Akan people
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|
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (c. 20 million (est.)) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Ghana | 11.5 Million |
| Ivory Coast | 8.5 Million |
| Languages | |
| Akan (Central Tano languages) | |
| Religion | |
|
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| Related ethnic groups | |
| None | |
The Akan /əˈkæn/ are a meta-ethnicity predominantly speaking Central Tano languages and residing in the southern regions of the former Gold Coast region in what is today the nation of Ghana. Akans also make-up the majority of the populace in the Ivory Coast.
Akans are the largest group in both countries and have a population of roughly 20 million people. The Akan language (also known as Twi–Fante) is a group of dialects within the Central Tano branch of the Potou–Tano subfamily of the Niger–Congo family.
Subgroups of the Akan proper include:
A large number of Akans were taken as captives to the Americas, and many people of African descent in the Americas have partial Akan ancestry, especially Jamaicans. During the 18th and 19th centuries, Akan slaves were all referred to as "Coromantees".
The Akan people are believed to have migrated to their current location from the Sahara desert and Sahel region of West Africa into the forested region around the 11th century, and many Akans tell their history as it started in the forested region of West Africa as this is where the ethnogenesis of the Akan as we know them today happened.
Oral traditions of the ruling Abrade (Aduana) Clan relate that they originated from ancient Ghana. They migrated from the north, they went through Egypt and settled in Nubia (Sudan). Around 500AD (5th century), due to the pressure exerted on Nubia by Axumite kingdom of Ethiopia, Nubia was shattered, and the Akan people moved west and established small trading kingdoms. These kingdoms grew, and around 750AD the Empire of Ghana was formed. The Empire lasted from 750AD to 1200AD and collapsed as a result of the introduction of Islam in the Western Sudan, and the zeal of the Muslims to impose their religion: their ancestors eventually left for Kong (i.e. present day Ivory Coast). From Kong they moved to Wam and then to Dormaa (both located in present day Brong-Ahafo region). The movement from Kong was necessitated by the desire of the people to find suitable savannah conditions since they were not used to forest life. Around the 14th century, they moved from Dormaa South Eastwards to Twifo-Hemang, North West Cape Coast. This move was commercially motivated.
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Wikipedia