Gambia

Main article: Africa

Population

Main article: Population of Africa

Migration

2021: Net outflow over 4 years

Overweight

Mortality

2018: Number of deaths in road accidents

2016: Number of opioid deaths

Economy

ECOWAS membership

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is a regional organization established in 1975 to strengthen economic cooperation between West African countries .

GDP $740 per person

Inflation

2022: Inflation in November - 13.3%

Currency

In August 2019, new banknotes were issued in the Gambia.

Instead of portraits of Yaya Jammeh, the country's former president, the money shows birds.

The change of notes was one of the consequences of the work of the commission to investigate human rights violations caused by Jammeh's policies.

Foreign trade

2023:54% of wheat supplies come from Russia and Ukraine

Alcohol market

Minimum age to purchase alcoholic beverages

Tourism

2019: How much Gambia is dependent on tourism:% of industry in GDP

R&D

2020: R&D expenses - $4 million

Agriculture

2019: Low use of pesticides in agriculture

Consumption

Meat

2023: Fish consumption is higher than meat consumption

Cereals

2019: Average rice consumption: 84 kg per person per year

Vegetables

2018: Vegetable consumption - 20 kg per capita

Power

Electrification

2020: Energy consumption per capita

and

Education

Percentage of people who can read

Health care

Maternity leave

in

Crime

2024: Female circumcision is practiced by 7 of the country's 9 ethnic groups as part of female initiation

"Female circumcision" is practiced by 7 out of 9 ethnic groups of the country, while Mandinka, Diola and Hausa, which make up 52% of the population, practice its "soft" form (so-called type 2) - partial or complete removal of the clitoris and labia minora without excision of large in girls 10-15 years old, soninka (9%) - "mild" clitorodectomy for newborns (up to 1 week), and fulbe (18%) - the most severe (type 3) - vaginal "stitching" in girls and women aged 1 week to 18 years.

In general, circumcision is considered as part of female initiation (nyaka), during which, including through songs and music, girls learn the key gender norms for their socialization. The excision of the clitoris is believed to release the dangerous and uncontrolled life force sitting there, interfering with socialization and stable reproduction of the social order, thereby "purifying" the child and freeing her mind. Therefore, an uncircumcised girl is deprived of potential social capital, in particular, value as a bride.

Tolerance to practice is gradually declining, not least due to increased awareness of its short-term and long-term negative effects on a woman's psychosexual and physical well-being. According to polls, of those who survived the practice, 44% of women spoke in favor of its continuation. Therefore, associations such as GAMCOTRAP sought to eradicate circumcision while preserving nyaka.

Quite often, the defense of circumcision is reduced to condemning "Western hypocrisy" or "interference" through numerous NGOs. But the famous imam Abduli Fatti spoke best of its essence: since women experience a longer and more intense orgasm than men, the desires and pleasure of men and women must be "balanced." After all, men, in his opinion, hardly have time to satisfy the sexual appetites of their wives, which only encourages women to fornication. Similar arguments, reduced to controlling female sexuality, were made by other advocates of the practice in neighboring countries.

In March 2024, Gambian MPs embarked on a path to protect cultural sovereignty and national values. The National Assembly voted in favour of a bill to lift the ban on female genital mutilation ("female cutting"). Despite the fact that the final decision was postponed for three months, the Gambia is the first in the world to decriminalize practices internationally recognized as a violation of human rights.

The current legislation provides for fines and imprisonment for up to three years, and in the event of the death of the victim - a life term. Nevertheless, up to 73% of women and girls aged 15 to 49 went through the procedure, with 65% under the age of 5, and due to problems with law enforcement, cases almost never go to court.

As is usually the case, the fate of women was decided by men - in parliament, where out of 58 deputies only five women, 42 out of 47 deputies present there spoke in favor of decriminalizing the crippling procedure, despite all the objections of human rights defenders and victims, as well as protests at the legislature in Banjul.

The discussion itself unfolded after three women were convicted and fined in 2023 for conducting this crippling operation, wrote Zangaro Today. Their fines were paid by Imam Abduli Fatti, who soon led the campaign to repeal the law.

Deputy Almami Gibba, who came up with the legislative initiative, substantiated it with the "protection of religious rights" and "cultural norms and traditions." The Supreme Islamic Council of the Gambia in its fatwa also regards the circumcision of "one of the virtues of Islam," and its ban as an attempt on religious freedom. However, due to the lack of direct instructions in the Quran, a consensus among Islamic jurists has not been formed, and in the Arab-Muslim world, the practice is far from widespread.

It is paradoxical that female circumcision was declared a crime under the rule of President Yaya Jammeh in 2015, who pursued an active policy of Islamization of the country, and Fatti, who then served as imam of the mosque under the government, remained silent about the decision of the parliament controlled by the president.

Prisons

2019: Minimum age for children to be jailed

2018: Number of prisoners per 100 thousand citizens

History

2020

In March 2020, the Gambia was turbulent for a month. Deposed in 2017, dictator Yaya Jammeh wants to return to his homeland. The new authorities consider him a criminal, the international community - a tyrant, victims of his regime - a rapist and murderer, and some citizens - almost a saint. Replacing Jammeh in 2017, London security guard Adam Barrow, despite promising to leave the post three years later, refused to leave, threw the police at the dissatisfied and brought supporters to the streets. The outcome of the clash of the three political forces is unpredictable, and only the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic temporarily froze hot political battles.

2019: Jammeh crime investigation

In July 2019, the Gambia told about the previously unknown crimes of Yaya Jammeh. Read more here.

2017: Yaya Jammeh leaves country's presidency

Ahead of the 2016 election, a number of opposition members were sentenced to three years in prison for organising pro-democracy protests. In a public address, Yaya Jammeh called opposition members "opportunists supported by the West."

The elections were held on December 1, 2016, Jammeh lost. He disagreed with the result, filed a petition with the Supreme Court of the Gambia to challenge the result. ECOWAS warned on December 23 that it would intervene if Jammeh did not resign.

In January 2017, Gambian President Yaya Jammeh was forced out of office after ECOWAS launched a military operation to remove him from power.

2015: Jammeh carries out Islamisation of country

In 2015, Jammeh proclaimed Gambia an "Islamic state" and launched a powerful Islamization of the country. A native of a non-titular people desperately wanted to please the Mandinka Muslims, and after the coup the West turned away from him, so Jammeh turned to the Gulf countries. The Marabut's somnambulian "black Islam" was squeezed by aggressive Middle Eastern preachers. Jammeh built mosques, decorated the streets with quotes from the Koran, surrounded himself with pupils of the Wahhabis of Riyadh, making one of them - Imam Fatti - his personal spiritual mentor. And at the same time he married the daughter of a Moroccan preacher - a "pure" (that is, Arab blood, according to Gambians) Muslim. On Fridays, from year to year, sermons with a strong anti-American bias were broadcast on national TV, suspiciously resembling copies from bin Laden.

Downstairs, among the city's youth, the local branch of the Jamaata Tablig, banned in a number of countries, began to gain strength, women in burqas and men in short pants and with foreheads beaten off in prayers. Interestingly, there are quite a few young people at the rallies for the return of Yaya Jammeh, and especially - women dressed quite secularly or traditionally, although their quick-speaking speech in the Mandinka language is blown up over and over again by Arab ritual exclamations like "mashalla" that are triggered for a white man. It is no coincidence, by the way, that mashalas has become here the nickname of young neophytes "Jamaata Tablig" and all young radicals.

By 2020, the need for a new constitution was long overdue in the country, but the burning issue, whether or not to include a provision on the secular nature of the state, caused fierce debate. But what to do with the growing reformist youth, rejected by the communal world, elders and marabuts and nurtured on radical sermons, no one knows.

1994: Lt. Yaya Jammeh, 29, seizes power

On July 22, 1994, a group of soldiers led by 29-year-old Lieutenant Yaya Jammeh stormed the presidential palace.

President Jawara was expelled from the country (on an American warship he was taken to Senegal), later he went to live in London. In 2002, he returned to his homeland, agreeing never to engage in political activities.

In August 2019, at the age of 95, Dauda Kairaba Jawara died.

Promising a "new era of freedom, progress and democracy," Yaya Jammeh eventually unleashed a benchmark insanity in his tiny sleepy country, with a set of all textbook clichés - from luxury fleet to death squads.

1970: Jawara is Gambia's first president

Dauda Kairaba Jawara served as the first President of the Gambia from 1970 to 1994.

In the last election in 1992, he received 56% of the vote.

1914

1651: Courland colony on an island at the mouth of the Gambia River

Courland was formed in 1561. Under Duke Jacob Kettler, the state flourished. He created a fairly large merchant fleet in Europe.

After two unsuccessful attempts to colonize the island of Tobago off the coast of South America, Kettler switched to another part of the world, and in 1651 the first Courland colony in Africa was created, on James Island in the Gambia River.

Kurlyandians entered the mouth of the river on the 30-gun ship "Kit." They bought the island of St. Andrew from the local ruler (then it was called that way), and from other leaders - land along the banks of the river.

Fort Jacob was built on the island, as well as warehouses, slave barracks, a prison, a Lutheran church, residential buildings and 13 Dutch-style factories.

By 1655, the population of the Courland colony was 150-200 military men defending the fort, and several dozen merchants who traded with the local tribes and managed the factoria.

During the Northern War (1655-1660), the duchy fell into decay. During this period, a colony with merchant ships and trading posts was captured by Dutch colonists. They surrounded Fort Jacob and forced the Courland governor to surrender.

Sport

2022: The most popular sport is football

in

Calendar