The Lambas are an ethnic and linguistic group of people living in the Kéran and Doufelgou Districts (Préfecture) of the Kara Region

Kara Region

Kara is one of Togo's five regions. Kara is the regional capital.Other major cities in the Kara region include Bafilo, Bassar, and Niamtougou.Kara is divided into the prefectures of Assoli, Bassar, Bimah, Dankpen, Doufelgou, Kéran, and Kozah....

 in Northern Togo

Togo

Togo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...

 and in the Atakora and Donga Departments of Bénin

Benin

Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...

, West Africa. The capital of the Kéran

Kéran

Kéran is a prefecture located in the Kara Region of Togo. The capital city is Kandé....

 District is Kanté

Kandé

Kandé is a town located in the Kara Region of Togo.Nearby towns and villages include Tantanierta , Kpasside , Adjaite, Koupagou , Atetou , Nyande , Titira , Kouba Tie and Atetou....

 and the capital of the Doufelgou

Doufelgou

Doufelgou is a prefecture located in the Kara Region of Togo. The capital city is Niamtougou. Doufelgou means White Mountain -Towns and villages:...

 District is Niamtougou

Niamtougou

Niamtougou is a market town in Doufelgou District , Kara Region, Togo. It is located north of Kara on the nation's main North-South road, the Route Nationale No. 1. It is also the district capital and houses facilities of the Interior, Education, and Rural Development Ministries. There is a modest...

.

In Togo, the Lambas live the Center and West of the Kéran District; in the Togo Mountains

Togo Mountains

The Togo Mountains is a mountain range which stretches across the central region of the West African country of Togo and across the eastern and western borders of that country into Ghana and Benin. In Ghana, the range is also known as the Akwapim Hills, and in Benin it is also known as the Atakora...

 on the Défalé Chain; in the Western reaches of Doufelgou District; in Eastern reaches of Doufelgou District North of the Binah River: and, in Niamtougou, in the Villages of Yaka and Agbandé. In Bénin, the Lambas live in and around Boucoumbé (Boukamtié) in the Atakora Department

Atakora Department

Atakora is the northwestern department of Benin, bordering Togo to the west and Burkina Faso to the north. Also, it borders the departments of Alibori, Borgou, and Donga. It is the most mountainous region of Benin, and the birth place of the president, Mathieu Kérékou...

 and near Djougou

Djougou

Djougou is the largest city in north west Benin. It is an important market town. The commune covers an area of 3,966 square kilometres and as of 2002 had a population of 181,895 people.-General Information:...

 and Bassila

Bassila

Bassila is a town, arrondissement, and commune located in the Donga Department of Benin. The commune covers an area of 120 square kilometres and as of 2002 had a population of 71,511 people....

 in the Donga Department

Donga Department

Donga is one of the twelve departments of Benin. Donga was created in 1999 when the government split up the original six departments into twelve. Donga was split from Atakora. The capital of Donga is Djougou. The total area is 10,691 km.² or 4,128mi.²....

. They also live in diaspora zones in the Central and Plateaux Regions of Togo, in border areas of Ghana, and in the captital cities of Lomé

Lomé

Lomé, with an estimated population of 737,751, is the capital and largest city of Togo. Located on the Gulf of Guinea, Lomé is the country's administrative and industrial center and its chief port. The city exports coffee, cocoa, copra, and palm kernels...

 and Cotonou

Cotonou

-Demographics:*1979: 320,348 *1992: 536,827 *2002: 665,100 *2005: 690,584 The main languages spoken in Cotonou include the Fon language, Aja language, Yoruba language and French.-Transport:...

.

People

The Lambas are primarily engaged in subsistence farming and small animal husbandry, especially chickens, guinea fowl, goats, pigs, and sheep. They grow millet

Millet

The millets are a group of small-seeded species of cereal crops or grains, widely grown around the world for food and fodder. They do not form a taxonomic group, but rather a functional or agronomic one. Their essential similarities are that they are small-seeded grasses grown in difficult...

 and sorghum

Sorghum

Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, one of which is raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture. The plants are cultivated in warmer climates worldwide. Species are native to tropical and subtropical regions of all continents...

 that they make into a thick porridge (la pâte) that is the staple of their diet and that they brew into thick low-alcohol beer. They also grow yams

Yam (vegetable)

Yam is the common name for some species in the genus Dioscorea . These are perennial herbaceous vines cultivated for the consumption of their starchy tubers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania...

 and cassava

Cassava

Cassava , also called yuca or manioc, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates...

, groundnuts (peanuts), beans, and fonio

Fonio

Fonio is the term for cultivated grains in the Digitaria genus. These are notable in parts of West Africa and one species in India. The grains are very small.-White fonio :...

.

The Lambas have migrated in search of fertile available land in Togo to the area along the North-South National Road No. 1 between Sokodé and Notsé, where they have founded numerous communities. In addition, they have migrated to Togo's capital city, Lomé, and the economic capital of Bénin, Cotonou, in search of wage employment. Lamba men served in the colonial armies of Germany, Britain, and France as well as in the Togolese and Beninese armies in the years following the independences of the two countries.

The Lambas refer to themselves and to their Language as Lama. Lamba is the name attributed to them in French and that continues to be used in the administration. In addition, all of the inhabitants of the Doufelgou District of Togo were designated as Lossos by the colonial administration, including people who identify themselves as Lama and Nawdba. Therefore, Lambas from the Doufelgou District are still frequently called Losso. The two populations have exercised considerable mutual influence but their languages are different and do not resemble each other.

Language

The Lambas speak a collection of closely related dialects that are grouped together as the Lama language

Lama language

Lama is a Gur language spoken in Togo, Benin, and by a few in Ghana....

. There are approximately 200,000 native speakers of Lama in Togo and Bénin. Lama most closely resembles the Kabiyé language

Kabiyé language

Kabiyè is a Grusi language spoken primarily in northern Togo, and also by smaller numbers of people in Benin and Ghana. It is one of two national languages of Togo.-References:-External links:**...

spoken by the Kabiyé people in the Kozah and Binah Districts of Togo as well as in diaspora points. Lama and Kabiyé are classified under the Grusi, Eastern cluster of the Gur (or Voltaique) group of the Niger-Congo languages. Also included in this cluster are Tem (Cotokoli), Bagou-Koussountou, Lukpa (Logba or Dompago), Delo (Ntribou), and Chala. Speakers of this cluster of languages constitute 28% of the population of Togo and are the second most widely spoken cluster of languages in Togo after the Gbé cluster that includes Éwé, Mina, and Waci.