AFRICAN
CONSERVATION AND WEB SITES FOR AFRICA FROM
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PROFILE
ON GAMBIA
Relief
Map of Gambia - 209K
Gambia is one of mainland Africa's smallest states, with an area of just
11,295 sq km (4,369 sq miles). Apart from a very short coastline, The Gambia
is a semi-enclave in Senegal. The two countries have common physical
and social phenomena, but differ in history, colonial experience and certain
economic affiliations.
Gambia essentially comprises the valley of the navigable Gambia river, Africa's
only good waterway. Around the estuary (3km wide at its narrowest
point) and the lower river, the state is 50km wide and extends eastward
either side of the navigable river for 470km. In most places the country
is only 24km wide with but one or two villages within it on either
bank, away from mangrove or marsh. The former extends about 150km upstream,
the limit of the tide in the rainy season, although in the dry
season and in drought years, the tide penetrates further upstream.
Some mangrove on the landward sides has been removed for swamp rice
cultivation. Behind are seasonally flooded marshes with frewshwater grasses,
and then, on the upper slopes of Tertiary sandstone, there is woodland
with fallow bush and areas cultivated mainly with groundnuts and millet,
the important cash and food crops. Annual rainfall in the Gambia averages
1,150mm.
Small ocean-going vessels can reach Kaur, 190km upstream, throughout the
year; Georgetown, 283 km upstream, is accessible to some small craft. River
vessles regularly call at Fatoto, 464 km upstream, the last of 33 wharf
towns served by schooners or river boats. Unfortunately, this fine waterway
is underutilized because it is separated from most of its natural hinterland
by the nearby boundary.
Plant and animal life
The vegetation cover of The Gambia is savanna on the uplands, various kinds
of inland swamp in the low-lying areas, and mangrove swamp along the brackish
lower Gambia River. Few wild animals are native to the region, and those
that survive are under pressure from the human and domestic animal populations.
In the middle and upper river areas there are warthogs, monkeys, baboons,
antelope, pygmy hippopotamuses, and crocodiles.
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