Country of the Day: The Gambia

[bex77]

One of my co-workers took off for The Gambia today to give language workshops for the Peace Corps for a week.  I regret to say that I didn't know anything about that country, other than it's in Africa.  So I looked it up on Google maps.  Just type in The Gambia.   It's this really nifty "finger" of a place, poking in off the Atlantic on the West Coast, surrounded by Senegal, along the Gambia River.  

So I clicked over to Wikipedia.  Smallest country in Africa, it was a British Colony until 1965, now a relatively stable multi-party democracy. 1.7 million people.  Fishing, farming, tourism.  90% Sunni Muslim, 10% Christian.  There are several tribes, with the Mandinka the largest.  If you have heard of it, it may be because Alex Haley traced his ancestry to the area and wrote a book called "Roots." 

Comments

[ron_newman]

I'm curious why it is 'The' Gambia. I can't think of any other countries whose English-language names routinely begin with 'The', other than a few "the X Republic" (Czech, Dominican) and some plural island groups (the Philippines, the Maldives, the Seychelles).