Bassa (Liberia)
Encyclopedia
The Bassa are a people of Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...

, living in Grand Bassa, Rivercess
River Cess County
River Cess is a county in the south-central portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has six districts. Cesstos City serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring...

,Margibi and Montserrado counties, who speak the Bassa language
Bassa language
The Bassa language is a Kru language spoken by about 350,000 people in Liberia and 5,000 in Sierra Leone by Bassa people.It has an indigenous script, Vah, developed before 1907 by Thomas Narvin Lewis while he was studying at Syracuse University in the United States. The first primer was printed...

, a Kru language
Kru languages
-References:* Westerman, Diedrich Hermann Languages of West Africa . London/New York/Toronto: Oxford University Press.-External links:* at Ethnologue*...

. They number about 350,000 (as of 1991). They have their own writing system, called "Bassa" or "Vah," which was developed around 1900. There are also about 5000 in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...

. They practice Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

, as well as indigenous religions.

The Bassa (Dei, Bassa, Kru, Krahn, Grebo), also referred to as the Kwa-Speakers, can trace their historical origins to Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

. When the Adbassa Empire collapsed in the 6th century, they migrated from Egypt to Bassa-ri, which includes portions of modern-day Senegal, Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Togo, and Cameroon. The Adbassa Empire would last three centuries alongside the Bornu, Hausa, and Yoruba kingdoms.
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