US Chordophone (Lute): "Banjo"

This is a US stringed instrument called a "banjo." Gourd instruments that would evolve into the modern banjo originated in West Africa. Enslaved Africans carried the “banjar” and its music to North America by way of the Caribbean. Traditional African string music, and the banjo itself, were appropriated from slave culture and spread into the greater American popular culture through minstrel shows and blackface performances.

The banjo was popularized throughout the United States and Europe by white performers, with various regional playing styles emerging and evolving simultaneously – from the rhythmic role the banjo played in traditional New Orleans jazz to the fingerpicking sound of bluegrass that bloomed in the Appalachian mountains, among many others.
Source:
http://bittersoutherner.com/history-of-the-banjo/#.WdQgWiQ-DBI