Fula (Fulbe)

The Fula (Fulbe) are a large ethnic and linguistic group found throughout West Africa, but principally in the Sahel from Sudan to Senegal. They are often referred to by different names according to other proximate ethnic and linguistic groups. For example, in Senegal, the Wolof speakers often [Page 275]refer to the Fulbe as Peul. Yet in Nigeria, the Hausa call them Fulani, and the Mandinka in Guinea and Sierra Leone give them the name Malinke.

Among the major Fulbe social groups are Fulbe Jaawambe (powerful), Fulbe Ladde (nomadic herders), and Fulbe wuro (urban). Other Fulbe groups consist of those in Southern Darfur in Sudan and those in Northern Darfur in the same country. They are pastoral or semipastoral, meaning that they may migrate after the harvest. ...