Kissi people

Not to be confused with Kisi people or Kisii people.

Kissi
mano
Orchestra of Kissi musicians in 1900
Total population
c. 1,224,545
Regions with significant populations
 Guinea798,429 (6.2%)[1]
 Liberia250,273 (4.8%)[2]
 Sierra Leone175,843 (4.5%) [3]
Languages
Kissi, French, English, Krio
Religion
Christianity, Traditional, Islam[4]
Related ethnic groups
Mende people, Loma people, Kpelle people, Mano people, Kono people, Vai people, Gbandi people

The Kissi people are a West African ethnolinguistic group.[5] They are the fourth largest ethnic group in Guinea, making up 6.2% of the population.[6] Kissi people are also found in Liberia and Sierra Leone. They speak the Kissi language, which belongs to the Mel branch of the Niger–Congo language family.[7] The Kissi are well known for making baskets and weaving on vertical looms.  In past times, they were also famous for their ironworking skills, as the country and its neighbors possessed rich iron deposits. Kissi smiths produced the famous "Kissi penny,"

The Kissi people are also called Assi, Bakoa, Den, Gihi, Gisi, Gissi, Gizi, Kisi, Kisia, Kisie, Kisiye, Kizi, or Kalen[8][9]

  1. ^ "Guinea - The World Factbook". www.cia.gov. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Liberia - The World Factbook". www.cia.gov. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  3. ^ "Sierra Leone 2015 Population and Housing Census National Analytical Report" (PDF). Statistics Sierra Leone. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  4. ^ "Liberia Liberia Ethnicity". hub.arcgis.com. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  5. ^ Peter Austin (2008). One Thousand Languages: Living, Endangered, and Lost. University of California Press. p. 84. ISBN 978-0520-25-560-9.
  6. ^ "The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency". Cia.gov. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  7. ^ Bankole Kamara Taylor (2014). Sierra Leone: The Land, Its People and History. New Africa Press. p. 149. ISBN 978-9987-16-038-9.
  8. ^ George Tucker Childs (22 July 2011). A Grammar of Kisi. Walter de Gruyter. p. 1. ISBN 978-3110-81-088-2.
  9. ^ RAMEAU, BnF [1]