The Bamboko are a Bantu ethnic group

Ethnic group

An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...

 of the Republic of Cameroon. They are part of the Sawa

Sawa

Sawa may refer to:*The Sawa peoples of CameroonLocations*Sawa, Nepal*The Sawa Defence Training Centre of Eritrea*Sawa, Lesser Poland Voivodeship Arts*SAWA, Japanese techno-pop singer*Devon Sawa, Canadian actor...

 ethnic groups, those who live on the coast.

The Bamboko probably moved to Mboko, the area southwest of Mount Cameroon

Mount Cameroon

Mount Cameroon is an active volcano in Cameroon near the Gulf of Guinea. Mount Cameroon is also known as Cameroon Mountain or Fako or by its native name Mongo ma Ndemi ....

, in the early 17th century. Predominant Bakweri

Bakweri

The Bakweri are an ethnic group of the Republic of Cameroon. They are closely related to Cameroon's coastal peoples , particularly the Duala and Isubu.-Early population movements:...

 and Isubu

Isubu

The Isubu are an ethnic group who inhabit part of the coast of Cameroon. Along with other coastal peoples, they belong to Cameroon's Sawa ethnic groups. They were one of the earliest Cameroonian peoples to make contact with Europeans, and over two centuries, they became influential traders and...

 traditions claim they originated from this area, which supports the peoples' long shared histories and similar languages. They currently inhabit the west and northwest of the mountain, beginning at the villages of Sanje and Mukundage and continuing to the sea. This territory likes in the Fako and Meme divisions of the Southwest Province. Neighbouring the Bamboko to the east are the Bakweri and to the north are the Bakole

Bakole people

The Bakole are an ethnic group of the Republic of Cameroon. They belong to the Sawa, or Cameroonian coastal peoples. The Bakole speak a language of the same name....

. The Bamboko are primarily subsistence farmers

Subsistence agriculture

Subsistence agriculture is self-sufficiency farming in which the farmers focus on growing enough food to feed their families. The typical subsistence farm has a range of crops and animals needed by the family to eat and clothe themselves during the year. Planting decisions are made with an eye...

 who toil the volcanic soils of Mount Cameroon to cultivate cocoyam

Xanthosoma

Xanthosoma is a genus of about 50 species of tropical and sub-tropical arums in the flowering plant family, Araceae, all native to tropical America...

s, maize

Maize

Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

, manioc

Cassava

Cassava , also called yuca or manioc, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates...

, oil palm

Oil palm

The oil palms comprise two species of the Arecaceae, or palm family. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. The African Oil Palm Elaeis guineensis is native to West Africa, occurring between Angola and Gambia, while the American Oil Palm Elaeis oleifera is native to...

s, and plantain

Plantain

Plantain is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa. The fruit they produce is generally used for cooking, in contrast to the soft, sweet banana...

s.

The Bamboko speak Wumboko. The tongue is largely intelligble with Mokpwe and Bakole, and linguists sometimes classify Wumboko as a dialect of Mokpwe. All of these languages are part of the Bantu

Bantu languages

The Bantu languages constitute a traditional sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of mutual intelligibility, though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and Ethnologue counts 535 languages...

 group of the Niger–Congo language family.

In addition, individuals who have attended school or lived in an urban centre usually speak Cameroonian Pidgin English

Cameroonian Pidgin English

Cameroonian Pidgin English, or Cameroonian Creole, is a language variety of Cameroon. It is also known as Kamtok . Five varieties are currently recognised:...

 or standard English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

. Increasing numbers of Anglophone Cameroonian

Anglophone Cameroonian

Anglophone Cameroonians are the people of various cultural backgrounds who hail from the English-speaking provinces of Cameroon...

s are today being raised as first-language Pidgin speakers.

External links

• Bakwerirama
• Peuple Sawa (in French)