Dagaaba people
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 700,000 in Ghana 388,000 in Burkina Faso | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Primarily native to northern Ghana and southern Burkina Faso. Diaspora present in southern Ghana | |
| Languages | |
| Dagaare language and dialects, English, French | |
| Religion | |
| Traditional, Islam, Christianity |
The Dagaaba people (singular Dagao, and, in northern dialects, Dagara for both plural and singular) are an ethnic group located north of the convergence of Ghana, Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire. They speak the Dagaare language, made up of Northern Dagara and Dagaari Dioula, both mainly spoken in Burkina Faso, as well as Southern Dagaare which is mainly spoken in Ghana. In northern areas, both the language and the people are referred to as Dagara. They are related to the Birifor people and the Dagaare Diola. These languages share the autonym Dagaare (also spelled and/or pronounced as Dagaare, Dagaari, Dagarti, Dagara or Dagao), and historically some non-natives have taken this as the name of the people. One historian, describing the former usage of "Dagarti" to refer to this community by colonials, writes: "The name 'Dagarti' appears to have been coined by the first Europeans to visit the region, from the vernacular root dagaa. Correctly 'Dagaari' is the name of the language, 'Dagaaba' or 'Dagara' that of the people, and 'Dagaw' or 'Dagawie' that of the land."