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Gambia


Figure 1.--Here we see a Gambian boy riding his bike to school. Notice the lush tropical countryside. He has a school badge on his shirt, perhaps a private school. The bike suggests that he comes from a family in comfortable circumstances. It seemns a fairly modern image, but the black and white photography suggests it was taken some time ago.

Gambia is a small West African country centred on the lower reaches of the Gambia River, esentially a narrow 200 mile enclave in Senegal. Despite its smll size, Gambia is renounded for its stuningly diverse ecosystems. Thgere are wonderful parks, including the Kiang West National Park and Bao Bolong Wetland Reserve where primates, leopards, hippos, hyenas and rare birds can be seen. We do not yet have much informartion on Gambia. The country follows both sides of the Gambia River and is surrounded by Senegal. It is a former British colony. It is a graphic example of how important rivers were in the history of Africa. The British were interested in the River as a trading route, but not the countryside. The Portuguese reached the Gambia River (mid-15th cntury as they moved south along the Atantic coast of Africa and established tradingposts. The Britsh seized the area (early-17th century). The current boundaries were set as part of the European Scramble for Africa (1888). Britain granted internal self-government (1963) and independence (1965). There have been boundary disputes with Senegal. There was a short-lived effort at union with Senegal (1980s). The country is largely agricultural, exporting peanuts. It is largely inhabited by black African tribes. The country is ethnicially diverse. The major tribal groups are: Mandinka/Jahanka (35 percent), Fulani/Tukulur/Lorobo (20 percent), Wollof (10 percent) and Jola/Karoninka (10 percent). The population is largely Muslim (about 95 percent). We have a page on education.








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Created: 8:36 AM 11/19/2012
Last updated: 1:20 AM 5/20/2014