Banjul (,"Banjul"
(US) and ), officially the City of Banjul, is the capital and fourth largest city of

The Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

. It is the centre of the eponymous administrative division which is home to an estimated 400,000 residents, making it The Gambia's largest and most densely populated metropolitan area. Banjul is on St Mary's Island (Banjul Island), where the

Gambia River The Gambia River (formerly known as the River Gambra) is a major river in West Africa, running from the Fouta Djallon plateau in north Guinea westward through Senegal and The Gambia to the Atlantic Ocean at the city of Banjul. It is navigabl ...

enters the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. The population of the city proper is 31,301, with the Greater Banjul Area, which includes the City of Banjul and the Kanifing Municipal Council, at a population of 413,397 (2013 census). The island is connected to the mainland to the west and the rest of Greater Banjul Area via bridges. There are also ferries linking Banjul to the mainland at the other side of the river. From the 19th century until 24 April 1973, the city was known as Bathurst.

Etymology

Banjul takes its name from the Mandinka people who gathered specific fibres on the island, which were used in the manufacture of ropes. ''Bang julo'' is the Mandinka word for

rope A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similar ...

fibre.

History

In 1651 Banjul was leased by the Duke of Courland and Semigallia (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

: ''

Herzog ''Herzog'' (female ''Herzogin'') is a German hereditary title held by one who rules a territorial duchy, exercises feudal authority over an estate called a duchy, or possesses a right by law or tradition to be referred to by the ducal title. ...

von Kurland und Semgallen'') from the King of

Kombo Kombo was a kingdom and later a chieftaincy in Gambia during the colonial period. Kombo was part of the Mali Empire and gained independence after its fall, and was then ruled by the Sambou Bainunka clan. Mansa Karapha Yalli Jatta became the fi ...

, as part of the

Couronian colonization Curonian colonisation refers to the colonisation efforts of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (today part of Latvia). Small, but wealthy, the Duchy took a modest part in the European colonization settlement attempts of West Africa and th ...

. On 23 April 1816,

Tumani Bojang The United States Department of Defense was holding a total of eleven Syrian detainees in Guantanamo. A total of 778 suspects have been held in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba since the camps opened on January 11, 2002 The camp pop ...

, the King of Kombo, ceded Banjul Island to Alexander Grant, the British commandant, in exchange for an annual fee of 103 iron bars. Grant's expedition, consisting of 75 men and tasked with establishing a military garrison, had been ordered by Charles MacCarthy. Grant founded Banjul as a trading post and base, constructing houses and barracks for controlling entrance to the Gambia estuary and suppressing the

slave trade Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. The British renamed Banjul Island as St. Mary's Island and named the new town Bathurst, after the 3rd Earl Bathurst,

Secretary of State for War and the Colonies The Secretary of State for War and the Colonies was a British cabinet-level position responsible for the army and the British colonies (other than India). The Secretary was supported by an Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. Hi ...

at the time. Streets were laid out in a modified grid pattern, and named after Allied generals at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

. The town became the centre of British activity in the

Gambia Colony and Protectorate The Gambia Colony and Protectorate was the British colonial administration of the Gambia from 1821 to 1965, part of the British Empire in the New Imperialism era. The colony was the immediate area surrounding Bathurst (now Banjul), and the pr ...

. Within a few years of its establishment the town started attracting migrants. Its population consisted of Africans of various origins,

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...

ines (Syrians, Lebanese) as well as Europeans (English, French, Portuguese). A majority of the population was Muslim but there was a significant Christian minority, including the Aku inhabitants. The majority of the Africans consisted of

Wolof people The Wolof people () are a West African ethnic group found in northwestern Senegal, the Gambia, and southwestern coastal Mauritania. In Senegal, the Wolof are the largest ethnic group (~43.3%), while elsewhere they are a minority. They refer to ...

, whose population rose from 829 in 1881 to 3,666 in 1901 and then 10,130 in 1944. They had mainly hailed from

Gorée (; "Gorée Island"; Wolof: Beer Dun) is one of the 19 (i.e. districts) of the city of Dakar, Senegal. It is an island located at sea from the main harbour of Dakar (), famous as a destination for people interested in the Atlantic slave trad ...

and Saint-Louis. The Mandinka were the second largest African group, followed by the Jola as well as the

Fula Fula may refer to: *Fula people (or Fulani, Fulɓe) *Fula language (or Pulaar, Fulfulde, Fulani) **The Fula variety known as the Pulaar language **The Fula variety known as the Pular language **The Fula variety known as Maasina Fulfulde *Al-Fula ...

. Islamic schools called ''dara'' were founded in Bathurst from its early years, resulting in the foundation of the first Muslim court in 1905, in addition to the increasingly more sophisticated British legal framework. Bathurst was officially declared the capital of the Protectorate of the Gambia in 1889, leading to an increase in population. Through the 20th century, it became an even greater attraction for Gambians due to the availability of jobs fuelled by British colonial activities as well as social activities such as cinemas. Young men from rural farming villages would move to Bathurst to work at the Public Works Department (established in 1922) or docks. The town was an important Allied naval and air hub during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, resulting in an increase in population from 14,370 in 1931 to 21,154 in 1944. After independence, the town's name was changed to Banjul in 1973. On 22 July 1994, Banjul was the scene of a bloodless military

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

in which President

Dawda Jawara Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara (16 May 1924 – 27 August 2019) was a Gambian politician who served as Prime Minister from 1962 to 1970, and then as the first President of the Gambia from 1970 to 1994. Jawara was born in Barajally, MacCarthy Island ...

was overthrown and replaced by Yahya Jammeh. To commemorate this event,

Arch 22 Arch 22 is a commemorative arch on the road into Banjul in the Gambia. It was built in 1996 to mark the military 1994 Gambian coup d'état, coup d'état of July 22, 1994, through which Yahya Jammeh and his Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Counci ...

was built as an entrance portal to the capital. The gate is 35 metres tall and stands at the centre of an open square. It houses a

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

Climate

Banjul features hot weather year round. Under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

, Banjul features a

tropical wet and dry climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...

(''Aw''). The city features a lengthy

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...

, spanning from November to May and a relatively short

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...

covering the remaining five months. However, during those five months, Banjul tends to see heavy rainfall. August is usually the rainiest month, with on average of rainfall. Maximum temperatures are somewhat constant, though morning minima tend to be hotter during the wet season than the dry season. According to a Gambian government minister, Banjul is at risk of submerging under water by a meter rise in sea levels as a result of climate change and global warming.

Districts

Banjul Division (Greater Banjul Area) is divided into two districts: * Banjul *

Kanifing Kanifing (also Kanifeng) is a town in the Gambia, and lies immediately west of the capital city of Banjul. The Kanifing Local Government Area has the largest population of any of the administrative districts in Gambia. It includes Serrekunda, th ...

Economy

Banjul is the country's economic and administrative centre and includes the

Central Bank of the Gambia The Central Bank of The Gambia is the central bank of The Gambia. Its name is abbreviated to CBG. The bank is located in Banjul and was established in 1971. Buah Saidy is the current Governor. Operations As a central bank, CBG is responsible ...

Peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small and ...

processing is the country's principal industry, but

beeswax Beeswax (''cera alba'') is a natural wax produced by honey bees of the genus ''Apis''. The wax is formed into scales by eight wax-producing glands in the abdominal segments of worker bees, which discard it in or at the hive. The hive work ...

palm wood The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm trees. ...

, palm oil, and skins and hides are also shipped from the port of Banjul. Banjul is also the home of the Gambia Technical Training Institute. GTTI is engaged in a partnership with non-profit organization Power Up Gambia to develop a solar energy training program. File:1014046-Banjul Albert Market-The Gambia.jpg,

Albert Market The Albert Market, formerly known officially as Royal Albert Market, is a street market in Banjul, The Gambia. Located on Liberation Avenue, the market was built in the mid-nineteenth century. It is named after Albert, Prince Consort, husband of ...

File:Gambia Banjul 0012.jpg, A street in Banjul File:Banjul, The Gambia.JPG, Banjul from the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ( ...

Transport

The primary method reaching the city by land is by roadway. A highway connects Banjul to

Serrekunda Serekunda (proper: Sayerr Kunda or Sere Kunda, ar, سيريكوندا, sometimes spelled Serrekunda) is the largest urban centre in The Gambia. It is situated close to the Atlantic coast, south-west of the capital, Banjul, and is formed of nine ...

which crosses the Denton Bridge, however

ferries A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...

provide another mode of transportation. As of May 2014, ferries sail regularly from Banjul across the

Barra Barra (; gd, Barraigh or ; sco, Barra) is an island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, and the second southernmost inhabited island there, after the adjacent island of Vatersay to which it is connected by a short causeway. The island is name ...

. The city is served by the Banjul International Airport. Banjul is on the Trans–West African Coastal Highway connecting it to

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from :wo:daqaar, daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar ...

and Bissau, and will eventually provide a paved highway link to 11 other nations of the

Economic Community of West African States The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as in French and Portuguese) is a regional political and economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. Collectively, these countries comprise an area of , and in ...

(ECOWAS). File:Banjul ferry.jpg, Banjul Ferry

Culture

Attractions in the city include the Gambian National Museum, the

, Banjul State House,

Banjul Court House Banjul (,"Banjul"
(US) and ), officially the City of Ba ...

, African Heritage Museum.

Sport

Banjul is the destination of the

Plymouth-Banjul Challenge The Plymouth-Banjul Challenge or unofficially the Ultimate Banger Challenge and previously known as the Plymouth-Dakar Challenge, is an annual car event for charity. It is not a race or a competition as its website states. It was first run in 20 ...

, a charity road rally.

Education

The University of the Gambia was founded in 1999.

International schools

* Banjul American Embassy School * École Française de Banjul in Bakau. * Marina International School

Places of worship

Among the

places of worship A place of worship is a specially designed structure or space where individuals or a group of people such as a congregation come to perform acts of devotion, veneration, or religious study. A building constructed or used for this purpose is somet ...

, they are predominantly Muslim mosques. There are also Christian churches and temples : Roman Catholic Diocese of Banjul (

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

), Church of the Province of West Africa (

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

), Assemblies of God.J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann, ‘‘Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices’’, ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010, p. 1172

Notable people

* Gambino Akuboy (born 1985), singer & songwriter, actor and screenwriter

Bibliography

* * Matthew James Park
Heart of Banjul: The History of Banjul, The Gambia, 1816-1965
PhD dissertation, Michigan State University, 2016. *

External links

A History of Banjul, PhD thesis

References

{{Authority control Local Government Areas of the Gambia Populated places in the Gambia Capitals in Africa Serer country Populated places established in 1816 Port cities and towns of the Atlantic Ocean Port cities in Africa Gambia River Former colonies of Courland 1816 establishments in the British Empire 1816 establishments in Africa