Gambia West Route. Gambia

The Gambia West route invites you to learn about the ethnic and cultural diversity and environmental richness of West Africa's smallest country.

The frontiers of Gambia delimit a narrow strip of terrain along the Gambia River.

This country features a true mosaic of cultures in which the traditions of each ethnic group overlap and intermix without losing the main traits of their identity.

The 80-kilometre long coast features beaches, palm groves, lagoons and mangroves which accommodate an extensive and rich biodiversity.

Gambia is the smallest country of continental Africa. Its borders mark a narrow strip of land around the Gambia river. Located on the Atlantic coast, surrounded by Senegal, except in the Western limit, the country has an extension of around 11,000km2 of flat land which does not go beyond 53 meters over sea level.

The river Gambia crosses the country from East to West, and is 470 kilometres long, dividing Gambia into two separate regions, north and south.

Without natural barriers to serve as an obstacle for the movement of different human groups, in Gambia, up to eight principal ethnic groups live together conserving their own language, music and traditions, in a multicultural environment where there have been hardly any frictions in the recent history of the country.

In Gambia, there is a true mosaic of cultures in which the traditions of each community overlap and mix without losing the main characteristics of their identity.

The 80 kilometres of coast are sprinkled with beaches, palm groves, lagoons and mangroves and an extensive and rich biodiversity. Over 600 species of birds, manatees, colobuses or crocodiles follow the course of the river from where it enters Gambia until its outlet in the western coast.

The West Gambia Route helps the visitor to explore the ethnic and cultural diversity and environmental wealth of the smallest country of west Africa.