The Jola

Jola, or Diola, villages are substantial rural developments with populations of up to 5,000 people or more. One of the characteristics of this type of village is that it is usually built on the edge of a plateau, or on ground that overlooks the rice fields with which Jola life is associated.

As in the Serer villages, the compounds are not grouped in any distinguishable hierarchy. The houses are the best built and the most permanent among the different types of village dwellings to be found. On occasion they constitute veritable fortifications, for example, in the Thionck-Essyl and Oussouye regions; the villages of the Essyl region are often equipped with a rainwater catchment.

The Jola villages have no chiefs with authority or prestige comparable to those of the Wolof or Mandinka villages.