Senegambia (geography)

Senegambia Confederation
Confédération de Sénégambie
1982–1989
Location of Senegambia in Western Africa.   Senegal         The Gambia
Capital		Dakar
Languages		French English Wolof Serer Mandinka Fulani Jola
Government		Confederation
Historical era		Cold War
•	Agreement signed	12 December 1981
•	Established	1 February 1982
•	Disestablished	30 September 1989
Preceded by Succeeded by Senegal The Gambia Senegal The Gambia

Senegambia, officially the Senegambia Confederation, was a loose confederation in the late 20th century between the West African countries of Senegal and its neighbour The Gambia, which is almost completely surrounded by Senegal. The confederation was founded on 1 February 1982 following an agreement between the two countries signed on 12 December 1981. It was intended to promote cooperation between the two countries, but was dissolved by Senegal on 30 September 1989 after the Gambia refused to move closer toward union.

As a political unit, Senegambia was created by dueling French and English colonial forces in the region. Competition between the French and the English began in the 16th century when both started to establish trading centers. Although there was some overlap in their areas of influence, French trade centered on the Senegal River and in the Cap-Vert region and English trade on the Gambia River. The region became more important for both growing empires because West Africa allowed a convenient waystation for trade between Europe and the respective American colonies; critical to that trade was its provision of slaves for the African Slave Trade.

As colonialism became more lucrative, especially after the development of the Thirteen Colonies, New France, and sugar plantations in the Caribbean, England and France took greater measures to define their spheres of influence in West Africa. From 1500 to 1758, the two powers used their naval power to try to remove each other from the region. In 1758, during the Seven Years' War based in Europe, the British captured major French trading bases along the Senegal River area and formed the first Senegambia as a crown colony. The unified region collapsed in 1779. With the British occupied by the American Revolutionary War in North America, the French recaptured Saint Louis and burned the major British settlement in the Gambia region. The unified region ended officially in 1783 in the aftermath of the British defeat and independence by the United States.