Gambia Colony and Protectorate

1821–1965


Flag	Coat of arms

Capital

Bathurst

Languages

English (official)
Mandinka, Fula, Wolof widely spoken

Religion

Christianity, Sunni Islam, Serer

Government

Not specified

Monarch

•

1821–1830

George IV (first)

•

1952–1965

Elizabeth II (last)

Governor

•

1829–1830

Alexander Findlay (first)

•

1962–1965

John Warburton Paul (last)

Prime Minister

•

1962–1965

Dawda Jawara

History

•

Establishment

17 October 1821

•

Independence as The Gambia

18 February 1965

Area

•

1965

11,295 km² (4,361 sq mi)

Population

•

1901 est.

90,404

•

1931 est.

199,520

•

1963 est.

315,486

Currency

pound sterling (to 1912)
British West African pound (1912–65)

Succeeded by

The Gambia (Commonwealth realm)

The Gambia Colony and Protectorate was part of the British Empire in the New Imperialism era. The colony was the immediate area surrounding Bathurst, and the protectorate the inland territory situated around the Gambia River, which was declared in 1894. The foundation of the colony was Fort James and Bathurst, where British presence was established in 1815 and 1816, respectively. For various periods in its existence it was subordinate to the Sierra Leone colony, however by 1888 it was a colony in its own right with a permanently appointed Governor.

The boundaries of the territory were an issue of contention between the British and French authorities due to the proximity to French Senegal. Additionally, on numerous occasions the British government had attempted to exchange it with France for other territories, such as on the upper Niger River.

France and Britain agreed in 1889 in principle to set the boundary at six miles north and south of the river and east to Yarbutenda, the furthest navigable point on the river Gambia. This should have been followed by the dispatchment of a joint Anglo-French Boundary Commission to map the actual border. Yet, at its arrival on place in 1891, the boundary commission was met with resistance by local leaders whose territories they were coming to divide. The boundary commission could nevertheless rely on British naval power; British ships bombed the town of Kansala to force the Gambians to back off, and according to the 1906 The Gambia Colony and Protectorate: An Official Handbook men and guns from three warships landed on the riverbanks “as a hint of what the resisters had to expect in the event of any continued resistance.”

The colony ended in 1965 when Gambia became an independent state within the Commonwealth of Nations, with Dawda Jawara as Prime Minister.

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Wikipedia