Gambia

Man Convicted For Possession Of Duplicated Keys

Principal Emmanuel E. A. Amadi of the Brikama Magistrates’ Court recently convicted and sentenced one Ebrima Manneh to a fine of D1000, in default to...

Complainant Testified In Assault case

The criminal case of assault causing bodily harm involving one Kassima Conteh continued on Monday 19th October 2009 before Magistrate B.O. Jobe of...

Police Officer Testifies In Burglar Case

One Landing Saidy-faye, a Police Officer attached to Tanji Immigration post on Saturday 17th October, 2009, testified at the Brikama Magistrates’...

An Ex-Convict In Trouble Again

Sarjo Jallow, an ex-convict was recently convicted again by the Brikama Magistrates’ Court, presided over by Magistrate Effem for stealing two cocks....

The President Has Said It All

President Jammeh has called on The Gambia’s U-17 World Cup team to do away with what he referred to as entertainment or fancy football and work...

Training Of Youths On Business Enterprise Development Underway

A five-day training of National Enterprise Development Initiative (NEDI) 3rd phase for forty youth and women is currently underway at President’s...

Official Name: Republic of the Gambia

Geography 

Capital: Banjul
Major Towns: Serrekunda, Bakau, Brikama, Basse
Location (geographical coordinates/latitude and longitude): 13°28'N, 16°36'W
Time Zone: GMT
Size (Land and Sea): 11,300 sq km
Borders with Senegal 740 km
Elevation extremes: Lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m; Highest point: unnamed location 53 m
 
Politics
 
Head of State: President Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh
Form of Government: Republic
Independancy (from UK): February 18, 1965 
Currency: Dalasi (GMD)

Industry 
Main industries: Processing peanuts, fish, and hides; tourism, beverages, agricultural machinery assembly, woodworking, metalworking, clothing
Natural resources: fish, titanium (rutile and ilmenite), tin, zircon, silica sand, clay, petroleum
Agriculture: rice, millet, sorghum, peanuts, corn, sesame, cassava (tapioca), palm kernels; cattle, sheep, goats

Population and People
 
Population: 1,688,359 (July 2007 est.)
Population density per sq mi: 437
Growth rate: 2.8%
Birth rate: 38.86 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Total fertility rate: 5.21 children born/woman (2007 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 70.1/1000
Religion: Muslim 90%, Christian 9%, indigenous beliefs 1%
Languages: English (official), Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, other indigenous vernaculars
Ethnic groups / Tribes: Mandinka 42%, Fula 18%, Wolof 16%, Jola 10%, Serahuli 9%, other 4%, non-African 1%
Average age: 0-14 years: 44.1% (male 373,831/female 370,397); 15-64 years: 53.2% (male 445,365/female 452,311); 65 years and over: 2.8% (male 23,582/female 22,873) (2007 est.)
Life expectancy: 54.5
Literacy (definition: age 15 and over can read and write): Total population: 40.1%; male: 47.8%; female: 32.8% (2003 est.)

  • The smallest country on the African continental mainland: less than 48 km wide
  • Colourful buzz of weekly markets upcountry
  • Mangrove creeks
  • Bordered entirely by Senegal (and the Atlantic Ocean)
  • Was part of the ancient Mali Empire
  • More than 63% of Gambians live in rural villages (1993)
  • Popular tourist destination: The number of visitors increased from 300 tourists in 1965 to 25,000 visitors in 1976
  • In 1816, the British founded Banjul (the capital) as a trading post and base for suppressing the slave trade
  • Banjul with Gambian National Museum, the Albert Market, Banjul State House, Banjul Court House, two cathedrals and several major mosques.
  • Gambia is the fourth most densely populated country in Africa
  • In his 1977 Pulitzer Prize-winning book Roots: The Saga of an American Family, Alex Haley traced his family back to Kunta Kinte, enslaved from the village of Juffure on the north bank of The Gambia.
  • Sacred crocodile pools used as sites for fertility rituals
  • The Gambia was the first and last British colony in West Africa
  • En route to Casablanca for a conference and then to Liberia, U. S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first serving U. S. president to visit the African continent when he stopped in Banjul in 1943
  • In the 1930s, The Gambia was a transit point for the German airline Lufthansa's transatlantic mail service. Three aircraft were lost during this period
  • Yundum Airport was an emergency landing site for NASA space shuttles
  • Sandy beaches
  • Tropical forests
  • Birdwatcher's paradise, with over 540 different species
  • Pleasant tropical climate and relaxing beach resorts
  • Kora (The Gambia's national instrument)
  • Famous Roots Festival is a highly publicised annual celebration aimed at getting Americans and Europeans of African descent back in touch with Africa