Republic of The Gambia
The Gambia, 1965 to today. Draft, not yet reviewed
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. 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.
Seat of power: Banjul
Rulers
Dawda Kairaba Jawara
President of the Gambia, 1970–1994
He served as prime minister from 1962 to 1970, and then as the first President of The Gambia from 1970 to 1994, when he was overthrown by Yahya Jammeh. Under Jawara, The Gambia gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1965. Following the coup attempt, Jawara and Senegalese President Abdou Diouf announced the creation of the Senegambia Confederation, but it proved to be short-lived and ultimately collapsed eight years later in 1989.
Portrait of Dawda Kairaba Jawara: Fernando Pereira / Anefo, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl, file
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Yahya Jammeh
President of the Gambia, 1994–2017
In July 1994, he came to power by leading a bloodless coup d'état that overthrew the elected government of Sir Dawda Jawara. At first ruling by decree, he was elected president in the 1996 election. Jammeh was re-elected as president in 2001, 2006 and 2011, but lost to Adama Barrow in 2016.
Portrait of Yahya Jammeh: Amanda Lucidon / White House, Public domain, file
Adama Barrow
President of the Gambia, 2017 to today
He has served as third president of the Gambia since 2017. Barrow subsequently won the presidential election with 43.34% of the vote, defeating long-time incumbent Yahya Jammeh. Jammeh left the Gambia after military intervention from ECOWAS and went into exile on 21 January.
Culture
- The Gambia is one of only two countries for which the definite article "the" is officially used in its short form English-language name, the other being the Bahamas.
- English is the country's sole official language; it became widely used during British rule.
- The Gambia's economy is dominated by farming, fishing, and especially tourism. The Gambia is a founding member of the ECOWAS.
- In a swearing-in ceremony at the Gambian embassy in Dakar, Senegal, on 19 January 2017, Adama Barrow formally became president of the Gambia.
Picture
Banjul is the capital city of the Gambia, on St Mary's Island, which is in the Gambia River where it enters the Atlantic Ocean.
Image: Hannu Sääskilahti, CC BY-SA 4.0, file
Sources
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.