Latri Kunda (spelling variation: Latrikunda, name variant: Latri Kunda Yiringan Ya or Latrikunda Yiri Nganya) is part of the Kanifing District, and a suburb of Sere Kunda (or Serekunda) in

The Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

. The district is located in the center of Serekunda. In the 1993 census, Latri Kunda was listed as a separate town with 22,902 inhabitants.

History and toponymy

Latri Kunda takes its name from Lat Kumba Lô (full name: Latir Kumba Lô) — a Serer noble and friend of one of

Sayerr Jobe Sayerr Jobe was the founder of Serekunda, the largest city in The Gambia. Sayerr was originally from the town in Koki, Senegal, Koki in the Kingdom of Cayor, in what is now northern Senegal. He was part of the wider Jobe (or Diop) family, which ...

's sons (founder of Sere Kunda) who was persuaded to move to the Gambia from

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

in return for a piece of land. After moving to the Gambia, he was given Latri Kunda by the noble Jobe family. Thus, Lat Kumba became

lamane Lamane or laman (also laam or lam) means "master of the land" in the Serer language. The name was also sometimes the title of chiefs or kings of the Serer people of the Senegambia region which includes modern day Senegal and the Gambia. This title ...

of Latri Kunda.

Geography

The Kanifing District is adjacent to the northeast. The border is defined by the Kairaba Avenue which runs from northwest to southeast. In the south, Latri Kunda is limited by Sayerr Jobe Avenue, south is Serekunda District. Dippa Kunda is located southwest, the border is defined by several side roads. To the west lies Manjai Kunda, where Kotu forms the border. In the northwest Latri Kunda reaches up to the Bertil Harding Highway and borders on

Bakau Bakau is a town on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Gambia, Gambia, west of Gambia's capital city of Banjul. It is known for its botanical gardens, its crocodile pool ''Bakau Kachikally'' and for the beaches at Cape Point (Gambia), Cap ...

New Town (or

Fajara Fajara is a coastal suburb of Bakau in the Gambia. It is home to Isatou Njie-Saidy, a former Vice-President of The Gambia; Patricia Aslup, a former US Ambassador; and was formerly the home town of the late Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara, a former Pr ...

). In part, an area south of the Bertil Harding Highway is still counted as part of Fajara. Latri Kunda is a cosmopolitan area with loads of restaurants, shops and bars. Kairaba Avenue which runs within the vicinity of this suburb is a well known road in the country. It is where almost all of the Gambia's telecommunication towers such as

Africell Africell Group is a mobile technology company providing voice, messaging, data, mobile money and other integrated telecoms services to almost 20 million subscribers across Africa. It is the only mainstream US-owned mobile network operator in Afri ...

, QCell, Comium, and several other banks are headquartered, including the American Embassy.

Gamtel The Gambia Telecommunications Company Ltd., also known by Gamtel for short, is the principal telecommunications company of the Gambia. It is a state company, charged with the task of overseeing the provision of telecommunications and internet serv ...

, the nation's telecommunication company also has an office on Kairaba Avenue - near Westfield. The "Big Tree" (''Goye bu maak''), a massive silk cotton tree on the west of Mosque Road is also located in Latri Kunda, next to Latri Kunda Market. It is a meeting point.Briggs, Philip; Fenton, Simon; ''The Gambia'',

Bradt Travel Guides Bradt Travel Guides is a publisher of travel guides founded in 1974 by Hilary Bradt and her husband George, who co-wrote the first Bradt Guide on a river barge on a tributary of the Amazon. Since then Bradt has grown into a leading independent ...

(2017), p. 112,

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References

{{coord, 13, 27, N, 16, 41, W, display=title, region:GM_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Serekunda Populated places in the Gambia