The Gambia

Overview

The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is the smallest country on mainland Africa — a narrow strip of about 11,300 km² hugging both banks of the lower Gambia River, surrounded on three sides by Senegal with an 80 km Atlantic coastline. Its capital is Banjul (formerly Bathurst); the largest urban area is Serekunda.

History

The region was integrated into trans-Saharan trade networks from the 9th–10th centuries, when Arab merchants introduced Islam; by the 14th century most of the area lay within the Mali Empire, and the Senegambian stone circles testify to earlier megalithic cultures. Portuguese explorers reached the river in 1455, and in 1588 English merchants acquired trade rights; James I chartered trade in 1618. Oddly, parts of the river valley (including St. Andrew's Island) belonged to the Duchy of Courland (modern Latvia) in 1651–1661. Anglo-French rivalry over the Senegal and Gambia rivers ended with the 1783 Treaty of Versailles awarding the Gambia River to Britain. Bathurst was founded in 1816, an 1889 Anglo-French agreement fixed the present borders, and the territory became the Gambia Colony and Protectorate, a separate Crown colony from 1888, abolishing slavery in 1906.

The Gambia became independent on 18 February 1965 as a Commonwealth constitutional monarchy under Prime Minister (later President) Dawda Jawara, becoming a republic in 1970. Jawara survived a 1981 coup attempt — suppressed with Senegalese troops, killing 500–800 people — which prompted the Senegambia Confederation (1982–1989). In July 1994, 29-year-old Lieutenant Yahya Jammeh seized power in a bloodless coup and ruled authoritarianly for 22 years, marked by human-rights abuses, withdrawal from the Commonwealth (2013), and a unilateral 2015 declaration of an "Islamic Republic." After losing the December 2016 election to Adama Barrow, Jammeh's refusal to step down triggered an ECOWAS military intervention that forced him into exile in January 2017. Barrow restored the republican name, rejoined the Commonwealth in 2018, and won re-election in 2021; a coup attempt was reportedly foiled in 2022.

Later history and present status

The economy rests on farming (especially groundnuts), fishing, and tourism; about 17% of the population lived in extreme poverty in 2022. Roughly 96% of Gambians are Muslim; the largest ethnic groups are Mandinka, Fula, Wolof, and Jola, and English is the official language.