The Gambia
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Gambia is a country in west Africa. Its capital is Banjul.
[edit] Geography
The geography of The Gambia is unusual: it is a long, thin country, completely surrounded by the country of Senegal, and with the Gambia River flowing through its centre and into the Atlantic Ocean. The river is very important to The Gambia and affects it in many ways.
The Gambia is the smallest country on the African continent and has an area of 10,380 km². At its widest point it is only 48 km wide.
[edit] Culture
The population of The Gambia is about 1.4 million. People from The Gambia are called Gambians. A number of people from different cultures and backgrounds live in The Gambia. Some of the largest groups are called Mandinka, Fula, and Wolof.
English is the official language, but people speak other languages as well.
Most Gambians follow the religion of Islam.
The American writer Alex Haley, who wrote the book Roots, found that his family came from The Gambia in the 1760s.
| Countries and territories of Africa |
|---|
| Independent |
| Algeria | Angola | Benin | Botswana | Burkina Faso | Burundi | Cameroon | Cape Verde | Central African Republic | Chad | Comoros | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Republic of the Congo | Côte d'Ivoire | Djibouti | Egypt | Equatorial Guinea | Eritrea | Ethiopia | Gabon | The Gambia | Ghana | Guinea | Guinea-Bissau | Kenya | Lesotho | Liberia | Libya | Madagascar | Malawi | Mali | Mauritania | Mauritius | Morocco | Mozambique | Namibia | Niger | Nigeria | Rwanda | São Tomé and Príncipe | Senegal | Seychelles | Sierra Leone | Somalia | Somaliland | South Africa | Sudan | Swaziland | Tanzania | Togo | Tunisia | Uganda | Western Sahara | Zambia | Zimbabwe |
| Governed by other countries |
| Canary Islands | Ceuta and Melilla | Madeira Islands | Mayotte | Réunion | Saint Helena and dependencies |
