The Republic of The Gambia

Date of Independence: February 18, 1965 Capital: Banjul Languages: English, Wolof, Mandingo Ethnic Groups: Mandingo, Fulani, Wolof Major Religions: Islam, Christianity, indigenous beliefs Currency: Dalasi Population: 1.5 million (2005) Major Exports: peanut products, fish, cotton lint, palm kernels

The Gambia is Africa’s smallest mainland country, covering an area less then twice the size of Delaware. It is surrounded by Senegal on three sides and is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the fourth. The Gambia river runs through the country and is one of the country’s major resources. There are five main ethnic groups: the Mandingo, and the Wolof are predominantly farmers; the Fulani are nomadic herdsmen who live in the eastern part of the country. There is also a small Creole group, the Aku, descended from European traders and liberated slaves who married African women.

At points throughout history the Gambia was a part of the Ghana, Songhai and Mali empire. Like most African countries, Gambia’s history is marked by a succession of colonial rulers including the Portugese, French and the British. The coastal area was a center for the transatlantic slave trade in the 1500s. It is estimated that as many as three million slaves may have been taken from the region by the abolishment of the slave trade in 1807.

It has had a relatively stable post-colonial history. In 1965, the Gambia achieved its independence from the British and established a constitutional monarchy, with Dawda Jawara, leader of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) as its first prime minister. In 1970, the Gambia became a republic and Jawara became its first president. In 1981, an attempted coup was crushed with help from the Senegalese army. That interference led in 1982 to the development of a confederation, Senegambia, which fostered closer economic cooperation, but never won the full support of the Gambian people. It eventually folded in 1989.

In the 1990s, the officers of The Gambia’s newly-formed armed forces, revolted against Jawara. In a bloodless coup, they forced Jawara into exile and installed Colonel Yahya Jammeh as President. Jammeh remains president to this day.

 Sources:

The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, available at : http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ao.html

Country Profile: Gambia, BBC News, available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/1032156.stm

Gambia , MSN Encarta, available at: http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761571438/Gambia_The.html

Gambia, Wikipedia, available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambia