Zongo settlements are areas in
West African towns populated mostly by migrants from the northern savannah regions and the West African
Sahel,[1] especially from
Niger and
northern Nigeria.[2]
Common features of the zongo communities are their use of
Hausa language as
lingua franca and their shared religion:
Islam.[3] The designation of these wards of migrants as zongos derives from the Hausa word zango which literally means "a camping place for trading caravans".[4] As the name reveals, zongos were originally founded as places of trade in the long-distance trading networks that connected the West African subregion.[5]
The earliest bustling zongo communities in Ghana started in Salaga, and by the first quarter of the 19th century similar communities were already established in
Tamale,
Yeji and
Ejisu.[8][9] The largest and one of the oldest zongos close to the coastal belt started in 1810 at
Ushertown (Zangon Mallam or present-day Zongo-Lane) before they were resettled at
Sabon Zango followed by
Nima (1836).[10]
In the present day, zongo communities in Ghana are a microcosm of people from the lower and middle classes from both northern and southern Ghana as well as immigrants from neighboring countries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Togo.[citation needed]
The
Hausa from northern Nigeria and Southern Niger were the pioneer settlers of the zongos. The early settlers constructed makeshift houses with the intention to work hard, raise some capital and return to their locality. As it has usually been with immigration, many adopted their new found place as their permanent home.[11]