Portal:The Gambia

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The Gambia Portal

The Gambia, officially the Republic of the Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal, except for its western coast on the Atlantic Ocean. It is situated on both sides of the lower reaches of the Gambia River, which flows through the centre of the country and empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The national namesake river demarcates the elongated shape of the country, which has an area of 11,300 square kilometres (4,400 sq mi) and a population of 2,468,569 people in 2024. The capital city is Banjul, which has the most extensive metropolitan area in the country; the second- and third-largest cities are Serekunda and Brikama.

Arab Muslim merchants traded with native West Africans in The Gambia throughout the 9th and 10th centuries. In 1455, the Portuguese were the first Europeans to enter The Gambia, although they never established significant trade there. The region was made a part of the British Empire by establishment of a colony in 1765, and exactly 200 years later, in 1965, The Gambia gained independence under the leadership of Dawda Jawara. Jawara ruled until Yahya Jammeh seized power in a bloodless 1994 coup, with Jammeh ruling until 2017. Adama Barrow became The Gambia's third president in January 2017, after defeating Jammeh in the December 2016 elections. Jammeh initially accepted the results, but then refused to leave office, triggering a constitutional crisis and military intervention by the Economic Community of West African States that resulted in his removal two days after his term was initially scheduled to end.

The Gambia has been a member of the Economic Community of West African States since its conception in 1975 and is a member of the Commonwealth, with English being the country's sole official language, both legacies of its British colonial past. The Gambia's economy is dominated by farming, fishing, and especially tourism. In 2015, 48.6% of the population lived in poverty. In rural areas, poverty was even more widespread, at almost 70%. (Full article...)

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Wassu stone circles

The Senegambian stone circles (French: Cercles mégalithiques de Sénégambie) or the Wassu stone circles are groups of megalithic stone circles that lie in The Gambia north of Janjanbureh and in central Senegal. Spread across a region 30,000 km² (12,000 sq mi), they are sometimes divided into the Wassu (Gambian) and Sine-Saloum (Senegalese) circles, but this is purely a national division.

Containing over 1000 stone circles and tumuli spread across an area 350 km (220 mi) long and 100 km (62 mi) wide, the Senegambian stone circles are the largest concentration of stone circles seen anywhere in the world and an extensive sacred landscape that was used for more than 1500 years. As a result, the sites were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2006. (Full article...)

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Image 1Arch 22 in the Gambian capital city of Banjul
Image 2Gunjur is a small coastal town in south-western Gambia.
Image 3Traders at a fish market on the Gambian coast
Image 4A donkey cart at a beach in The Gambia
Image 5Front and back view of the Gambian dalasi and coins from 5 bututs to 1 dalasi
Image 6Life in Serekunda
Image 7A Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta) in the Abuko Nature Reserve in The Gambia
Image 8Fish being smoked in Tanji
Image 9A view of Janjanbureh, Gambia
Image 10Banjul International Airport

Image 10Banjul International Airport
Image 11Gambian postage stamps from 1953

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... that the opening of the Senegambia bridge has eliminated the need for a 400-kilometre (250 mi) diversion to cross the Gambia River when the ferry is out of use?

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The Gambia sent a delegation to compete at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia from 15 September to 1 October 2000. This was the African nation's fifth time competing at a Summer Olympic Games. The Gambian delegation consisted of two track and field athletes, Pa Mamadou Gai and Adama Njie. Neither advanced beyond the first round heats of their events. (Full article...)

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Gambia Regiment Gambia women's national football team Gilbert Thomas Carter Alexander Grant (British Army officer) The Gambia at the 2008 Summer Olympics The Gambia at the 2012 Summer Olympics The Gambia at the 2016 Summer Olympics The Gambia at the 2016 Summer Paralympics