Janjanbureh District
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Janjanbureh or Jangjangbureh is a town, founded in 1832, on
Janjanbureh Island MacCarthy Island, also known as Lemain Island or Janjanbureh Island, is an island located approximately 170 miles (272 km) upriver from the mouth of the Gambia River, in eastern Gambia, in the Janjanbureh District. Located on the island is t ...
, also known as MacCarthy Island, in the Gambia River in eastern
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 ...
. Until 1995, it was known as Georgetown and was the second largest town in the country. It is the capital of Janjanbureh
Local Government Area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...
(formerly the
Central River Division Central River is the largest of the five administrative divisions of the Gambia. Its capital is Janjanbureh (formerly Georgetown), on MacCarthy Island. The largest settlement is Bansang, with an estimated population in 2008 of 8,381. Until 1995 ...
), and the Janjanbureh district. The population of the Janjanbureh LGA was 127,333 at the 2013 population census. The town is best known as home to Gambia's main prison. The
Wassu stone circles The Senegambian stone circles are groups of megalithic stone circles that lie in The Gambia north of Janjanbureh and in central Senegal. With an approximate area of 30,000 km²,Laport et al. 2012, p. 410 they are sometimes divided into the ...
lie 22 km northwest of Lamin Koto, on the north bank across from Janjanbureh. It was the birthplace of the late Yale University historian Lamin Sanneh. The island is known locally as MacCarthy Island and is located in what used to be called MacCarthy Island Division. The island is accessed by bridge from the south bank, and small boat ferries or government ferry on the north bank. In 1995, both the city of Georgetown and MacCarthy Island were renamed Janjanbureh respectively.


Gallery


References


External links


Information from "Slavery Trade of the Gambia"
{{Administrative divisions of the Gambia Central River Division Populated places established in 1832 Populated places in the Gambia Gambia River 1832 establishments in Africa Local Government Areas of the Gambia