The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa that is almost entirely surrounded by Senegal with the exception of its western coastline along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the smallest country within mainland Africa.
The first written records of the region come from Arab traders in the 9th and 10th centuries. In medieval times, the region was dominated by the Trans-Saharan trade and was ruled by the Mali Empire. In the 16th century, the region came to be ruled by the Songhai Empire. The first Europeans to visit the Gambia River were the Portuguese in the 15th century, who attempted to settle on the river banks, but no settlement of significant size was established. Descendants of the Portuguese settlers remained until the 18th century. In the late 16th century, English merchants attempted to begin a trade with the Gambia, reporting that it was "a river of secret trade and riches concealed by the Portuguese."
The Gambia Armed Forces, also known as the Armed Forces of The Gambia, consists of three branches: the Gambia National Army (GNA), the Gambia Navy, and the Republican National Guards (RNG). It formerly included the Gambia National Gendarmerie (GNG) from the 1980s to 1996, when they were moved under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior. The commander-in-chief is the President of the Gambia who is currently Adama Barrow, whereas practical control is exercised by the Chief of the Defence Staff who is currently Lieutenant General Masaneh Kinteh.
The President of the Republic of the Gambia is the head of state and head of government of the Gambia. The president leads the executive branch of the government of the Gambia and is the commander-in-chief of the Military of the Gambia. The post was created in 1970, when the Gambia became a republic and has been held by three people: Dawda Jawara, who ruled from 1970 until 1994, Yahya Jammeh, who seized power in a bloodless coup that year and Adama Barrow, who defeated Jammeh in elections held in December 2016.
The dalasi is the currency of the Gambia that was adopted in 1971. It is subdivided into 100 bututs. It replaced the Gambian pound at a rate of 1 pound = 5 dalasis, i.e. 1 dalasi = 0.2 pound = 4 shillings.
The People's Progressive Party is a moderate political party in the Gambia. It was the dominant ruling party from 1965 with president Dawda Jawara. He was elected for a sixth term of office in 1992, but was overthrown in a coup by young army officers in 1994. The party was banned from the 1996 and 1997 elections.
The National Assembly of the Gambia is the unicameral legislature of the Gambia. The authorisation for the National Assembly lies in Chapter VII of the Constitution of the Gambia. It is composed of 53 members directly elected through first past the post, and a further five members appointed by the President.
Sheriff Mustapha Dibba was a veteran Gambian politician who was the 1st Vice-President of the Gambia (1970–1972) and also served as the country's National Assembly speaker from 2002 to 2006. He was also leader of the National Convention Party (NCP).
Kukoi Samba Sanyang was a Gambian politician and leader of the unsuccessful 1981 coup d'état against the government of Dawda Jawara.
The Gambia Independence Act 1964 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that gave independence to the Gambia with effect from 18 February 1965. The Act also provided for the continued right of appeal from the Gambian courts to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which was abolished in 1998 when Yahya Jammeh decided to reorganise the Gambian judiciary under the 1997 Constitution of The Gambia, which replaced the 1970 Constitution of The Gambia that had been suspended after the 1994 Gambian coup d'état on 22 July 1994.
Yasimika is the first studio album by Djeli Moussa Diawara, Guinean Kora player (Korafola), released in 1983.
In the 1994 Gambian coup d'état, a group of soldiers led by 29-year-old Lieutenant Yahya Jammeh seized power in a bloodless coup d'état on the evening of 22 July, ousting Dawda Jawara, who had been President of the Gambia since its independence in 1970.
The Gambia Colony and Protectorate was the British colonial administration of the Gambia from 1821 to 1965, part of the British Empire in the New Imperialism era. The colony was the immediate area surrounding Bathurst, and the protectorate was the inland territory situated around the Gambia River, which was declared in 1894. The foundation of the colony was Fort James and Bathurst, where British presence was established in 1815 and 1816, respectively. For various periods in its existence it was subordinate to the Sierra Leone Colony, however by 1888 it was a colony in its own right with a permanently appointed Governor.
Nyimasata Sanneh-Bojang (1942–2015) was a Gambian politician. She was the first woman to be elected to the Gambian National Assembly, when she won the seat of Northern Kombo for the People's Progressive Party. Though she kept the seat in 1987, she was deselected by her party and did not contest the 1992 election.
Fatim Jawara was a Gambian footballer who played for the Gambia women's national football team and top Gambian women's football club Red Scorpions FC. In 2012, she played as the substitute goalkeeper at the 2012 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup for the under-17 national team. She died attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea by boat to Italy in 2016.
The 1981 Gambian coup d'état attempt was executed at the end of July 1981 and lasted until early August when it was defeated by Senegalese soldiers. It was carried out by Marxist rebels in The Gambia while the President, Dawda Jawara, was attending the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in London.
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