{{Short description|Region of Senegal}} {{Infobox settlement <!-- See Template:Infobox settlement for additional fields and descriptions --> | name = Tambacounda region | native_name = {{nativename|fr|Région de Tambacounda}}<br>{{nativename|wo|Diiwaanu Tambaakundaa}} | settlement_type = [[Regions of Senegal|Region]] | image_skyline = | image_alt = | image_caption = | image_flag = | flag_alt = | image_seal = | seal_alt = | image_shield = | shield_alt = | nickname = | motto = | image_map = Tambacounda in Senegal.svg | map_alt = | map_caption = Location of Tambacounda in Senegal | image_map1 = Map of the departments of the Tambacounda region of Senegal.png | map_alt1 = | map_caption1 = Tambacounda région, divided into 4 départements | pushpin_map = <!-- Senegal --> | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_map_caption = | coordinates = {{coord|13|18|N|12|49|W|region:SN_type:adm1st|display=inline,title}} | coor_pinpoint = | coordinates_footnotes = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = [[Senegal]] | established_title = | established_date = | parts_type = [[Departments of Senegal|Départements]] | p1 = [[Bakel department|Bakel]] | p2 = [[Goudiry department|Goudiry]] | p3 = [[Koumpentoum department|Koumpentoum]] | p4 = [[Tambacounda department|Tambacounda]] | founder = | named_for = | seat_type = [[Capital (political)|Capital]] | seat = [[Tambacounda]] | government_footnotes = | leader_party = | leader_title = | leader_name = | unit_pref = Metric<!-- or US or UK --> | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = 42364 | area_note = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | population_footnotes = | population_total = 988,193 | population_as_of = 2023 census | population_rank = | population_density_km2 = auto | population_density_rank = | population_demonym = | population_note = | timezone = [[Greenwich Mean Time|GMT]] | utc_offset = +0 | postal_code_type = | postal_code = | area_code_type = | area_code = | website = | footnotes = }}
'''Tambacounda''', formerly known as ''Sénégal Oriental'', is a region of [[Senegal]]. It used to be part of the [[Mali Empire]] before the borders were created to separate Mali from Senegal. Tambacounda is physically the largest of Senegal's 14 regions, but is sparsely populated and its economy lags behind the rest of the country. The department of [[Kédougou region|Kédougou]] was separated from Tambacounda in 2008, and became a separate region.
==Departments== Tambacounda region is divided into 4 [[Department (country subdivision)|departments]]: *[[Bakel department|Bakel département]] *[[Goudiry department|Goudiry département]] *[[Koumpentoum department|Koumpentoum département]] *[[Tambacounda department|Tambacounda département]]
==Geography== Tambacounda is traversed by the northwesterly line of equal latitude and longitude.
==Culture== Tambacounda is famous for its rich [[djembe]] and dance culture and heritage. Some of the greatest djembe masters from [[Segu, Mali]] came to Tambacounda in the mid 1900s, bringing with them their history, knowledge, and secrets of the djembe. Its official language is French, but Wolof is more widely spoken in Sénégal.<ref name="diallo">{{cite book|author=Ibrahima Diallo|title =The Politics of National Languages in Postcolonial Senegal|publisher =Cambria Press|year =2010|page=19|isbn =978-1-60497-724-0|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=S2F055YCPBYC}}</ref><ref name="wolof">{{cite book|author =National African Language Resource Center|title =Wolof|url =http://lang.nalrc.wisc.edu/resources/press/brochures/wolof.pdf|archive-date =2010-06-10|access-date =2011-05-14|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20100610064519/http://lang.nalrc.wisc.edu/resources/press/brochures/wolof.pdf|url-status =dead}}</ref>
Much knowledge of djembe history was transmitted directly to djembe master [[Abdoulaye Diakité]] by his master teacher Suncaru Jara. Jara's teacher was Chebleni Traore whose teacher, Numuni Traore, was the first djembe master to bring the djembe out of Bamana secrecy, igniting its diaspora.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rootsyrecords.com/tamba.htm|title=Tambacounda |publisher=Rootsyrecords.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030411085222/http://www.rootsyrecords.com/tamba.htm |access-date=June 28, 2021|archive-date=2003-04-11 }}</ref>
The diaspora of the djembe also occurred because there were too many djembe masters in Tambacounda at that time, pressuring some to move on to different towns or countries. Diakité significantly influenced the djembe's diaspora, first by touring worldwide with the National Ballet of Senegal for 18 years as their lead soloist, in addition to his later work in the 1990s running the Tambacounda West African Drum and Dance Camp in the [[Bay Area]].<ref name="Abdoulaye Diakité">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBrExYEKGI4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/CBrExYEKGI4| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=Tambacounda West African Drum and Dance Camp |publisher=Tumuba|access-date=November 30, 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
In light of its rich cultural heritage and location, Tambacounda is today known as a djembe "proving ground", since one never knows who might be passing through. This has kept the local djembe players on their toes, by playing according to tradition. Even in the face of globalization, djembe performances have remained predominantly traditional in Tambacounda.
In 2019, Italian artist Giovanni Hänninen launched a project called People of Tamba, consisting of 200 portraits taken across the Tambacounda region in Senegal exhibited at Also Known as Africa (AKAA) art and design fair, 8-11 November 2019. Inspired by German photographer August Sander's seminal work, People of the 20th Century, People of Tamba was conceived as dignified portrait of the society of Tambacounda, the largest city in the most remote and rural region of Senegal, and the point of departure for the majority of Senegalese migration, with the aim to counter negative and number-based reporting about migration in western media by bringing individuals and their personal stories to the fore.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-11-01 |title=Tamba: Senegal's migration starting point – photo essay |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/nov/01/people-of-tamba-senegal-migration-photo-essay |access-date=2023-08-16 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
==Notable people==
* [[Moutarou Baldé]] * [[Abdoulaye Bathily]] * [[Clément Cailleau]] * [[Abdou Karim Camara]] * [[Seydou Cissokho]] * [[Karim Coulibaly (footballer, born 1993)|Karim Coulibaly]] * [[Mohamed Coulibaly (footballer, born 1988)]] * [[Abdoulaye Diakité]] * [[Sidiki Kaba]] * [[Aïda Mbaye]] * [[Mame Bassine Niang]] * [[Nafi Toure]]
==Economy== The economy of Tambacounda is based primarily on agriculture, with cash crops including cotton and peanuts. Mining plays a role in the southern part of the region around the city of Kedougou. The region is also home to the [[Niokolo-Koba National Park]], the largest reserve in western Africa, which supports another leg of Tambacounda's economy, tourism.<ref name="ham">{{cite book|author=Anthony Ham |title =Lonely Planet Africa|publisher =Lonely Planet|year =2010|pages=[https://archive.org/details/lonelyplanetafri00anth/page/n497 496]–497|isbn =978-1-74104-988-6|url =https://archive.org/details/lonelyplanetafri00anth|url-access=registration }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}} {{Regions of Senegal}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:Tambacounda region| ]] [[Category:Regions of Senegal]] [[Category:Bamana]]