The Gambia

Full name of country: Republic of The Gambia

Region: Africa

Official language: English

Population: 2,523,327 (2024 est.)

Nationality: Gambian(s) (noun), Gambian (adjective)

Land area: 10,000 sq km (3,861 sq miles)

Water area: 1,295 sq km (500 sq miles)

Capital: Banjul

National anthem: "For The Gambia, Our Homeland", by Virginia Julie Howe/Adapted By Jeremy Frederick Howe

National holiday: Independence Day, February 18 (1965)

Population growth: 2.16% (2024 est.)

Time zone: UTC +0

Flag: The flag of The Gambia features a tricolor design consisting of horizontal bands of red (top), dark blue (middle), and green (bottom). The bands are separated by white fimbriations, or small stripes of color, with the middle blue band two-thirds the size of the other bands. The red represents the sun, the blue symbolizes the Gambia River, and the green represents the country’s fertility and forests.

Motto: "Progress, Peace, Prosperity"

Independence: February 18, 1965 (from the UK)

Government type: republic

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Legal system: mixed legal system of English common law, Islamic law, and customary law

The Republic of the Gambia's long, slender territory stretches along the Gambia River from the North Atlantic Ocean on Africa's western coast. The Gambia's territory is an enclave of Senegal.

Once part of an expansive fourteenth-century Mali Empire, the region was divided up during colonial wars between the French and British during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. The colonial divisions left the Gambia with a densely populated river valley but few natural resources.

Note: unless otherwise indicated, statistical data in this article is sourced from the CIA World Factbook, as cited in the bibliography.

People and Culture

Population: Gambians hail from a diverse array of African tribal and ethnic groups. The largest such groups are the Mandinka people, including the related Jahankas (or Jakhankes), at 33.3 percent of the population; the Fula (or Fulani) people, including Tukulurs (or Toucouleurs) and Lorobo, at 18.2 percent; and the Wolof people, at 12.9 percent (2019–20 estimates).

English is the official language of the Gambia. Other commonly spoken languages include Mandinka, Wolof, and Fula, as well as a variety of other regional languages and dialects. About 96.4 percent of Gambians are Muslims, while 3.5 percent are Christians (2019–20 estimate). A number of both Christians and Muslims also practice Indigenous beliefs. In December 2015, president Yahya Jammeh declared the formerly secular country an Islamic republic, representing a break with the Gambia's colonial past.

Gambia's HDI value for 2022 is 0.495— which put the country in the Low human development category—positioning it at 174 out of 193 countries and territories, which measures quality-of-life indicators. The Gambian government continues to struggle to improve quality of life for its residents. Although HIV/AIDS prevalence is relatively low, affecting 1.8 percent of adults in 2020, the Gambia's average life expectancy at birth was 66.7 years for men and 70.1 years for women in 2024. Infant mortality is high but decreased in the early 2020s; it was estimated at 35.7 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2024.

The country's high mortality rates are due in part to the prevalence of contagious and environmentally bound diseases. Bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, dengue fever, malaria, schistosomiasis, and, in 2004, a deadly outbreak of meningococcal meningitis have gone largely uncontrolled as a result of poverty and a weak health-care system. Unemployment and poverty rates are high, though the Gambian government has typically declined to issue specific information on income or employment figures.

Indigenous People: Most of the ancestors of the Gambia's largest ethnic groups, the Mandinka, Fula, Wolof, Jola, and Serahuli, probably migrated to the area beginning in the fourteenth century. Associated with Africa's Bantu speakers and influenced by Arab and Islamic traders, these varied peoples were present when the first European traders came to the area in 1456. The Portuguese who landed on St. James Island in the Gambia River estuary were followed by a larger contingent of Portuguese who expanded the existing slave trade in the area into a large-scale international business of enslavement and transatlantic human trafficking.

As a result of European enslavement and other mercantile activities, the Gambia River Basin became a central point for transatlantic trade and for the great African diaspora. Today, more than 99 percent of Gambians are of African descent. Many follow traditional social customs and economic practices that have helped to preserve a sense of regional and tribal identity.

Tribal groups are highly stratified, so that every member of a tribe is born into his or her social position and all of the constraints, customs, and freedoms that come with that tradition. Language differences, clothing, music, dance, cuisine, and customs maintain the differences between the Gambia's tribal groups. Ritualized greetings can establish position and tribal affiliation between two strangers, or reinforce social relations between family members or friends.

Education: The Gambia's educational system is notoriously weak. Education is free through six years of primary school and three years of lower secondary (or basic) school (ages seven to thirteen), but families must pay for books, clothing, food, and transportation for students. In the wealthier, tourism-supported areas of the coast, charity has helped pay school fees and costs for students, but schools are typically underfunded in the poorer eastern part of the country.

Relatively few students proceed to secondary schools, training institutes, or universities. Instruction is typically given in English.

It is estimated that only about 58.1 percent of Gambians age fifteen and older can read and write (2021 estimate).

Health Care: The Gambian government identifies outlying areas or villages with a population over four hundred people that need a local health provider. Health workers volunteer to see patients and to provide health education to the community, and the government funds the purchase of basic supplies and equipment. Village workers serve under the supervision of trained nurses who visit villages on a regular basis.

The Gambia also has higher level health services working in cooperation with village-level care. The Basic Health Services system includes major health centers, minor health centers, and dispensaries, although few distinctions now exist among these categories.

Health centers and dispensaries have at least one physician on staff and hold rotating clinics that, along with village services, provide the bulk of all health care in the Gambia. While local villagers may pay with food or farming services to allow their health workers to volunteer time, patients in the Basic Health Service centers pay a small fee based on the service provided.

Infant and childcare through age five is free after a child is registered with a service center. Divisional Health Teams are assigned to four regions of the country to supervise the village and Basic Health Services for their areas.

Patients who need more specialized care are referred to one of the Gambia's four referral hospitals. A small number of private clinics and physicians provide care for higher fees. These providers are not associated with the government system.

Food: The Gambia's food reflects the variety of people who have migrated into the Gambian River area. International foods are available in urban areas. Benechin (rice cooked in fish or vegetable sauce), domodah (groundnut or peanut stew), mashed cassava, and meat or fish served with rice or vegetable leaves are popular local dishes.

Arts & Entertainment: The Gambia's griots, or storytellers, have put local history and legend into song or story forms for hundreds of years. Often accompanied by the harp-like kora, griots are at the bottom of Gambia's social caste system, but hold a revered place for their roles in tribal life. In one notable example in the town of Jufureh, a griot told author Alex Haley the family story that inspired the best-selling novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family (1976).

Novelists and poets Lenrie Peters, William Conton, Ebou Dibba, and Tijan Salleh all helped create the country's emerging literary scene.

Holidays: The Gambia's primary religious holidays are Muslim, and are set according to the Islamic lunar calendar. Eid Al Adha (the Feast of the Sacrifice) is celebrated in late January or early February. Mawlid an Nabi (the Prophet's birthday) is celebrated in late April or early May.

Ramadan ends the holy pilgrimage and begins a month-long holiday of fasting between dawn and dusk, private meditation and prayer, and communal time in the evenings. The end of Ramadan is marked with Eid al Fitr (usually in November), during which Muslims join in communal family celebrations, give money to the poor, and renew their faith.

The Gambia also officially recognizes the Christian holidays of Good Friday, Easter, Easter Monday, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, and Christmas.

State holidays include New Year's Day (January 1), Independence Day (February 18), and Labor Day (May 1).

Environment and Geography

Topography: Situated along the Gambia River, the Gambia's national territory is generally flat and at low elevations. In the east where the Gambia borders the North Atlantic, the country is about 45 kilometers (28 miles) wide and sits barely above sea level.

Inland, the country narrows, although elevations increase slightly as the land becomes a low plateau. The inland areas are occasionally dotted with small hills, which become rocky near the eastern border. The highest point of elevation is only 53 meters (174 feet) above sea level.

Natural Resources: The Gambia has ample supplies of freshwater and saltwater fish. The country also has modest supplies of titanium, tin, zircon, and clay. Coastal beaches have yielded silica sand for export. The government has investigated petroleum reserves in the country's territorial waters in the Atlantic Ocean.

Plants & Animals: The Gambia's tropical climate and river basin have created mangrove swamps along the lower river and estuary, an ideal climate for wetlands vegetation. Dolphins, crocodiles, and the occasional hippopotamus are also found there. In this area, the Baobolong Wildlife Reserve has become a tourist destination for birdwatching, attracting visitors from around the globe.

Bamboo forests, tropical forests, and grasslands cover most of the Gambia's national territory. These areas host tropical woods like mahogany and rosewood and the country's growing wildlife preserves. Forest species include chimpanzees, vervet, patas, and red colobus monkeys as well as oribi and duikers (related to the antelope). The dry grasslands support waterbucks, elands, and warthogs.

Climate: The Gambia has a tropical climate, which varies slightly between the coastal areas to the west and the eastern inland area. Hot and humid conditions in the interior of the country can peak with temperatures of about 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) during the warmest period between March and June.

Conditions are more moderate near the coast, with a dry period from mid-November to mid-May during which temperatures cool down. Between June and October, temperatures climb to 23 to 30 degrees Celsius (73 to 88 degrees Fahrenheit), and heavy rainfall is common.

From January to March, the legendary harmattan wind blows across Western Africa from the Sahara Desert, creating dusty hazy conditions across the region.

Economy

Since the late stages of its colonial history, the Gambia has relied heavily on the production of groundnuts (peanuts) and groundnut oil for export to world markets. The increase in groundnut prices after the country achieved independence in 1965 permitted the new government to begin development of health care, educational, and other social programs. With the decline of the groundnut industry and political instability in the 1990s, however, much of this work was undone.

In February 2004, the Gambian government announced the discovery of oil reserves in its territorial waters off the coast. Officials hoped that revenues from a new petroleum industry would replace the floundering agricultural base and allow for significant development in the struggling country. Notably, foreign aid also increased after authoritarian president Yahya Jammeh was deposed in 2016.

In 2023, the Gambia's gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at US$7.911 billion, or US$2,900 per capita.

Industry: The services sector accounts for the largest share of the Gambian economy, but other industries also have a presence. Peanut processing, fishing, tourism, woodworking, metalworking, and clothing construction are among the most significant, along with the assembly of agricultural machinery and the processing of beverages for sale.

Agriculture: The Gambia's economy is heavily based on agriculture, relying on the growth, harvesting, and production of rice, millet, sorghum, peanuts, corn, sesame, cassava, and palm kernels. Cattle, sheep, and goats are also raised by Gambian farmers. Palm kernels, cotton lint, and peanut products remain the country's most important exports.

Most Gambian farmers operate at the subsistence level. Roughly three-quarters of the country's population depends on subsistence farming for a living.

Tourism: Tourism has been a central feature of the Gambia's economy at least since independence. The country's tropical climate and location less than seven hours from Great Britain by air helped the Gambia develop a strong tourist base. Over the years, luxury resorts appeared on Gambian beaches along the Atlantic coast. However, the tourism industry was negatively impacted beginning in 2014 during the Ebola outbreak that affected neighboring countries and again in 2020 with the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Ecotourism is playing an increasingly large role in the national economy as the government works to expand wildlife preserve areas. River trips, safaris, village marketplaces, historic sites, and the ruins of early empires draw tourists to the Gambia from across the world, including Europe and North America.

Government

The Gambia's administrative divisions comprise five regions (Central River, Lower River, North Bank, Upper River, West Coast), one city (Banjul, the capital), and one municipality (Kanifing). The former colonial region received its independence from the British Empire in 1965 and briefly united with neighboring Senegal to form the federation of Senegambia in 1982. By 1989 Senegambia had fallen apart, and in 1991 the Gambia's government fell to a military coup. The reinstatement of a constitution and, at least in appearance, the return to multiparty elections in 1996 and 1997 stabilized politics in the country, though corruption remained a problem.

The Gambian government is run by a president, who is both chief of state and head of government, and a unicameral National Assembly. The president is elected by popular vote to a five-year term and appoints a vice president and cabinet. The National Assembly consists of fifty-eight members, fifty-three of whom are elected by popular vote to five-year terms. The remaining five members are appointed by the president to five-year terms.

From 1996, power was largely consolidated by President Yahya Jammeh, who stayed in office for twenty-two years in an increasingly authoritarian regime. He declared the nation an Islamic republic in 2015. Several elections returning Jammeh to office were widely criticized as unfair, and he was eventually deposed in a free election held in December 2016. Adama Barrow, the 2016 election winner, was reelected in 2021.

Interesting Facts

• In its course from the Atlantic to the western boundaries of the Gambia, the Gambian River narrows from a width of 183 meters (600 feet) near the coast to a mere 6-meter (20-foot) channel near Barrow Kunda.
• The Gambia is home to more than 280 species of birds.
• At 15 degrees longitude, the Gambia lies at a point equidistant from the equator and the Tropic of Cancer.
• The Gambia's only national border is with Senegal, as it is completely enclosed within Senegal save for eighty kilometers (fifty miles) of coastline.

Bibliography

"Gambia." Human Development Reports, United Nations Development Programme, 13 Mar. 2024, hdr.undp.org/data-center/specific-country-data#/countries/GMB. Accessed 27 Jan. 2025.

"Gambia." World Health Organization, 2020, www.who.int/countries/gmb/en/. Accessed 16 Oct. 2020.

"Gambia to Drop English as 'Colonial Relic.'" Al Jazeera, 13 Mar. 2014, www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2014/03/gambia-drop-english-as-colonial-relic-2014313141814734996.html. Accessed 27 July 2016.

"Gambia, The." The World Bank, 2024, data.worldbank.org/country/gambia-the. Accessed 27 Jan. 2025.

"Gambia, The." The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 21 Jan. 2025, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/gambia-the/. Accessed 27 Jan. 2025.

Perfect, David. Historical Dictionary of the Gambia. 5th ed., Rowman, 2016.

"The Gambia Now an Islamic Republic, Says President Yahya Jammeh." The Guardian, 11 Dec. 2015, www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/12/gambia-now-an-islamic-republic-says-president-yahya-jammeh. Accessed 27 July 2016.