The Gambia

Geography & demography
The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa that is almost completely enclosed by Senegal, with the exception of the western coastline along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the smallest country in mainland Africa. The capital of The Gambia is Banjul.

Gambia is split by Gambia River in a north and south bank. The country is at its narrowest 24 km, widest 50 km and a total of 470 km long. The time zone in The Gambia is GMT (Gambia Maybe Time) that is used by everyone. The Gambia has more than 2,000,000 inhabitants, 45% of which are children aged 14 and younger. Statistics show that Gambia really is one of the poorest countries (https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambia_(land)

Social indicators
The life expectancy of the people in The Gambia is 53 years and only 3% is older than 65 years, more than 27% is not 40 years. More than 60% of the population is illiterate. 20% of children under 5 years are underweight. The main causes of death are malaria and diseases (such as diarrhea, typhoid fever and hepatitis A) caused by drinking contaminated water (https://www.who.int/countries/gmb/en/ ).

On average 48 babies out of 1,000 die at birth and 125 babies do not reach the first year of life! 1 in 12 women die during labor. Of the children under 5 years old, 19% are malnourished.

There is a very shortage of potable water, the women often have to walk for miles of water

Economy
The Gambia has a tropical climate, with a rainy season from June to October. During the dry season (November to May), rain is very exceptional and the average maximum temperature in Banjul is 32˚C (90˚F), although it can fall to 17˚C (63˚F) at night.

Between June and October there will be rain that usually falls in heavy rain showers, often at night. During the day it is usually dry and clear, although the humidity is higher and the temperature in the interior can rise to 43˚C (110˚F).

Climate
The Gambia kent een tropisch klimaat, met een regenseizoen van juni tot oktober. Tijdens het droge seizoen (november tot mei) is regen zeer uitzonderlijk en de gemiddelde maximumtemperatuur in Banjul is 32° C (90° F), hoewel dat wel kan dalen tot 17˚ C (63˚ F) in de nacht.

Tussen juni en oktober zal er regen zijn die meestal in zware regenbuien valt, vaak 's nachts. Overdag is het meestal droog en helder, hoewel de luchtvochtigheid hoger is en de temperatuur in het binnenland kan stijgen naar 43˚ C (110˚ F).

The national anthem
The lyrics are from Virginia Julie Howe and the music from Jeremy Frederick Howe (based on the traditional Mandinka song Foday Kaba Dumbuya). It has been the national anthem since independence in 1965.

Click on this link to WikiPedia! It gives much more information on Gambia.