Home to some of Africa’s most gifted musicians, long traditions of theatre, dance and oral literatures, Gambia is a proud example of inter-ethnic and religious peace and tolerance. The smallest country in Africa, it was one of Britain’s former colonial footholds in Africa, gaining its independence in 1965. Its economy is reliant on farming and fishing. It is consistently listed in the bottom ten countries of the Human Development Index. Gambia’s largest source of income is money sent back to their families by Gambians working abroad. Rampant rates of malnutrition, infant mortality, and illiteracy are all reflections of Gambia’s marginal position in the “global economy.”
