Architecture

In Guinea-Bissau, in the coastal region, where the population once lived under the dual pressure of immigration from neighboring nations and European slave traffickers, people still reside in close-knit farms with spacious homes where nearly everyone, including the cattle, resides under the same roof. The interior of the house is made out of thick clay walls, clay ceilings, and a thatched roof. There are also ring yards with a covered porch and a water tank that gathers rainwater from the roof on the farthest islands.

Homes built by the fulani and malinke further inland are lighter and simpler because they employ grass and bamboo for the walls and ceilings. These homes are simple to knock down and build back up again when inhabitants in Guinea-Bissau move about with their animals. The savannah is covered in grass, while the following village receives piles and beams. A unique style of dwelling invented by the Fulani is made of a circular bamboo basket that is afterwards covered in clay. A bamboo fence surrounds the yard, which is made up of numerous of these homes.