The Baga people live in the coastal area of Guinea

Guinea

Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...

. They can be subdivided into five groups of which Landouma is the largest, accounting for fifty percent of all ethnic Bagas. Apart from the various Baga languages

Baga languages

The Baga languages are languages of the Mel family spoken in the coastal region of Guinea. The total number of speakers is about 30,000, of which Landoma speakers make up almost half....

, most of the Baga also speak the Mande language Susu

Susu language

Sosoxui is the language of the Soso people of Guinea, West Africa. It is in the Mande language family.It is one of the national languages of Guinea and spoken mainly in the coastal region of the country. The language was also used by people in present-day Guinea as a trade language.e.g...

, the regional trade language. Two Baga communities are known to have abandoned their language altogether in favour of Susu, namely the Sobané and Kaloum. The name Baga is derived from the phrase bae raka, “people of the seaside.”

Baga oral tradition is that the Baga people were driven from the interior to the coastal areas by competing tribes.

Baga ritual art, such as the "D'mba" (or "Nimba") headress, has been widely shown in western museums.