The Gambia

The Gambia is a small country in Africa.

It is long and thin. A big river runs through the middle. The capital city is Banjul.

The Gambia is a country in West Africa shaped like a long, thin ribbon. It follows the Gambia River from the Atlantic Ocean almost 480 kilometers inland, but it is only 25 to 50 kilometers wide. Senegal surrounds it on every side except the coast.

The land is flat, and the river is the most important feature: boats can travel along it through the whole country. The Gambia is the smallest country on Africa's mainland. About 2.8 million people lived there in 2025. Its capital, Banjul, stands where the river meets the ocean.

The Gambia occupies a strip 25 to 50 km wide on either side of the Gambia River, extending almost 480 km into the interior; apart from a short Atlantic coastline it is entirely surrounded by Senegal. Britannica explains this unusual shape as the result of 19th-century territorial compromises between Britain, which controlled the lower river, and France, which ruled Senegal. Talks on union led to the short-lived Senegambia confederation (1982–89).

Britannica calls The Gambia Africa's smallest nonisland country and one of its most densely populated; about three-fifths of people live in urban areas, chiefly around Banjul. The World Bank counted 2,822,093 people in 2025. The economy depends heavily on peanut production and export. English is the official language, and Adama Barrow is president.

Banjul is the capital city.

It is where the river meets the sea. Up the river is a little island with an old fort. Long ago, people also built circles of stones.

Banjul, the capital, stands where the Gambia River flows into the Atlantic Ocean. It was called Bathurst until 1973. Many people live in towns around Banjul, such as Brikama.

The Gambia has two World Heritage Sites. Kunta Kinteh Island, in the river, has the remains of a fort begun by the Portuguese in the 1400s, and nearby villages such as Juffureh tell the story of trade and the slave trade. Farther upriver, at Wassu and Kerbatch, stand ancient stone circles; those at Wassu were built about a thousand years ago.

Banjul, called Bathurst until 1973, lies where the Gambia River enters the Atlantic, and the largest urban concentration has grown around it. The Gambia National Museum in Banjul holds ethnographic collections, and Tanji has a natural history and culture museum.

UNESCO inscribed Kunta Kinteh Island and Related Sites in 2003. The island, in the middle of the river, was acquired by Portugal from local rulers by 1456, when work on a fort began; the property also includes a Portuguese chapel and colonial warehouse at Albreda, the Maurel Frères building at Juffureh, the remains of San Domingo, Fort Bullen and the Six-Gun Battery, and it is a memory of the slave trade, both its spread and its end. Juffureh is the reputed ancestral village of Kunta Kinte in Alex Haley's novel Roots. The Stone Circles of Senegambia (2006) include the Wassu and Kerbatch complexes in The Gambia; burials excavated at Wassu date its circles to between 927 and 1305 CE; Wassu has a museum devoted to them.

The Gambia is flat and warm.

Rain falls from about June to October. Mangrove trees grow along the river. Grassy savanna covers the higher land.

The Gambia River is the heart of the country. Near the coast its water is brackish, a mix of salt and fresh water, and mangrove swamps line its banks. Away from the river, the higher land is covered with savanna grassland.

The rainy season comes from about June to October, followed by a longer dry season. The coast gets the most rain, about 1,300 millimeters a year, while inland it is drier and hotter. From December to April, a dry wind called the harmattan blows.

The Gambia River crosses a plateau of sandstone formed between about 23.7 and 1.6 million years ago; in the east narrow valleys separate broad, flattish hills, while in the west low sand hills alternate with sand-filled depressions to form a flat plain. Settlement uses three zones: river swamps, the riverine flats called banto faros, and the better-drained sandstone uplands, where most villages stand.

The climate is wet-and-dry tropical, with an intense rainy season from about June to October. Rain decreases inland: Yundum, near the coast, averages about 1,300 mm and mid-20s °C, while Basse Santa Su, 435 km inland, gets about 1,000 mm and upper-20s °C. Humidity falls from December to April, when the harmattan dominates. Vegetation ranges from upland savanna to inland swamps and mangroves along the brackish lower river.

More than 500 kinds of birds live in The Gambia.

Monkeys and baboons live there too. Crocodiles swim in the river. Little fish called mudskippers sit on rocks by the river.

The Gambia is famous for birds: more than 500 kinds live there. Along the river and in the reserves you can also find warthogs, monkeys, baboons, antelope and crocodiles, though few wild animals are native, and those that survive are under pressure from people and farm animals.

Along the river shore live mudskippers, small fish that sit on rocks at the water's edge. Parks such as Abuko Nature Reserve near Banjul, Kiang West National Park and River Gambia National Park protect wildlife.

Britannica notes that few wild animals are native to the region and that those surviving are under pressure from human and livestock populations. Warthogs, monkeys, baboons, antelope and crocodiles live in the middle and upper river areas, and more than 500 bird species occur throughout the country.

Protected areas include Bijilo Forest Park on the Atlantic coast, Abuko Nature Reserve just upriver from Banjul, Kiang West National Park farther inland and River Gambia National Park, also called Baboon Island National Park, near Kuntaur. Atlantic mudskippers live on the river shore near Tenda-Ba, and village weavers are among the country's many birds.

About 2.8 million people live in The Gambia.

Many people speak Mandinka or Wolof. English is the official language. Football and wrestling are favorite sports.

Several peoples live in The Gambia. The Malinke are the largest group, about one-third of the population. The Diola (Jola) have lived there the longest, the Wolof are the main group in Banjul, and the Fulani and Soninke live mostly upriver.

English is the official language, and Mandinka and Wolof are widely used to talk across groups. About three out of five people live in towns. Peanuts are the most important crop. Football is played in nearly every town and village, and traditional wrestling, with music, dance and costumes, draws big crowds.

Britannica describes the river basin as a refuge for groups migrating from the turmoil of western Sudanic wars from the 12th century. The Diola (Jola), now mostly in the west, are the longest-resident people; the Malinke form about one-third of the population; the Wolof predominate in Banjul; the Fulani settled the far upriver areas, where their kingdom, Fuladu, became a major power in the late 19th century; and the Soninke are also concentrated upriver.

English is official, while Mandinka and Wolof are the lingua francas; Pulaar, Serer, Diola and Soninke are also spoken. The population is overwhelmingly Muslim, with a small Christian minority. Most rural villages stand on the uplands or along the edge of the riverine flats, and urban dwellers keep close ties to rural relatives. Football fields are found in virtually every town and village, traditional wrestling is especially popular, and The Gambia first competed at the Olympics in 1976.