Generally acknowledged to have come from Africa.

.... although, there is a small group who believe they may have come from China or something prior to that (?????) - I don't see the connection (????)

They are pretty much pack dogs and have a pretty strong hunting instinct.
They are known for bonding very well with their owners. Ours are noticably strongly bonded to us. But, Basenjis are known to be "aloof" with strangers.
I see this when out in public. We used to make it to dog parks a lot. A lot of people are always wanting to pet our dogs. But, our dogs don't tend to get that close to strangers. They might get close enough to satisfy their own curiosities, but not close enough to be petted. If they get close enough to be petted by strangers, they usually just walk off anyway.
But, if we have guests inside our house, our dogs are very different and can be very social. They will sometimes sit/lay next to guests if our guests are giving proper attention.
My dogs don't seem to care for "rowdy" kids. My wife and I don't have children. But, have neices, nephews and friends with kids that come over. They seem fine with "calm" kids and will socialize and let "calm" kids pet them. But, rowdy and loud kids make my dogs edgy.

Most dogs have a reasonably dominant sense for hunting - either sight or smell.

Basenjis are known to have pretty strong senses for both sight and smell.

As a result, when we go walking in the neighborhood, my dogs look like they are constantly getting sensory over-load. They run all over the place if I give them a lot of lead. My walks are more sane looking if I keep them on a short leash and in the middle of the street.

Walking them is ..... interesting. ... and a little challenging. I have had other breeds that were much easier to leash train. Ours are four now. They still can be a little challenging on a leash, but they are getting better.

If they see another dog, they want to go "greet".
If they see a cat, they want to chase.
If given enough leash, they have to run around and smell everything.

But, they love to walk and love to run. They "expect" an evening walk now and go through "antics" to get us to take them. They can be fairly humourous dogs.

They are "extremely" easy to potty train. They instinctively (as a breed apparently) don't like to use the rest-room in "their space. - .... Partly, why they expect walks in the evening so much. I don't think they even like to potty in our yard. They like to potty in "other" yards. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

They are usually about 22-25 pounds in weight. Just a little large for lap dogs, but they really like to sit with us in the evenings. So, are are very much lap dogs. My male (black) is actually sitting behind me in my desk chair. He does that a lot. Probably likes to stay warm.

But, they are also very out-doorsy and like to go for hikes and such.

.