Geography of the Gambia

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 enclave of Senegal and is the smallest country on mainland Africa.

Terrain

The grassy flood plain of the Gambia river contains Guinean mangroves near the coast, and becomes West Sudanian savanna upriver inland.

Statistics

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

  • comparative: slightly less than Jamaica; slightly less than twice the size of Delaware

Land boundaries:
total: 749 km
border countries: Senegal 749 km

Coastline: 80 km

Maritime claims:

  • territorial sea: 12 nmi (22.2 km; 13.8 mi)
  • contiguous zone: 18 nmi (33.3 km; 20.7 mi)
  • exclusive fishing zone: 200 nmi (370.4 km; 230.2 mi)
  • continental shelf: extent not specified

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)

  • Irrigated land: 50 km2 (2011)
  • Total renewable water resources: 8 km3 (2011)
  • Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
    total: 0.09 km3/yr (41%/21%/39%)
    per capita: 65.77 m3/yr (2005)

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:

Extreme points

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.

Forests

Tree cover extent and loss

Global Forest Watch publishes annual estimates of tree cover loss and 2000 tree cover extent derived from time-series analysis of Landsat satellite imagery in the Global Forest Change dataset.[8][9][10][11] In this framework, tree cover refers to vegetation taller than 5 m (including natural forests and tree plantations), and tree cover loss is defined as the complete removal of tree cover canopy for a given year, regardless of cause.[12]

For the Gambia, country statistics report cumulative tree cover loss of 733 ha (7.33 km2) from 2001 to 2024 (about 16.1% of its 2000 tree cover area).[8] For tree cover density greater than 30%, country statistics report a 2000 tree cover extent of 4,563 ha (45.63 km2).[8] The charts and table below display this data. In simple terms, the annual loss number is the area where tree cover disappeared in that year, and the extent number shows what remains of the 2000 tree cover baseline after subtracting cumulative loss. Forest regrowth is not included in the dataset.[8][12]


00.511.522.5320012004200720102013201620192022Annual tree cover loss (km²)
Annual tree cover loss in the Gambia, 2001–2024.[8] View chart definition.


383940414243444546200020052010201520202025Extent minus cumulative loss (km²)
Tree cover extent in 2000 minus cumulative tree cover loss in the Gambia, 2001–2024 (loss-only residual; does not account for gain).[8] View chart definition.


  • Fishing boats in Bakau, Gambia
  • Children swimming near Lamin Lodge.
  • The river.
  • River bird
  • A market.
  • The Spotted hyena is part of the Gambian fauna.
  • Wild hippopotamus in the Gambia River.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ This residual measure does not include forest regrowth.

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook (2025 ed.). CIA.

  1. ^ Donald R. Wright (2004). The World and a Very Small Place: A History of Globalization in Niumi, The Gambia (New York: M.E. Sharp) p. 151–152.
  2. ^ Craig Emms and Linda Barnett (2001). Bradt Travel Guide for The Gambia (Chalford, UK: Bradt Travel Guides).
  3. ^ Global Environment Facility, United Nations Environment Programme (eds.): The Gambia’s Second National Communication under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Banjul, November 2012, p. 32.
  4. ^ The World Factbook: The Gambia. Chapter Geography and map.
  5. ^ On a 1966 map, two points close to Jah Kunda and Nyamanari are indicated with 174 feet, thus 53 m. Source: West Africa, Joint Operations Graphic 1:250,000: map ND 28-11 Tambacounda, Senegal (11MB). U.S. National Imagery and Mapping Agency. Map data from 1966.
  6. ^ "Gambia High Point". peakbagger.com..
  7. ^ Malanding S. Jaiteh, Baboucarr Sarr: Climate Change and Development in the Gambia: Challenges to Ecosystem Goods and Services, p. 1–3. Map based on: The Gambia 50,000 database 2003 topographic data. Department of Local Government and Lands.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g "Gambia Deforestation Rates & Statistics". Global Forest Watch.
  9. ^ Hansen, Matthew C.; Potapov, Peter V.; Moore, Rebecca; et al. (2013). "High-Resolution Global Maps of 21st-Century Forest Cover Change". Science. 342 (6160): 850–853. doi:10.1126/science.1244693.
  10. ^ "Tree cover loss". Global Forest Watch Open Data Portal.
  11. ^ "Tree cover (2000)". Global Forest Watch Open Data Portal.
  12. ^ a b "How much forest was lost in 2023?". Global Forest Review.
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