Gambia
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Current Environmental Issues: deforestation; desertification; water-borne diseases prevalent
Geography
Location: Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and Senegal
Geographic Coordinates: 13 28 N, 16 34 W
Area:
total: 11,300 sq km
land: 10,000 sq km
water: 1,300 sq km
Land Boundaries"
total: 740 km
border countries: Senegal 740 km
Coastline: 80 km
Maritime Claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 18 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: extent not specified
Natural Hazards: drought (rainfall has dropped by 30% in the last 30 years)
Terrain
Flood plain of the Gambia River flanked by some low hills
Elevation Extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location 53 m
Climate
Tropical; hot, rainy season (June to November); cooler, dry season (November to May)
Government
Government Type: Republic
Capital: Banjul
Independence Date: 18 February 1965 (from UK)
Legal System: based on a composite of English common law, Islamic law, and customary law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
International Agreement
Environmental-international Agreement:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
People and Society
Population: 1,735,464 (July 2008 est.)
Age Structure:
0-14 years: 43.9% (male 382,385/female 378,853)
15-64 years: 53.4% (male 459,315/female 466,689)
65 years and over: 2.8% (male 24,303/female 23,919) (2008 est.)
Population Growth Rate: 2.724% (2008 est.)
Birthrate: 38.36 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death Rate: 11.74 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net Migration Rate: 0.61 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Life Expectancy at Birth:
total population: 54.95 years
male: 53.06 years
female: 56.9 years (2008 est.)
Total Fertility Rate: 5.13 children born/woman (2008 est.)
Languages: English (official), Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, other indigenous vernaculars
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 40.1%
male: 47.8%
female: 32.8% (2003 est.)
Water
Total Renewable Water Resource: 8 cu km (1982)
Freshwater Withdrawal (domestic, industrial, agricultural):
total: 0.03 cu km/yr (23%/12%/65%)
per capita: 20 cu m/yr (2000)
Agriculture
Agricultural Products: rice, millet, sorghum, peanuts, corn, sesame, cassava (tapioca), palm kernels; cattle, sheep, goats
Irrigated Land: 20 sq km (2003)
Resources
Natural Resources: fish, titanium (rutile and ilmenite), tin, zircon, silica sand, clay, petroleum
Land Use:
arable land: 27.88%
permanent crops: 0.44%
other: 71.68% (2005)
Energy
| Energy in Gambia | |||||
| Production | Consumption | Exports | Imports | Reserves | |
| Electricity | 145 million kWh (2005) | 134.9 million kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (2005) | |
| Oil | 0 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 2,030 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 41.5 bbl/day (2004) | 2,050 bbl/day (2004) | 0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.) |
| Natural Gas | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005) | 0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.) |
| source: CIA Factbook | |||||
Health
Prevalence Rate of HIV/AIDS in Adults: 1.2% (2003 est.)
Major Infectious Diseases:
degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, malaria, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, and yellow fever
water contact disease: schistosomiasis
respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis (2008)
Conflict
International Disputes: attempts to stem refugees, cross-border raids, arms smuggling, and other illegal activities by separatists from southern Senegal's Casamance region, as well as from conflicts in other west African states
Refugees and Internally Displaces Persons: refugees (country of origin): 5,955 (Sierra Leone) (2007)
Trafficking in Persons:
current situation: The Gambia is a source, transit, and destination country for children and women trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation; women and girls, and to a lesser extent boys, are trafficked for sexual exploitation - in particular to meet the demand for European sex tourism - and for domestic servitude; boys are trafficked within the country for forced begging and street vending; Gambian women and children may be trafficked to Europe through trafficking schemes disguised as migrant smuggling
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - for a second consecutive year, The Gambia is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to eliminate trafficking; The Gambia failed to report any trafficking arrests, prosecutions, or convictions in 2007, and the government demonstrated weak victim protection efforts during the reporting period (2008)
Economy
The Gambia has no confirmed mineral or natural resource deposits and has a limited agricultural base. About 75% of the population depends on crops and livestock for its livelihood. Small-scale manufacturing activity features the processing of peanuts, fish, and hides. Reexport trade normally constitutes a major segment of economic activity, but a 1999 government-imposed preshipment inspection plan, and instability of the Gambian dalasi (currency) have drawn some of the reexport trade away from The Gambia. The Gambia's natural beauty and proximity to Europe has made it one of the larger markets for tourism in West Africa. The government's 1998 seizure of the private peanut firm Alimenta eliminated the largest purchaser of Gambian groundnuts. Despite an announced program to begin privatizing key parastatals, no plans have been made public that would indicate that the government intends to follow through on its promises. Unemployment and underemployment rates remain extremely high; short-run economic progress depends on sustained bilateral and multilateral aid, on responsible government economic management, on continued technical assistance from the IMF and bilateral donors, and on expected growth in the construction sector.
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): $2.106 billion (2007 est.)
GDP (Official Exchange Rate): $653 million (2007 est.)
GDP-real growth rate: 7% (2007 est.)
GDP-per capita (PPP): $1,300 (2007 est.)
GDP-composition by sector:
agriculture: 32.8%
industry: 8.7%
services: 58.5% (2007 est.)
Population Below Poverty Line: NA%
Household Income or Consumption by Percentage Share:
lowest 10%: 1.8%
highest 10%: 37% (1998)
Industries:processing peanuts, fish, and hides; tourism, beverages, agricultural machinery assembly, woodworking, metalworking, clothing
Exports: peanut products, fish, cotton lint, palm kernels, re-exports
Export Partners: India 36.5%, China 15%, UK 9%, Indonesia 7.8%, France 4.9%, Belgium 4% (2006)
Imports: foodstuffs, manufactures, fuel, machinery and transport equipment
Import Partners: China 24.3%, Senegal 11.5%, Cote d'Ivoire 8.3%, Brazil 6.7%, Netherlands 5.2% (2006)
Economic Aid Recipient: $58.15 million (2005)
Currency: dalasi (GMD)
Communications
Telephones-main line in use: 52,900 (2006)
Telephones- mobile/cellular: 795,900 (2007)
Radio Broadcast Stations: AM 3, FM 2, shortwave 0 (2001)
Television Broadcast Stations: 1 (government-owned) (1997)
Internet Hosts: 6 (2007)
Internet Users: 58,000 (2005)
Transportation
Airports: 1 (2007)
Roadways:
total: 3,742 km
paved: 723 km
unpaved: 3,019 km (2004)
Ports and Terminals: Banjul




