Editing Senufo people (section)

==Demographics and languages==
[[File:Senufo languages.png|thumb|left|200px|Approximate distribution of Senufo people in Ivory Coast, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana]]
In the 1980s, estimates placed the total ethnic group population of Senufo people somewhere between 1.5 and 2.7 million.<ref>Garber (1987) estimates the total number of Senufos at some 1.5 million; the [[Ethnologue]] (15th edition), based on various population estimates, counts 2.7 million.</ref> A 2013 estimate places the total over 3 million, with majority of them living in Ivory Coast in places such as [[Katiola]], and some 0.8 million in southeastern Mali.<ref name="Daddieh2016p427"/><ref name="Imperato2008p266"/><ref name="Group2013p184">{{cite book|author=Diagram Group|title=Encyclopedia of African Peoples|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ISAuAgAAQBAJ |year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-96334-7|page=184}}</ref> Their highest population densities are found in the land between the [[Black Volta]] river, [[Bagoe River]] and [[Bani River]].<ref name="Olson1996p515"/>

Their kinship organization is [[Matrilineality|matrilineal]]. Typically, the Senufo people are studied in three large subgroups that have been relatively isolated.<ref name="Shoup2011p253">{{cite book|author=John A. Shoup III|title=Ethnic Groups of Africa and the Middle East: An Encyclopedia: An Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GN5yv3-U6goC&pg=PA253|year=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-363-7|pages=253–254}}</ref> The northern Senufo are called "Supide or Kenedougou", found near [[Odienne]], and who helped found an important kingdom of West Africa and challenged Muslim missionaries and traders. The southern Senufo are the largest group, numbering over 2 million, who allowed Muslim traders to settle within their communities in the 18th century who actively proselytized, and about 20% of the southern Senufo are Muslims. The third group is very small and isolated from both northern and southern Senufo.<ref name="Olson1996p515"/> Some sociologists such as the French scholar Holas mentions fifteen identifiable sub-groups of Senufo people, with thirty dialects and four [[caste]]s scattered between them.<ref name=richter37/>

The term ''Senufo'' refers to a linguistic group comprising roughly thirty related dialects within the larger [[Senufo languages|Gur]] language family.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web
| url = http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/smpa/hd_smpa.htm
| title = Senufo Sculpture from West Africa: an influential exhibition at The Museum of Primitive Art, New York, 1963 Essay - Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art
| website = The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
| access-date = 2016-02-29
}}</ref>  It belongs to the Gur-branch of the Niger-Congo language family, and consists of four distinct languages namely [[Palaka language|Palaka]](also spelt [[Kpalaga language|Kpalaga]]), [[Djimini language|Djimini]](also spelt [[Dyimini]]), and [[Senari languages|Senari]] in Côte d'Ivoire and [[Supyire language|Suppire]]( also spelt Supyire) in Mali, as well as [[Karaboro languages|Karaboro]] in [[Burkina Faso]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/topic/Senufo|title=Senufo people|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=2016-03-03}}</ref><ref name=britsenufo/><ref>Language characteristics: [https://www.ethnologue.com/language/sef/19 Sénoufo, Cebaara] in Ivory Coast, [https://www.ethnologue.com/language/myk Sénoufo, Mamara] in Mali, [https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroups/senufo-1 15 sub-languages within Senufo]</ref> Within each group, numerous subdivisions use their own names for the people and language; the name Senufo is of external origin. Palaka separated from the main Senufo stock well before the 14th century ad; at about that time, with the founding of the town of Kong as a Bambara trade-route station, the rest of the population began migrations to the south, west, and north, resulting in the present divisions.The Senufo speaking people range from 800,000 to one million and live in agricultural based communities predominately located in the [[Côte-d'Ivoire|Côte d'Ivoire]], [[West Africa]], [[Africa]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web
| url = https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/sisterwendy/works/dru.html
| title = Sister Wendy's American Collection 
| website = www.pbs.org
| access-date = 2016-02-29
}}</ref>

[[Korhogo]], an ancient town in northern Ivory Coast dating from the 13th century, is linked to the Senufo people. This separation of languages and sub-ethnic groups may be linked to the 14th-century migrations with its founding along with the Bambara trade-route.<ref name=britsenufo>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Senufo Senufo people], Encyclopædia Britannica</ref>