1939-1965 History of West Africa





Independent Gambia, since 1965



In 1965 the Gambia became independent; a REPUBLIC was proclaimed in 1970, the first president being DAUDA KAIRABA JAWARA (chief minister 1961-1962, prime minister 1962-1970, president 1970-1994). In 1973 the country's capital Bathurst was renamed BANJUL.
A severe drought in the 1970es resulted in a country-to-city migration. The population increased from 464,000 in 1970 to 1,147,000 in 1996. The country suffered from unemployment, poverty and inflation. In 1971 a currency reform replaced the West African Pound by the Dalasi.
A coup attempt was thwarted in 1981 with the help of Senegalese troops; the Gambia entered a loose federation with Senegal, that lasted until 1989. The Senegambian federation did not have a common currency. President Jawara was overthrown in a 1994 coup.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		History of the Gambia, from Infoplease
Banjul, from Infoplease
An Introduction to the economic history of rural Gambia
Chronology of Catholic Dioceses : The Gambia, from Kirken i Norge
A Short History of the Gambia, from Election World
DOCUMENTS List of Presidents etc., from World Statesmen by Ben Cahoon
Flag, from FOTW
Map, from CIA World Factbook
Banknotes, from Ron Wise's World Paper Money
Convention Relating to the Creation of the Gambia River Basin Development Organisation. Signed at Kaolack, 30 JUNE 1978, from International Water Law Project
World History Archives : History of The Gambia
Archive : The Gambia, from Africa Online
REFERENCE Article : The Gambia, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1966 p.337, 1967 p.366, 1968 p.368, 1969 p.364, 1970 p.370, 1971 pp.350-351, 1972 pp.324-325, 1973 p.322, 1974 p.328, 1975 p.317, 1976 p.358, 1977 pp.359-360, 1978 p.404, 1979 pp.397-398, 1980 pp.396-397, 1981 pp.397-398, 1982 pp.396-397, 1983 pp.392-393, 1984 pp.394-395, 1985 pp.465-466, 682, 1986 pp.460, 679, 1987 pp.429, 648, 1988 pp.389-390. 600, 1989 pp.389, 601, 1990 pp.406-407, 616, 1991 pp.386, 601, 1992 pp.357, 601, 1993 pp.361, 610, 1994 pp.359, 611, 1995 pp.408, 611, 1996 pp.406, 611, 1997 pp.420, 609, 2002 pp.427, 610 [G]
Article : Gambia, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1970-1971 pp.486-489, 1975-1976 pp.308-310, 1976-1977 pp.308-310, 1978-1979 pp.490-492, 1979-1980 pp.494-496, 1980-1981 pp.494-496, 1981-1982 pp.499-501, 1983-1984 pp.506-508, 1984-1985 pp.505-507, 1985-1986 pp.507-509, 1986-1987 pp.511-513, 1987-1988 pp.517-519, 1988-1989 pp.519-521, 1989-1990 pp.523-525, 1990-1991 pp.522-524, 1991-1992 pp.522-525, 1992-1993 pp.594-597 [G]
Article : The Gambia, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1993-1994 pp.600-603, 1994-1995 pp.592-595, 1995-1996 pp.590-593, 1996-1997 pp.529-532, 1997-1998 pp.538-541, 1998-1999 pp.583-586, 2000 pp.673-676, 2001 pp.651-654, 2002 pp.677-681, 2003 pp.680-683, 2004 pp.681-685, 2005 pp.683-686, 2006 pp.677-680 [G]
Article : Gambia, in : The World in Figures 1st ed. 1976 pp.69-70, 2nd ed. 1978 pp.69-70, 4th ed. 1984 pp.69-70 [G]
Entry : Republic of the Gambia, Cabinet, p.41; Background Notes : The Gambia, pp.585-589, in : Countries of the World and their Leaders Yearbook, 2003 [G]
Article : Gambia, in : Americana Annual 1967 pp.296-297, 1968 pp.288-289, 1969 pp.307-308, 1970 pp.308-309, 1971 p.307, 1972 p.300, 1973 p.309 [G]
Entry : Gambia, The, pp.486-489 in : IMF, International Financial Statistics Yearbook 2001 [G]
Entry : The Gambia, in : The Commonwealth Yearbook 1989 pp.191-196 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on April 9th 2007

Click here to go Home
Click here to go to Information about KMLA, WHKMLA, the author and webmaster
Click here to go to Statistics