Zongo settlements

Zongo settlements are areas in West African towns populated mostly by settlers from Northern Sahel areas especially from Northern Nigeria. A common feature of the Zongo community is their predominat use of Hausa language as their lingua franca. Zongo itself as a word is derived from the Hausa language which literally means "a settlement of Hausa speaking traders".

Collectively referred to as Zongos, Zongo communities are found in all 10 Regions of Ghana with much denser populations in Greater Accra and Ashanti regions. The earliest bustling Zongo communities in Ghana started in Salaga and by the first quarter of the 19th century similar communities were already established in Tamale, Yeji and Ejisu. The largest and one of the oldest Zongos close to the coastal belt started in 1836 in Nima.

Zongo Communities are common in Benin with large settlements found in Parakou, Ganou and the port city of Cotonou.

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