Source: MAPS IN MINUTES™ © RH Publications (1997)
Capital:
Banjul
Area:
11,295 sq km (4,361 sq miles)
Population:
1,883,051 (2013 est)
Currency:
1 dalasi=100 butut
Religions:
Muslim 90.0%; Christian 8.0%; traditional beliefs 2.0%
Ethnic Groups:
Mandingo 42.0%; Fulani 18.0%; Wolof 16.0%; Dyola 10.0%; Serahuli 9.0%
Languages:
English (official); Mandingo; Wolof; Fulani; local languages
International Organizations:
UN; AU; ECOWAS; Non-Aligned Movement; WTO; Commonwealth
A country on the West African coast.
Physical
The Gambia runs west to east along the lower 320 km (nearly 200 miles) of the River Gambia, entirely surrounded inland by Senegal. Its territory on either bank is no more than about 24 km (15 miles) in width.
Economy
The Gambian economy is heavily dependent on the growth, processing, and export of groundnuts, with fish, tourism, and remittances from expatriates also important.
History
The beginning of the colony was the building of a fort by the British at Banjul in 1816, as a base against the slave trade. Renamed Bathurst, the new town was placed under Sierra Leone in 1821. Gambia became a British colony in 1843. The Soninki-Marabout Wars in neighbouring Senegal caused serious disturbances and were ended by Anglo-French intervention in 1889. A British Protectorate over the interior was proclaimed in 1893. Gambia became an independent member of the Commonwealth in 1965, and a republic in 1970, with Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara as the country’s first President. In 1982 the Gambia and Senegal formed a limited confederation, Senegambia, but this had lapsed by 1989. In 1994 Jawara was ousted in a military coup by Lieutenant Yahya Jammeh, who was elected President in 1996. He was re-elected in 2001, 2006, and 2011. The Gambia left the Commonwealth of Nations in 2013 but rejoined in 2018. Jammeh lost the 2016 presidential elections to Adama Barrow. He initially accepted defeat but then refused to leave office until military pressure from neighbouring countries forced him to leave the Gambia in early 2017. The Gambia signed further important cooperation agreements with Senegal in 2018.