Country · Africa
Gambia
Republic of the Gambia
The Gambia is a country in Western Africa. About 2.3 million people live there, in an area of 10 689 square kilometres. Its capital city is Banjul.
Picture credit: Wmtribe2015 (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Jurgen (CC BY 2.0) · IsaacTuray (CC0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is the Gambia?
The Gambia lies in Western Africa, on the continent of Africa.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 1 499 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 80 km long.
It shares a border with 1 country: the Senegal.
How big is the Gambia?
The Gambia covers 10 689 square kilometres.
That is about 4.1 times the size of Luxembourg.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 160th largest.
If everybody spread out evenly, there would be about 213.3 people on every square kilometre.
That is busier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in the Gambia?
About 2.3 million people live in the Gambia.
That is the 140th biggest population in the world.
People here speak English.
They pay with the dalasi (D).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 53 years.
The land of the Gambia
The land of the Gambia sits on average 34 metres above sea level, which makes it one of the flatter countries on Earth.
Its coast runs for about 80 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 4 days.
It lies inside the tropics, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes the Gambia different?
Websites from here often end in .gm.
The Gambia and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about one lives in the Gambia.
It takes up about 0.01 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Africa the country ranks 49th of 54 by size, and 42nd by population.
The Gambia and its neighbours
The Senegal, its only neighbour, is about 18.4 times bigger.
The Senegal has more people: 15.9 million against 2.3 million.
Nature and animals
The highest mountain in the country is Sare Firasu Hill, at 51 metres. The longest river in the country is the Gambia River.
How big is the Gambia compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 877 times as big as the Gambia: 9 372 610 km² against 10 689 km².
- The United Kingdom is about 23 times as big as the Gambia: 242 900 km² against 10 689 km².
Questions children ask
What is the capital of the Gambia?
The capital of the Gambia is Banjul. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in the Gambia?
About 2.3 million people live in the Gambia, which makes it the 140th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border the Gambia?
The Gambia borders the Senegal — 1 neighbour in total.
How big is the Gambia?
The Gambia covers 10 689 square kilometres, making it the 160th largest country in the world. That is about 4.1 times the size of Luxembourg.
What is the highest mountain in the Gambia?
The highest mountain in the Gambia is Sare Firasu Hill, 51 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
What is the longest river in the Gambia?
The longest river in the Gambia is the Gambia River, about 1 120 kilometres long.
Which continent is the Gambia in?
The Gambia is in Africa, in the part called Western Africa.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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