Gambia

Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Gambia fought or stood against, from the first to today.

1. 🇬🇧 Kingdom of England1661 to 1965

   England seized James Island in 1661 to control the river trade. Britain later founded Bathurst in 1816, fought the river kingdoms and ruled the valley as a colony and protectorate until independence in 1965.

2. 🇫🇷 Kingdom of France1681 to 1857

   France opened a rival trading post at Albreda in 1681, and French forces captured James Island more than once during the Anglo French wars. France finally gave Albreda to Britain in 1857.

3. Kingdom of Niumi1826 to 1832

   Niumi, the Mandinka kingdom on the north bank at the river mouth, controlled the tolls on river traffic. Britain forced it to cede a strip of coast, the Ceded Mile, in 1826 and defeated it in the Barra War of 1831 to 1832.

4. Fodi Kabba's marabout state1892 to 1901

   The marabout leader Fodi Kabba raided villages under British protection south of the river. Britain sent expeditions against him in the 1890s, and he was finally killed in 1901 by a joint British and French force at Medina, in Casamance.

5. 🇸🇳 Republic of Senegal1981 to 2017

   Senegal, which surrounds The Gambia, saved Jawara from a coup in 1981, but the Senegambia Confederation collapsed in 1989. Quarrels over transit fees and river crossings later closed the border for weeks in 2005 and 2016.

Today

Gambia now

In the 10th century, Muslim merchants established some of The Gambia’s earliest large settlements as trans-Saharan trade hubs. These settlements eventually grew into major export centers sending slaves, gold, and ivory across the Sahara. Between the 16th and 17th centuries, European colonial powers began establishing trade with The Gambia. In 1664, the United Kingdom established a colony in The Gambia focused on exporting enslaved people across the Atlantic.

Capital

Banjul

Government

presidential republic

Head of government

Adama Barrow

Languages

English

Area

11,295 km²

Through time

Then and now

• Population2.7 million2023 · 306,700 in 1950
• Life expectancy65.9 years2023 · 31.2 years in 1950
• GDP per person$2,0102022 · $982 in 1950
• Living in cities65%2025 · 10% in 1950
• Literacy52%2021 · 8% in 1950
• Political regimeElectoral democracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950
• Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950
• Military spending0.6% of GDP2025
• War deathsNone2025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.