The Gambia is a very small and narrow African country with the border based on the Gambia River. The country is less than 48 kilometres (30 mi) wide at its greatest width. The country's present boundaries were defined in 1889 after an agreement between the United Kingdom and France. It is often claimed by Gambians that the distance of the borders from the Gambia River corresponds to the area that British naval cannon of the time could reach from the river's channel. However, there is no historical evidence to support the story, and the border was actually delineated using careful surveying methods by the Franco-British boundary commission.[1][2] The Gambia is almost an enclaveofSenegal and is the smallest country on mainland Africa.
The grassy flood plain of the Gambia river contains Guinean mangroves near the coast, and becomes West Sudanian savanna upriver inland.
Location: Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and Senegal
Geographic coordinates: 13°28′N 16°34′W / 13.467°N 16.567°W / 13.467; -16.567
Area:
total: 11,295 km2
land: 10,000 km2
water: 1,295 km2
Land boundaries:
total: 749 km
border countries: Senegal 749 km
Coastline: 80 km
Maritime claims:
Climate: tropical; hot, rainy season (June to November); cooler, dry season (November to May)
Terrain: floodplain of the Gambia River, flanked by low hills
Elevation extremes:
Natural resources: fish, clay, silica sand, titanium (rutile and ilmenite), tin, zircon
Land use:
arable land: 43.48%
permanent crops: 0.49%
other: 56.03% (2011)
Current issues: deforestation, desertification, prevalence of water-borne diseases, drought (rainfall has dropped by 30% in the last 30 years)
Environment - party to international agreements on:
This is a list of the extreme points of the Gambia, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location.
This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook. CIA.
