The Geography

The Republic of the Gambia is a located on the Atlantic coast of Africa, between latitudes 13^oN and 14^oN and Longitude 14^oW and 17^oW. Occupying a total area of 11420 sq km, the Gambia consists of two narrow strips of land 6 to 26 km wide extending 320 km east along the banks of the River Gambia. The Republic of Senegal is the Gambia’s only neighbor. Occupying an area 20 times the size of the Gambia, Senegal surrounds the Gambia on north, east and south. Until late 19^th Century there was no Gambia or Senegal and present day Senegambia was settled by a number of West African Kingdoms.

The Gambia and Senegal went their separate ways as British and French colonies in late 19^th century. Shortly before Gambia’s independence in 1965, the idea to re-unify Gambia and Senegal was floated around for fear of Gambia not being a viable state. This was quickly dropped for lack of support on both sides. After independence, the Gambia became a member of several regional and global organizations including United Nations in 1965 and the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS in 1973.