Gur languages in the context of Niger–Congo languages

The ethnic groups of Africa number in the thousands, with each ethnicity generally having their own language (or dialect of a language) and culture. The ethnolinguistic groups include various Afroasiatic, Khoisan, Niger-Congo, and Nilo-Saharan populations.

The official population count of the various ethnic groups in Africa is highly uncertain due to limited infrastructure to perform censuses, and due to rapid population growth. Some groups have alleged that there is deliberate misreporting in order to give selected ethnicities numerical superiority (as in the case of Nigeria's Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo peoples).

The Mossi or Mosi are a Gur ethnic group native to modern Burkina Faso, primarily the Volta River basin. The Mossi are the largest ethnic group in Burkina Faso, constituting 52% of the population, or about 11.1 million people. The other 48% of Burkina Faso's population is composed of more than 60 ethnic groups, mainly the Gurunsi, Senufo, Lobi, Bobo, Bissa and Fulani. The Mossi speak the Mòoré language.

The Senufo or Senufic languages (French: Senoufo) comprise around 15 languages spoken by the Senufo in the north of Ivory Coast, the south of Mali and the southwest of Burkina Faso. An isolated language, Nafaanra, is also spoken in the west of Ghana. The Senufo languages constitute their own branch of the Atlantic–Congo sub-family of the Niger–Congo languages. Anne Garber estimates the total number of Senufos at some 1.5 million; the Ethnologue, based on various population estimates, counts 2.7 million.

The Senufo languages are bounded to the west by Mande languages, to the south by Kwa languages, and to the north and east by Central Gur languages.

Ivory Coast is a multilingual country with an estimated 69 languages currently spoken. The official language is French. This language is taught in schools and serves as a lingua franca in the country, along with Dioula.

Ivory Coast is a Francophone country; in 2024, an estimated 11.63 million people (36.42% out of a total of 31.93 million) spoke French.

Gyaman (also spelled Gyaaman or Jamang, and later known as Jaman) was a prominent precolonial Akan kingdom that flourished in parts of present-day Ghana and Ivory Coast. Established by the Bono people from the Aduana clan, Gyaman evolved into a significant political and cultural power, extending its authority across the Banda, Jaman North, Jaman South, and Bonduku regions. It is notably regarded as the origin of the Adinkra symbols, which are now central to Akan philosophy and visual culture. The kingdom served as a cultural and political crossroads between the Akan, Gur, and Mande-speaking regions, facilitating trade, diplomacy, and cultural exchange across the forest–savannah frontier. Its history was shaped by conflict with the Asante Empire and the eventual partition of its territory between the British Gold Coast and French West Africa in the late 19th century.

The Oti–Volta languages form a subgroup of the Gur languages, comprising about 30 languages of northern Ghana, Benin, and Burkina Faso spoken by twelve million people. The most populous language is Mooré, the national language of Burkina Faso, spoken by over 55% of Burkina Faso’s 20 million population and an additional 1 million in neighboring countries such as Ghana, Ivory Coast, Niger, and Mali.

The family is named after the Oti and Volta rivers.

Dagbanli, also known as Dagbani (sometimes spelled Dagbanle or Dagbane), is a Gur language spoken in Ghana and northern Togo. It has an estimated 1.17 million native speakers. Dagbanli is the most widely spoken language in the northern half of Ghana, including among several acephalous ethnic groups historically under the authority of the King of Dagbaŋ, the Yaa-Naa. Dagbaŋ, located in the Northern Region of Ghana, is regarded as the oldest traditional kingdom in the country, and the Yaa-Naa serves as its paramount chief, presiding over the various communities within the Dagbaŋ area.

Dagbanli is mutually intelligible with Mampruli and closely related to Nabit, Talni, Kamara, Kantosi, and Hanga, also spoken in Northern, North East, Upper East, and Savannah Regions. It is also related to the other members of the same subgroup spoken in other regions, including Dagaare and Wali, spoken in Upper West Region of Ghana, along with Frafra and Kusaal, spoken in the Upper East Region of the country.

The balafon (pronounced /ˈbæləfɒn/, or, by analogy with xylophone etc., /ˈbæləfoʊn/) is a gourd-resonated xylophone, a type of struck idiophone. It is closely associated with the neighbouring Mandé, Bwaba Bobo, Senoufo and Gur peoples of West Africa, particularly the Guinean branch of the Mandinka ethnic group, but is now found across West Africa from Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali. Its common name, balafon, is likely a European coinage combining its Mandinka name ߓߟߊ bála ([bala˦]) with the word ߝߐ߲ fóo (nyáa) ([foː˦ ɲaː˦]) 'to say / method of saying' or the Greek root phono.