30 Facts About The Gambia

The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a West African country.

The Gambia is a small West African country with a narrow Atlantic coastline that is bordered by Senegal.

It is well-known for the diverse ecosystems that surround the central Gambia River.

Monkeys, leopards, hippos, hyenas, and rare birds are among the abundant wildlife in its Kiang West National Park and Bao Bolong Wetland Reserve.

Beaches are accessible from the capital, Banjul, and nearby Serrekunda.

The Gambia's major languages are English, Mandinka, Wolof, and Fula.

The Gambia was named after the Gambia River, which runs through the country's heart.

The Gambia is an unusual shape, occupying a long narrow strip of land that surrounds the Gambia River. The country is only 15 miles (25 kilometres) wide at its narrowest point and 30 miles (50 kilometres) wide at its widest point. Its territory stretches nearly 300 miles (480 kilometres) from the Atlantic coast into the interior.

The Gambia is the continent's smallest country. Only Cape Verde, Comoros, Mauritius, So Tomé and Prncipe, and Seychelles are smaller island nations.

The Gambia is one of only two countries in the world with the word "The" in its name. The Bahamas is the other country.

In 1964, one year before gaining independence from the United Kingdom, then-Prime Minister Dawda Jawara wrote to the Permanent Committee on Geographical Names, requesting that The Gambia retain the word "The" in their name to avoid confusion with Zambia, which was also about to gain independence.

The Gambia's flag consists of red, blue, and green stripes separated by two thinner white stripes. The blue represents the Gambia River; the red represents the sun and the country's equatorial position; the green stripe represents agricultural produce; and the white represents peace and unity.

From the fifth to the eleventh centuries, The Gambia was part of the Ghana Empire, and from the thirteenth century, it was part of the Mali Empire.

The first known European to visit the Gambia was Venetian explorer Alvise Ca' da Mosto, who arrived in 1455 while working for Portugal's Prince Henry the Navigator.

The Gambia was a British protectorate from 1894 until 1965, when it gained independence under the leadership of Dawda Jawara.

Banjul, the Gambia's capital city, is located on Saint Mary's Island at the mouth of the Gambia River. The Mandinka people used to gather fibrous plants on the island in order to make ropes. "Bang julo" is Mandinka for "rope fibre," and over time, mispronunciation caused the term to become Banjul.

The Gambia was one of the few countries to leave the Commonwealth after then-President Yahya Jammeh referred to it as a "neo-colonial institution" in 2013. However, the country re-joined in 2018.

Lieutenant Yahya Jammeh took control of The Gambia in 1994 after a bloodless coup. Jammeh ruled the country with an iron fist, winning four contentious elections before fleeing to exile in 2017 after losing an election to opposition candidate Adama Barrow.

Jammeh was well-known for his oddities and ruthlessness. In 2013, he vowed to stay in power for "a billion years" if God willed it; he ordered the execution of criminals and political opponents on death row; and in 2008, he threatened to behead gay people.

Jammeh falsely claimed in 2007 that he had discovered an Aids cure. Months of confinement followed, during which his victims were forced to drink herbal concoctions.

President Jammeh announced his full title as "His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya AJJ Jammeh Babili Mansa" in 2015. Babili Mansa translates to "chief bridge builder" or "conqueror of rivers" in Mandinka.

Kunta Kinteh Island, a small island in the Gambia River that was formerly known as James Island, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. From the 1500s to the early 1800s, the island was critical in the slave trade as captives were transported downriver.

The Gambia River is well-known for its diverse wildlife, which includes nearly 600 bird species, as well as manatees, hippos, crocodiles, and troops of cunning colobus monkeys.

For decades, Gambians voted in elections using marbles rather than ballot papers. The system was implemented in the early 1960s to address the country's high levels of illiteracy. The system was last used in the 2016 election, but it is expected to be phased out soon in favour of ballot papers.

The Stone Circles of Senegambia, which are listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, are also located in The Gambia. The site consists of four groups of stone circles with over 1,000 monuments spread across a 100km wide band along around 350km of the Gambia River. The monuments were built over 1,500 years ago.

The Gambia is known as "Africa's smiling coast" because of its friendly Gambian people.

The Gambia's highest point is only 53 metres above sea level. The unnamed location is unofficially known as Red Rock and is Africa's lowest high point.

Gambians regard the Kachikally Crocodile Pool as a sacred site. Crocodiles are associated with fertility in the Gambia, so women who are having difficulty conceiving frequently visit the crocodile-infested pool to pray and wash.

Lucy, a celebrity chimp raised as a human by American psychotherapists, spent several years in The Gambia. Lucy learned to dress herself, serve tea, and use sign language before being re-wilded in the Gambia in 1979 under the care of psychology student Janis Carter. Carter had been living with Lucy for nearly seven years.

Carter continues to run the Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Project on Baboon Island in the Gambia, which is home to over 100 of the primates. Because humans are no longer permitted on the island, "chimp-viewing experiences" are conducted via boat tours.