Gambia, The
With a total area of 11,295 square kilometers (4,000 square miles), the Republic of The Gambia is the smallest country on the continent of Africa. It is bordered by Senegal on all sides except on the Atlantic coast, and for this reason the two countries have many ethnic and cultural ties. The Gambia's population, estimated at 1,501,050 in 2003, consists primarily of Muslim ethnic groups, but 10 percent of the population is Christian. English is the official language, although a number of African dialects are spoken widely. The capital of the country is Banjul (called Bathurst until 1973).
The Gambia came under total British control in 1902 and was a British colony until 1965. A system of local rule was established until World War II
(MAP BY MARYLAND CARTOGRAPHICS/THE GALE GROUP)(1939–1945), when Britain began to prepare the country for independence. The Gambia achieved self-governance in 1963 and independence on February 1965. After a referendum in 1970 the country became a republic.
The Gambia is a multiparty democracy with a presidential–parliamentary system of government. The government is headed by a president who is popularly elected for a five-year term. The unicameral legislature, the House of Representatives, consists of forty-nine members; forty-five members are elected, and five are appointed by the president. The Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction, headed by President Yahya Jammeh (b. 1965), was the ruling party as of 2005. The opposition parties have remained weak and divided.
The constitution provides for an independent judiciary, headed by a Supreme Court. Although the lower courts sometimes are subject to corruption and executive branch influence, the judiciary in general has shown its independence on many occasions. The Gambia's legal system is based on English common law, Qur'anic law, and customary law. Administratively, The Gambia consists of five divisions and one city, the capital.
The Gambia's system of government is the culmination of a chain of events that began in 1981 with an unsuccessful coup attempt (suppressed with the intervention of Senegalese troops) by a group of junior-ranking officers. Until that time the country had been one of the democratic oases on the continent of Africa, defying the conventional view that Islam and democracy are incompatible. Within the next ten years the country formed and dissolved a confederation with Senegal, experienced coups and countercoups and elections in between, and finally reverted to democratic rule in 2001.
Once among the best in Africa, The Gambia's human rights record was poor during the military takeover that lasted from 1994 until 2001. Since that time the situation has improved considerably, but the combination of repressive measures and political intimidation during elections earned The Gambia a rating of "partially free" in Freedom House's rankings in 2003.
Parliamentary Systems; Presidential Systems; Republic.
Bibliography
Freedom House. "The Gambia." Freedom in the World 2004. New York: Freedom House, 2004. <http://www.freedomhouse.org/res earch/freeworld/2004/countryratings/gam bia.htm>.
"Gambia, The." In CIA World Factbook. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 2005. <http://www.cia.gov/cia/publicat ions/factbook/geos/ga.html>.
U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. "The Gambia." Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 2005. <http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/ hrrpt/2004/41605.htm>.
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