or kalir in Serer, kal by the Wolof, kallengooraxu in Soninke, sanaawyaa in western Mandinka, and agelor in Joola (Fogny)[16] The griot caste are found extensively in the Senegambia region.

For example Thieboudienne a Senegalese national dish and notably known as Jollof rice, which is an international export, named after the Kingdom of Jolof in present-day Senegal, originated from Saint-Louis.

Traditional Senegalese wrestling called njom in Serer, laamb in Wolof and siɲɛta in Bambara is a favourite pastime and national sport in some parts of the region especially in Senegal.