The Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa, a narrow ribbon of land following the course of the Gambia River for some 480 kilometres inland from the Atlantic coast, surrounded on three sides by Senegal. A low-lying, sunny land sometimes called the Smiling Coast of Africa for its friendly people and its beaches, it is built entirely around its river, which has shaped its history, its trade, and its place in the tragic story of the Atlantic slave trade.
The lands along the Gambia River lay within the orbit of the great medieval West African empires of Mali and Songhai. From the fifteenth century European traders, Portuguese and then British, came for trade, and the river became a route in the Atlantic slave trade, with islands such as Kunta Kinteh Island serving as collection points, later made famous by the novel and television series tracing one family's roots. Britain established the colony of the Gambia, drawing its strange shape around the river, and the country gained independence in 1965.
The Gambia is defined entirely by its river. The country is essentially a strip of land, rarely more than fifty kilometres wide, running along both banks of the Gambia River from its mouth on the Atlantic deep into the interior, almost entirely enclosed by Senegal. The land is low and flat, a mix of savanna, swamp, and farmland along the wide, tidal river, which is navigable far inland. This watery, green landscape, with its mangroves and rich birdlife, supports farming and a growing tourism industry along the coast.
The flag of the Gambia has three horizontal bands of red, blue, and green, separated by thin white stripes. The blue band in the centre represents the Gambia River that runs through the heart of the country and gives it its shape and life, the red above it the sun and the savanna, and the green below the land, forests, and agriculture, while the white stripes stand for unity and peace. The flag, with the river at its centre, neatly captures the nature of this riverine nation.
The Gambia is an overwhelmingly Muslim country, with the great majority of its people following Sunni Islam, a faith long established in the region through trade and the influence of the Sufi brotherhoods that organise much of religious and social life. There is a Christian minority, both Catholic and Protestant, and traditional beliefs also persist in places, often alongside Islam. The country has a strong reputation for religious tolerance, and Muslims and Christians commonly share in one another's festivals and family celebrations.
Gambian cuisine is West African in character and closely related to that of surrounding Senegal, built around rice and the bounty of the river and sea. A national dish is benachin, a one-pot meal of rice, fish or meat, and vegetables cooked in a rich tomato sauce, similar to the celebrated thieboudienne. Domoda, a peanut stew, and yassa, meat or fish marinated with onions and lemon, are also favourites. Fresh fish, plenty of chili, and groundnuts characterise the food of this riverine land.
Agriculture is the livelihood of most Gambians, dominated by the peanut, or groundnut, which has long been the country's principal cash crop and export, so central that the national economy rises and falls with it. Farmers also grow rice along the river, millet, and other food crops, and fishing in the river and the Atlantic is important. Tourism along the coast, drawing visitors to the beaches and the river's wildlife, has become another vital part of the economy of this small country.
The Gambia River as a route of trade and of the Atlantic slave trade, the unusual colonial shaping of the country, and independence in 1965 mark its history. The country was relatively stable until a coup in 1994 brought to power Yahya Jammeh, whose increasingly erratic and repressive twenty-two-year rule ended when he lost an election in 2016 and, after initially refusing to step down, was pressured into exile, allowing a democratic transition that brought renewed hope to the small nation.
The Gambia has a population of around 2.6 million people, packed into its small territory, making it one of the more densely populated countries in Africa. Its people belong to several ethnic groups, the largest being the Mandinka, along with the Fula, Wolof, and others, speaking many languages with English as the official tongue. The population is young and concentrated along the river and especially near the coast, around the capital, Banjul, and the larger urban areas of the Atlantic coast.
