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Where is The Gambia?
About The Gambia
The Land
The People
Life and Death
Health, Energy and the Environment
Education and Work
Travel, Communication and the Media

The Gambia is a small country in western Africa.

The Gambia borders the Atlantic Ocean.

The land is mostly the flood plain of the Gambia River with some low hills.

The geographical coordinates for the centre of The Gambia, also known as lines of latitude and longitude, are:-
Latitude - 13 28N
Longitude - 16 34W

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Check the weather in Banjul now.

This is the time in Banjul now

The Gamnian flag is three equal horizontal stripes of red, at the top, blue and green The blue stripe is separated from the other two by two this white stripes. Red represents the sun and the savannah, blue is for the Gambia River and green stands for the forests and agriculture. The white stripes denote unity and peace.

The capital of The Gambia is Banjul.

The Gambia is a parliamentary republic with a president as head of state and head of the government.

In elections everyone over the age of 18 can vote.

The currency in The Gambia is the dalasi. The Gambia is a member of the Commonwealth.

English is the official language.

Hear the National Anthem


These are the anthem words

The words ×

These are the words to the Gambian National Anthem called For The Gambia, Our Homeland. It was adopted in 1965. This is a translation of the words.

If anthem fails to play click here

For The Gambia, our homeland
We strive and work and pray,
That all may live in unity,
Freedom and peace each day.
Let justice guide our actions
Towards the common good,
And join our diverse peoples
To prove man’s brotherhood.
We pledge our firm allegiance,
Our promise we renew;
Keep us, great God of nations,
To The Gambia ever true.

We have already written our own history of England but are asking schools in The Gambia to provide us with a detailed history of their own country. Check how here.


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The total land area of The Gambia is 10,120 sq kms which is the 50th largest in Africa.

The Gambia has lakes, rivers and canals which total 1,180 sq kms.

The Gambia has boundaries with 1 country

• Senegal 749 kms

The Gambia has a coastline of 80 kms which is the 37th longest in Africa.

The highest point in The Gambia is an unnamed elevation at 53 metres.

The pie chart below shows how the land is split between agricultural land (crops and pastures), forests and other, which can be towns, villages, desert or frozen waste called tundra.

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The total population of The Gambia is 2.09 million people, making it the 48th largest country in Africa by population.

Of this number 1.06 million are females and 1.03 million are males.

A person from The Gambia is called a Gambian.

To be a citizen of The Gambia, one of your parents must be a citizen of The Gambia. It is also sufficient to be born in The Gambia. You have to live in The Gambia for 5 years before you can begin to apply for citizenship.

The largest five cities in The Gambia, by population are:-

• Serrekunda 340,000 people
• Brikama 77,700
• Bakau 43,098
• Banjul 34,589
• Farafenni 29,867

For each country we will give you a diagram showing the population density. This is the average number of people for each square kilometre. Each little Owlbut is 1 person and the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.



61.3% of the people live in cities or towns.

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The birth rate in The Gambia is 28.6 births per 1,000 of population

The death rate in The Gambia is 6.9 deaths per 1,000 people.

Check this against the birth rate. If the death rate is higher than the birth rate then the population will decrease unless immigrants arrive in the country.

There are 52.9 deaths of girls under 1 year per 1,000 of births and 63.7 deaths of boys.

The median age for females is 21.6 and for males is 22.9. The median age is that age which divides the population exactly in half so there are the same number of people above the median age as below it.

The average age of a woman when she has her first child is 20.9.

The elderly dependency ratio is 4.5. This is the number of elderly people (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64).

The potential support ratio is 22.3. This is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.

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The Gambia spends 7.3% of its total income on health care.

There are 0.11 doctors per 1,000 people.

There are 1.1 hospital beds per 1,000 people.

10.3% of the population are estimated as obese.

94.2% of the urban population and 84.4% of the rural population have drinking water that is either piped into their home or they have access to a public tap, a protected borehole, well, spring or protected rainwater collection facility.

61.5% of the urban population and 55.0% of the rural population have access to a flushing toilet that is connected to a sewer, a pit latrine (that is a permanent hole in the ground that is looked after) or a composting toilet.

The Gambia releases 0.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels in the process of producing and consuming energy. This puts it as the 46th highest in Africa.

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The Gambia spends 3.1% of its total income on education.

Children usually start school at age 7 in The Gambia. Primary education is for six years until age 13 and secondary education must continue till 16 but can go on to 18/19. This may be followed by further education at a university or college.

We are waiting for information about school terms in The Gambia.

47.6% of females and 63.9% of males are able to read and write by the age of 15.

13.1% of all people aged between 16 and 24 are not in work. Among females 17.2% are unemployed while with males 9.1% can't find work.

The total number of people available for work in The Gambia is 777,100.

They work in the following sectors.

• Agriculture includes farming, fishing and forestry work
• Industry includes mining, manufacturing, construction and energy workers
• Services is everything else

We have no figures for the percentage of workforce who are unemployed.

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There is 1 paved airport in The Gambia, which is the 54th highest number in Africa.


There are 3,237 kilometres of railways in The Gambia, the 21st longest in Africa.


There are 3,740 kilometres of roads in The Gambia, which means The Gambia is in 44th place for the most kilometres of roads in Africa.

There are 3 major national newspapers in The Gambia.

There are 2.84 million mobile phone users.

2% of the people have a fixed landline.



371,785 people have access to the internet at home via any device (computer or mobile).

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