Gur languages in the context of "Senufo 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.

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.