The Mikifore Iive in West Africa, particularly in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea.
Their population in the early 1990s was estimated at 230,000 people, approximately one-third of whom are Muslims.
They are a branch of the Mandinkas* and trace their origins back to the thirteenth-century Mali Empire; they first arrived in Guinea and Sierra Leone around 1600. Most Mikifores are small farmers who raise millet, rice, peanuts, and a variety of other crops.
Their primary language is Mogofin.
The primary religion practiced by the Mikifore is Folk Islam, a syncretistic belief system that blends traditional elements of Islam with superstitious practices such as warding off spirits with incantations and magic amulets, and reciting verses of the Qur'an to bring about miraculous healings.
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