Country in W Africa, surrounded to the N, E,
and S by Senegal, and bordered to the W by
the Atlantic Ocean. government The Gambia is
an independent republic within the
Commonwealth. Its constitution dates from
1970 and provides for a single-chamber
legislature, the house of representatives,
consisting of 49 members, 35 directly elected
by universal suffrage, five elected by the
chiefs, eight non-voting, nominated members,
and the attorney-general, ex-officio. It
serves a five-year term, as does the
president, who is elected by direct universal
suffrage and appoints a vice-president, who
also leads the house of representatives, and
a cabinet. There are two main political
parties, the Progressive People's Party (PPP)
and the National Convention Party. history
The Gambia was formerly part of the Mali
empire, a Muslim gold-trading empire which
flourished in W Africa between the 7th and
15th centuries, and whose decline coincided
with the arrival of the Portuguese 1455. In
the late 16th century commerce was taken over
from Portugal by England, and trading posts
established on the Gambia river were
controlled from Sierra Leone. In 1843 Gambia
was made a Crown Colony, becoming an
independent British colony 1888. Political
parties were formed in the 1950s, internal
self-government granted 1963, and full
independence within the Commonwealth achieved
1965, with Dawda K Jawara as prime minister.
It declared itself a republic 1970, with
Jawara as president, replacing the British
monarch as head of state. He was re-elected
1972 and 1977. With the PPP the dominant
political force, there was pressure to make
The Gambia a one-party state but Jawara
resisted this. When an attempted coup against
him 1981 was thwarted with Senegalese
military aid, ties between the two countries
were strengthened to the extent that plans
were announced for their merger into a
confederation of Senegambia. However, Senegal
had doubts about the idea, and in economic
terms The Gambia had more to gain. In Sept
1989 it was announced that The Gambia had
formally agreed to end the confederation. In
1982 Jawara was re-elected for another
five-year term, with over 60% of the popular
vote and over 70% of the seats; he was again
re-elected in 1987.