Gambia River

Gambia River

river

Origin of the watercourse	Fouta Djallon
Mouth of the watercourse	Atlantic Ocean
Drainage basin	Gambia River basin
Basin country	Guinea
Country	Gambia, Guinea, Senegal
Coordinate location	11°24′18″N 12°15′5″W, 13°28′0″N 16°34′0″W

De Gambia River (dem formerly know am as de River Gambra, French: Fleuve Gambie, Portuguese: Rio Gâmbia) be a major river for West Africa insyd, wey e run 1,120 kilometres (700 mi) from de Fouta Djallon plateau for north Guinea insyd westward thru Senegal den The Gambia to de Atlantic Ocean at de city of Banjul. E dey navigable give about half dat length.

Dem strongly associate de river plus The Gambia, de smallest country for mainland Africa insyd, wey occupy de downstream half of de river den ein two banks.

Geography

De Gambia River dey run a total length of 1,120 kilometres (700 mi). From de Fouta Djallon, e dey run northwest into de Tambacounda Region of Senegal, e dey flow thru de Parc National du Niokolo Koba, then de Nieri Ko den Koulountou join am den dey pass thru de Barrakunda Falls before e enter de Gambia at Koina. At dis point, de river dey run generally west, but for a meandering course insyd plus a number of oxbows, den about 100 kilometres (62 mi) from ein mouth e dey gradually widen, to ova 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) wide wey e dey meet de sea.

Crossings

Der dey several bridges wey dey cross de river. De largest den furthest downriver be de Senegambia Bridge between de towns of Farafenni den Soma for De Gambia insyd. For January 2019 insyd wey dem open, e dey provide a link between de stretches of de Trans-Gambia Highway for de North den South Bank of de river top. E sanso dey provide an expedited connection give Senegalese trucks wey dey travel to den from de isolated Casamance province. De bridge dey 1.9 kilometres (1.2 mi) long den dey replace a previously-unreliable vehicle ferry. Dem levy a toll for vehicle crossings top.

Der be sanso bridges for de Upper River Region of The Gambia at Basse Santa Su den Fatoto insyd dat open for October 2021 insyd, as well as a bridge for Senegal at Gouloumbou insyd.

Ferry do all oda crossings, wey dey include a primary crossing between Banjul den Barra at de mouth of de river, anaa by small boat.

Bolongs

Dem commonly refer small tributaries for de lower stretches of de river top to as bolongs anaa bolons. Dem dey include Sami Bolong, wey e divide de northern halves of de Central River Division den Upper River Division, Bintang Bolong dey divide de Lower River Division from de West Coast Division, as well as smaller bodies of water such as de Sofancama, Jurunku, Kutang, Nianji, den Sandugu bolongs.

History

De earliest inhabitants of de area wey dem know along de Gambia River dey include de Jola, de Balante, de Bainuk, den de Manjak. De Carthaginian explorer Hanno de Navigator go dey reach de Gambia during ein expedition for de fifth century BC insyd.

According to oral tradition, Tiramakhan Traore lead large numbers of Mandinka immigrants from Mali, one of Sundiata ein top generals, cam to de region for de 14th century insyd. Sam modern historians, howeva, posit dat relatively few immigrants, primarily jula traders, instead lead a gradual socio-cultural shift towards identification plus de higher-status Mandinka ethnicity den de ruling Mali Empire. Dem jula make de Gambia an important part of de wider West African trade network, wey dem exchange salt, shellfish, iron, cloth, ivory, beeswax, gold, slaves, leather den more as far as de Niger River den beyond.

Alvise Cadamosto, a Venetian explorer wey dey work give de Portuguese, becam de first European wey sail to de Gambia for 1455 insyd, wey e refer to de river as de Gambra anaa Cambra. Oda sources from dat period dey record names such as Guambea, Guabu, den Gambu (possibly a conflation, at de time anaa for later historiography insyd, of de name of de river den de kingdom of Kaabu). While merchants of various European countries trade for de Gambia river top give two centuries after Cadamosto, de Duchy of Courland dem Semigallia be de first wey establish a permanent base, for wat dem am St Andrew's Island for 1651 insyd. After e take control of de island den e rename am 'St James' for 1661 insyd, de English vye plus de French give commercial domination of de river give de next century den a half.

During dis period, kingdoms along de river Gambia include Niumi (wey dem sanso know am Barra), Niani, Kantora, Jimara, Kiang, Badibu, Fuladu, Tumana, den Wuli, all of wey lend demma names to districts of De Gambia today. Major posts wey dem dey trade for top anaa near near de river include Barra, Albreda, Juffure, James Island (rydee a UNESCO World Heritage Site), Tendaba, Joar, MacCarthy Island, Fattatenda, den Sutukoba.

Around de turn of de 18th century, de Scottish explorer Mungo Park travel up de Gambia twice for ein way to de Niger River top.

De Anglo-French Convention of 1889 delimit de borders of de Gambia Protectorate den de colony of Senegal as e dey be ten kilometers north den south of de river as far inland as Yarbutenda (near modern-day Koina), plus a 10km radius to mark de eastern border wey dem measure from de center of town. De British therefore control de river as far as e dey navigable by sea-going vessels. Though widely dem see as temporary at de time, de borders wey dem set for 1889 insyd remain unchanged eva since.

Flora den fauna

De aquatic fauna for de Gambia River basin insyd, dem closely associate am plus dat of de Senegal River basin, den dem usually combine de two under a single ecoregion wey dem know am de Senegal-Gambia Catchments. Although de species richness dey moderately high, only three species of frogs den one fish dey endemic to dis ecoregion.

Women harvest oysters from de River Gambia den use am to make oyster stew, a traditional dish for de cuisine of Gambia insyd.

Gallery

• 
  Map of de River Gambra (rydee de Gambia) 1732
• 
  De western portion of de Gambia River, wey dem see from space. De line dey show de border of De Gambia.
• 
  Upstream view of de river, near Janjanbureh Island
• 
  Bank of de river, near Janjanbureh
• 
  Ferry wey dey cross de river, at Janjanbureh

Bibliography

• Bühnen, Stephan. "Place Names as an Historical Source: An Introduction with Examples from Southern Senegambia and Germany." History in Africa, vol. 19, 1992. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3171995.
• Gailey, Harry (1987). Historical dictionary of the Gambia. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0810820013.
• Gray, J.M. (1940). History of the Gambia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• van Hoven, Ed (1996). "Local Tradition or Islamic Precept? The Notion of zakāt in Wuli (Eastern Senegal) (La notion de "zakāt" au Wuli (Sénégal))". Cahiers d'Études Africaines. 36 (144): 703–722. doi:10.3406/cea.1996.1863. JSTOR 4392734. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
• Wright, Donald R. "Beyond Migration and Conquest: Oral Traditions and Mandinka Ethnicity in Senegambia." History in Africa, vol. 12, 1985. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3171727.
• Wright, Donald R. "Darbo Jula: The Role of a Mandinka Jula Clan in the Long-Distance Trade of the Gambia River and Its Hinterland." African Economic History, no. 3, 1977, pp. 33–45. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3601138. Accessed 27 Jul. 2022.

External links

• Gambia River Information & Photos