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The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for the western part, which is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean.

Its territory is on both sides of the lower reaches of the Gambia River, which flows through the centre of the country and empties into the Atlantic. The national namesake river demarcates the elongated shape of the country, which has an area of 11,300 square kilometres (4,400 sq mi) and a population of 2,769,075 people in 2024 which is a 2.30% population increase from 2013. The capital city is Banjul, which has the most extensive metropolitan area in the country. The second and third-largest cities are Serekunda and Brikama.

Arab Muslim merchants traded with native West Africans in The Gambia throughout the 9th and 10th centuries. In 1455, the Portuguese were the first Europeans to enter The Gambia, although they never established significant trade there. The British Empire established a colony in 1765. In 1965, 200 years later, The Gambia gained independence under the leadership of Dawda Jawara. Jawara remained the president winning several elections until he was overthrown by Yahya Jammeh in a bloodless 1994 coup. (Full article...)

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Barrow in 2018

Adama Barrow (Fula: 𞤀𞥄𞤣𞤢𞤥𞤢 𞤄𞤢𞥄𞤪𞤮, romanized: Aadama Baaro, born 15 February 1965) is a Gambian politician and real estate developer who has served as President of the Gambia since 2017.

Born in Mankamang Kunda, a village in Jimara district, he attended Crab Island Secondary School and the Muslim High School, the latter on a scholarship. He then worked for Alhagie Musa Njie & Sons, a Gambian energy company, where he became a sales manager. Moving to London in the early 2000s, Barrow studied for qualifications in real estate. After returning to the Gambia in 2006, he founded Majum Real Estate and was the CEO until 2016. He became the treasurer of the United Democratic Party, an opposition party, and then became party leader in September 2016 after the previous leader was jailed. Barrow was then chosen as the UDP candidate in the 2016 presidential election. It was later announced that he would stand as an independent with the backing of the opposition group Coalition 2016 (a coalition supported by the UDP and six other parties). (Full article...)

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The Gambia sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7–18 September 2016. This was the nation's second appearance at the Paralympics, following their first participation in the 2012 London Paralympics. The Gambia sent one athlete, Demba Jarju, who failed to advance from his heat in the men's 100 meters T54 event. (Full article...)

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