The Gambia

The Gambia is officially called the Republic of the Gambia. This country is also known as Gambia.There is variability in the use of the definite article, and whether it is capitalized. The British Permanent Committee on Geographical Names notes, We do have a letter dated May 1964 from the Gambian prime minister's office which instructed us that it should be The Gambia with a capital T. One of the reasons they gave was that Gambia could be confused with Zambia, which was a new name to the international community at the time. However, in running text the present Gambian government generally does not capitalize the "the", and in captions it drops the "the" altogether.  It is a country in West Africa. It is surrounded by Senegal. It is the smallest country on mainland Africa.

Banjul is the capital city. The largest cities are Serekunda and Brikama.

 Geography 
The geography of Gambia is unusual. It is a long, thin country. Except for its coastline it is completely surrounded by the country of Senegal. The River Gambia flows from Senegal through its centre and into the Atlantic Ocean.

Climate
The Gambia has a tropical climate. A hot and rainy season normally lasts from June until November.

Politics and government
The Gambia gained independence from the United Kingdom on 18 February 1965. It was ruled by Dawda Jawara and his People's Progressive Party (PPP) from 1965 to 1994. There was a military take-over in 1994. In 1996, Yahya Jammeh became president. Then in 2016, Adama Barrow was elected.

Administrative divisions
The Gambia is divided into eight local government areas. They are:
 Banjul
 Kanifing
 Brikama
 Mansa Konko
 Kerewan
 Kuntaur
 Janjanbureh
 Basse

As of 2013, these are then divided into 43 districts.

 Culture 
The population of The Gambia is about 1.7 million. People from The Gambia are called Gambians. A number of people from different cultures and backgrounds live in The Gambia. Some of the largest groups are called Mandinka, Fula, Wolof and Jolo, in that order.

English is the official language, but people speak other languages as well.

Most Gambians follow the religion of Islam.

The American writer Alex Haley, who wrote the book Roots, found that his family came from The Gambia in the 1760s.

References

 Other websites 
 Gambia information


Category:English-speaking countries
Category:Former British colonies
Category:Least developed countries
Category:Members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
Category:1965 establishments in Africa
Category:Commonwealth member states