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The Gambia

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The boundaries and names shown on this map do not imply
official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations

 Location: West Africa
Bordering country: Senegal
Area: 10,689 sq. km
Population statistics (based on United Nations sources):
  • Total: 1,268,000 (1999)
  • Growth rate: 2.49
  • Ratio of males per 100 females: 97.7
  • Age structure (1995 figures)
    • Percentage aged 0-4 : 16.7
    • Percentage aged 5-14 : 24.4
    • Percentage aged 15-24 : 17.8
    • Percentage aged 25-60 : 33.3
    • Percentage aged 60-over : 7.8
  • Population density: 98 per sq. km

Literacy rate: 34.6% (1998)
GNP in US$ billions: 0.4 (1998)
GNP per capita in US$: 340 (1998)
Human Development Index value: 0.396 (1998)
Human Development Index rank: 161 of 174 countries
Gender-related Development Index value: 0.388 (1998)
Gender-related Development Index rank: 134 of 174 countries

 

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The Gambia is one of the smallest countries in Africa. The country is basically a river valley and estuary cutting into Senegal over a distance of 324 km. It is estimated that 85% of the population is engaged in subsistence farming, livestock rearing and the production of groundnuts and cereals. A former British colony, The Gambia gained its independence in February 1965.

Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy and it accounts for one quarter of GDP. The fishery industry is gaining importance with at least eight fish processing factories along The Gambia river. The industrial sector in the country is very small, mainly because the scarcity of minerals. In the 1980s, tourism was the major source of foreign exchange income contributing approximately 10% of GDP. However, the military take-over of the government in 1994 proved disastrous for the tourism sector. Under pressure from foreign donors, the military regime restored multiparty system in 1996.

The telecommunications system in The Gambia has a telephone network capacity of 40,000 lines. In 1999, the number of connected telephone lines was approximately 29,200 resulting in a telephone density of 2.30 per hundred people.

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