Portal:The Gambia

The Gambia Portal

The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, the Gambia is the smallest country in continental Africa; it is bounded by Senegal on all sides except for the western part, which is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean.

Its territory is on both sides of the lower reaches of the Gambia River, which flows through the center of the country and empties into the Atlantic. The national namesake river demarcates the elongated shape of the country, which has an area of 11,300 square kilometres (4,400 sq mi) and a population of 2,422,712 people at the 1 May 2024 census, which is a 30.45% population increase from 2013. The capital city is the island Banjul, formerly called Bathurst during the colonial era, which is the most extensive metropolitan area in the country. The second- and third-largest cities are Serekunda and Brikama. Other significant cities are Kanifing and Farafenni on the north bank, Basse in Upper River Region, and Soma in the lower river region.

From prehistory, the Trans-Saharan trade, peaking in the 8th century to the early 17th century, connected Gambia to Africa's North-East. In the 9th and 10th centuries, Arab Muslims brought Sunni Islam to the Western Sahara and Gambia. In 1455, the Portuguese were the first Europeans to enter the Gambia, although they never established significant trade there. The British Empire established a colony in 1765. In 1965, 200 years later, the Gambia gained independence under the leadership of Dawda Jawara. Jawara remained the president, winning several elections, until he was overthrown by Yahya Jammeh in a bloodless coup on 22 July 1994. (Full article...)

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Jollof rice with stew and garnish

Jollof (/dʒəˈlɒf/), or jollof rice, is a rice dish from Senegal, West Africa. It is typically made with long-grain rice, tomatoes, chilis, onions, spices, and sometimes other vegetables and/or meat in a single pot, although its ingredients and preparation methods vary across different regions.

Regional variations are a source of competition among the countries of West Africa, and in particular between Nigeria and Ghana. In the 2010s this developed into a friendly rivalry known as the "Jollof wars". (Full article...)

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Image 1Front and back view of the Gambian dalasi and coins from 5 bututs to 1 dalasi
Image 2Banjul International Airport
Image 3A view of Janjanbureh, Gambia
Image 4Arch 22 in the Gambian capital city of Banjul
Image 5Traders at a fish market on the Gambian coast
Image 6Fish being smoked in Tanji
Image 7Gunjur is a small coastal town in south-western Gambia.
Image 8Life in Serekunda
Image 9Gambian postage stamps from 1953
Image 10A donkey cart at a beach in The Gambia
Image 11A Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta) in the Abuko Nature Reserve in The Gambia

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... that Paschal Eze resigned as editor-in-chief of The Daily Observer, a newspaper in The Gambia, after being pressured by management not to publish stories about a certain politician?

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The Gambia, officially the Republic of the Gambia, competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, which was held from 5 to 21 August 2016. The country's participation at Rio marked its ninth appearance at the Summer Olympic Games since its début at the 1984 Summer Olympics. The delegation included two track and field athletes, Adama Jammeh and Gina Bass, who both qualified after meeting the qualification standards for their respective events, one judoka, Faye Njie, who made the Games through a quota place and one swimmer, Pap Jonga, who earned a universality place to enter the Games. The Gambia made their début appearances in the judo and swimming events. Bass was selected as the flag bearer for the opening and closing ceremonies. All four athletes were eliminated from the first rounds of their events. (Full article...)