It's "The" Gambia
Not Gambia
"The" Gambia
You gotta put a "The" before Gambia
And it's Gambia
Not Zambia
Not Gambit
Not Get-bia as in Bob SaGet-Bia
Gambia
[The Geography Now theme song]
"It's time to learn geography"
"NOW!"
Hey, everyone!
Welcome to The Gambia
They actually deliberately chose to put "The" before Gambia
to avoid confusion with Zambia
making it one of the only countries with a
"The" in the shortened title
Wow! That's like the least witty opening I've ever made for a video
Uh, okay let's see
Umm
This place is so interesting you'll be saying
DAYUM-bia!
Ken: Uh, is that the first time you're using profane language on your show?
Barby: No! I meant..
I meant "Dam" as in a beaver dam
Ha!
Keepin' it clean since 2014
[slap]
"Political Geography"
Dude, half of this country's charm is found in its
strangely drawn borders and territory marks
Not only is it the smallest country on mainland Africa
but it's also disputably the most oddly shaped
Namibia: Mmmmhmmmm.
First of all
The Gambia is located on the furthest section of Western Africa
off the Atlantic coast
Other than its 80 km coastline on the Atlantic
The Gambia is completely surrounded by Senegal on all three sides
and meanders inland following the Gambia River for about 320 km
The country is divided into 8 local government areas
including the capital Banjul which is classified as a city area
located on a small island just at the mouth of the river
The largest city just next door to Banjul though
is Serekunda
And the entire country has one international airport
Banjul Yundum International (BJL)
which, by the way, a bunch of weird airlines
that I've never heard of that fly to it like
The UK's Thomas Cook Airlines
and Lithuania's Small Planet Airlines
Whoa!
Off the coast, the furthest plots of land that lay claim to The Gambia are
The Bijol Islands
The Gambia is often referred to as the
"Smiling coast of Africa"
due to the fact that not only are the beaches amazing
but if you look at the map it kinda looks like
Senegal is a deformed Pacman looking type o' thing
and The Gambia is a cheeky sultry Elvis curled lip grin smile
Otherwise the country in itself looks like a snake
with a horrible underbite
Now, you might be thinking
"Okay, why does this country even exist?"
"Like.. it's so small"
"Wouldn't it be easier if they just joined Senegal and became one country?"
Well, that's a very observant
but horrible conclusion!
Now, you have to understand that in Africa
every stretch of territorial sovereignty claim matters
even if you can just take a morning stroll across
one side of the country to the other
The reason why The Gambia is shaped like this
is partially because of European Colonialism
and partially because of complacency
Senegal used to belong to the French Empire
and The Gambia used to belong to the British
Essentially they drew the borders to follow the Gambia River
with two straight lines jutting inland from the coast
between 13° 9' N and 13° 30' N
However, they made a deal and said that
The Gambia could have all the land that flowed
west of the Hallahin Bolong River in the south
This did, however, transect a portion of the Djinak Peninsula
which is shared by both countries
Somewhere along the halfway point
they decided that the straight lines would stop
and that the country would be allotted somewhere between
9 to 12-ish km in every direction around the river
on each side inland for about 320 km
That's not a lot
I mean area-wise,
the entire country is only about the size of Jamaica
So, essentially the country is kind of like
a river that masquerades as a country
The most important route, though, would have to be
the North and South Bank roads
You can literally traverse the entire country on this loop road
that starts west at Barra
and then crosses the river at Fatoto
and then heads all the way back to Banjul
Keep in mind, though
Most borders aren't even really marked that well
or.. at all
Most checkpoints between them and Senegal
only appear on major roadways
otherwise, you can totally cross into Senegal
from virtually any open field along the way
A few notable sites would include
The Senegambian stone circles,
the world's largest concentration of stone circles
and a UNESCO heritage site
Every visitor would go to The Arch 22
where you can get a nice panorama city view
If you have time, check out Kunta Kinteh
or Fort James Island
that has a somewhat austere back story
and was kind of technically part of
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at one point
PLC: Yes, we made it to Africa the one time!
And that's the thing
In a lot of places in Africa
current borders don't really have much of a significance
but rather people tend to look at the tribal areas instead
And if that was the case,
Africa would probably look more like this
Nonetheless, they still keep their country intact
and it all has to do with that one lifeline that connects them all
The Gambia River
"Physical Geography"
Well, it's no surprise Gambia's land makeup pretty much
comprises of whatever surrounds the Gambia River
This means that the majority of land
is a flat grassy floodplain
with mangroves closer to the coastline
In fact, about 10% of the entire land area
is made up of water alone
and the highest point isn't even named
It's just a random hill that goes up 53 meter
Because of its limited space
The Gambia has had to develop a really creative cultivation plan
over the past few decades
About 60% of the land area is of good arable quality
of which 40% is used for farming
About 80% of the population lives off of subsistence farming
mostly in rural areas contributing to about a third of the GDP
and 70% of the country's foreign exchange earnings
This means that organization is key
The Gambia has a complex yet structured format in allocating crop field
You have Compounds, Dadabas, Maruos, Kamayangos and Sinkiros
that are administrated by an Alkalo
There is also a kind of unspoken custom
Women are in charge of field and garden crops
whereas men are in charge of tree crops
and the river supplies them all with irrigation
Two food sources that the country thrives off of are
of course, sea food and peanuts
The Gambia River supplies them with an abundant of fish species like
The Cassava fish, Pampanos, Barracuda, Butter fish, Grouper, Snapper
and of course everyone loves the Gambia River oysters
Peanuts are used as staple in so many of the dishes like
Maafe stew and Domoda
The country enjoys a relatively warm climate
with a rainy season especially along the coast
However, the further east you travel
the drier and arid the landscape becomes
until you reach the Savannah upper inland
Since the whole country is situated around the river
this means that a huge portion of the land
is comprised of wetlands and swamps
although sometimes hard to cultivate
are perfect for harboring rich biodiversity
Animals like River birds, Hippos, Aardvarks, Geckos
Crocodiles, Bushpigs, Warthogs can be found
and even Bottlenose Dolphins playing at the mouth of the river
speaking of which, the Lion is the official animal of the country
as it's found on The Coat of Arms
Notable nature zones include
The River Gambia National Park heavily concentrated with wildlife
The Abuko Nature Reserve with monkeys
and check out their reptile farm in Katong
Now, let's get a little crazier and talk about
who's running the show called The Gambia
shall we?
"Demographics"
Okay this is the part where
this episode is gonna get a little..
..funny
And by that I mean when we discuss politics
First of all
The Gambia has about 2 million people
and it is one of the least militarized countries in the world
The country is made up of a few main ethnic groups
The largest one being the Mandinka at over 40%
The Fula at around 20%
The Wolof at around 16%
The Jola at 10%
and the rest is a conglomeration of other Africans
like the Serahuli and other non-Africans
Also, they use the Gambian Dalasi as their currency
they use the type G outlet
and they drive on the right side of the road
The largest ethnic group, The Mandinka
have lived in the area for centuries
and they are the descendants of the Mali Kingdom
that stretched all across West Africa
and had one of the richest kings in history
The earliest recordings have shown that
The Gambia was subject to various African kingdoms as well such as
The Foni, Kombo, Sine, Saloum and The Fulladou
Around 90% of the country is Sunni Muslim
and the remaining 10% is Christian
Islam in The Gambia follows
The Maliki School of Jurisprudence
the system predominantly used
in North and West African countries
It's interesting, though, because
kinda like The Comoros
even though the country is predominantly Muslim
Gambian women have incredibly loose clothing customs and statutes
Most women don't even wear the Hijab
let alone Abayas
but rather the typical pattern-clothed dresses
with exposed arms and necklines
The official language is English
as the country, for a while, was
a colony under the British Empire
until independence in 1965
However, Mandinka, Wolof, Fula and Jola
are spoken as a first language to a majority of the population
It's not uncommon to hear people speaking French
as a third language though
due to their close proximity to Senegal
and relative isolation from
the nearest English speaking country
Sierra Leone, at around 700 km away
Music is huge out here
disputably, the Wolof people have the best drummers
When listening, you'll be like
"Yeah! That's my JAM-bia"
Eh heh heh heh heh heh
[slap]
Of course, you can't miss out on a
Mandinka Kankurang machete dance
which looks really cool
To address the illiteracy levels
they instead used a clear glass marble system in which
the voter drops a marble in a steel drum
to indicate the candidate that they want to choose
The Gambia has a strange political system
Technically, right now, there is a lot of drama between
the outgoing president and the new one - this guy
who just won in 2016
K, I'm pretty sure this is the right picture of the guy
I know I have got a few notable figures' pictures wrong in the past
Let's never speak of the Brazil incident AGAIN!
Speaking of which
the official title of the president is
"Sheikh-professor-doctor-president"
Let's just say he claims he has the cure for
AIDS, Arthritis, Diabetes and Infertility
Anyway.. !
Jammeh originally conceded his loss to Adama
But then
a few days after the election results, he was like
"Meh, never mind"
I guess he though there was all sorta
"Sham-bia"
Ouch! [slap]
Guys, this is one of my best friends
and former roommates, Kaleb
Say hi
There is a lot of controversy, though, because
Adama has proposed a lot of policies
that seem to favor the UK
whereas, Jammeh was literally quoted for saying
"Britan has done nothing except teach the Gambians"
"how to sing 'Baa Baa Black Sheep'"
Well, interacting with the UK
has played a huge role of importance in the country
before and after independence
*Tch*
Let's elaborate
"Friendzone"
The Gambia, as mentioned before, is
mainland Africa's smallest country
so, it's no surprise they kinda have to
make friends to get by
The Gambia plays an active role in
west African and Muslim affairs
and therefore has been reaching out to other nations
like Libya and Mauritania
Mali, though, has a historical root and
ties in with The Gambia as
The Mandinka peoples have origins in the Malian Kingdom
When it comes to Asia
The Gambia has jumped back and forth
between recognizing
either The People's Republic of China
or Taiwan
For the longest time
The Gambia was the third African state
recognizing Taiwan for about 18 years
until Jammeh changed his mind in 2013
China didn't respond right away
since they were just a little suspicious
but eventually they reopened ties in 2016
The UK is a little tricky because
even though Jammeh was not a fan of the Brits
the Brits still maintain strong relations
The Gambia is an incredibly popular tourist destination
as it's the closest English-speaking African country to them
And business still carries very well between them
Their two best friends, though
more or less, would probably be
Senegal and Sierra Leone
At one point, The Gambia was a part of
both countries under the British colonial times
until the French took over
Then Senegal and Sierra Leone
decided to kinda do their own thing
Nonetheless, proximity and language
are what closely tie these three countries
In conclusion,
The Gambia is a small skinny country
that literally surrounds the perimeters of one river
but, man, have they made something out of it!
Stay tuned!
Sakartvelo!
I mean, Georgia
is coming up next
[outro music]