Abstract
Casamance -lying in today's southern Senegal- was part of Portuguese colonial possessions until the late 19th century. Casamance borders Guiné-Bissau (Portuguese Guinea in colonial times), with which it shares strong ethnolinguistic, sociopolitical and historical connections. A hardly quantifiable Lusoafrican and Afro-Portuguese community still inhabit Casamance, and the area sorrounding the city of Ziguinchor in particular. Since the indipendence of Senegal -of which Casamance is still part- autonomist and separatist demands have grown in the region, and a -still ongoing- conflict broke out. Here, the legacy of Luso-French rivalries, the presence of a Christian and Lusophone community, the persistence of interethnic tensions, and the unfading demands for autonomy and self-government overlap. The article unveils the manifold character of the regional instability that characterizes Casamance.