Dan people

The Dan or Mano-Dan are a Mande ethnic group from northwestern Ivory Coast and neighbouring Liberia. There are approximately 700000 members of the group and their largest settlement is Man, Ivory Coast. Neighboring peoples include the Krahn, Kpelle and Mano. They are officially known as Yacouba (or Yakouba). In Liberia, they are also known as Gio (Bassa for "slave"), which is considered a derogatory exonym. They speak the Dan language, a Southern Mande language and are closely related to the Maghan people of the Ghana Empire and of the Gbara of the Mali Empire. The Dan are known for their art, especially their mask rituals (Ge or Gle), as well as their secret society, Gor. Gor (Dan for "leopard") is a peacemaking society, not to be confused with the brutal Ekpe (leopard) society of Nigeria.