GAMBIA

GAMBIA• NAME:• Gambia• LOCATION:• Africa & The Middle East• GOVERNMENT:  • Republic• OFFICIAL LANGUAGE:• English (official),

Mandinka, Wolof and Fula.

• The main languages are English, Mandinka, Wolof, Jola and Fula, and 90% of Gambians are Muslim.

• The poverty rate is 55%.• Gambia, is the smallest country on Africa. It's an agriculturally rich

land, with farming, fishing, and tourism the major industries. • Gambia is a diverse multi-cultural society with many ethnic groups.

Culture & Traditions:

Different ethnic groups do have different local customs. So from the above it would be difficult to try to summarise what Gambian culture and tradition actually is.

Facts• Short shorts or skimpy skirts would be unacceptable for

women. • Lecture is the most common form of teaching.• Being drunk in public is not accepted and could get you into

trouble.• Smoking is acceptable but it is very uncommon among

students and women in general.• Dating is done mostly by the youth. In the rural areas, from

the age of fifteen and up, girls are expected to get married. In the city, women are single and date up into their twenties.

• Greetings are extremely important.

• Looking elders directly in the eyes and not greeting people properly are also rude.

• It is a serious insult to call somebody rude or accuse someone of stealing.

• The thumbs up sign is a rude gesture. • Asking too many personal questions can be seen as rude. • It is common to see men holding hands with other men

while walking and talking. This is a sign of friendship.• Touching while talking is accepted for men with men and

women with women, but between genders there is usually no touching.

• In offices or in the city, women and men’s interaction are a bit more relaxed.

Medicine and Health Care

Gambia suffers from the usual list of tropical diseases, many of them water borne. Malaria is endemic; blindness afflicts a large percentage of the population. Modern health care is found in urban centers and sporadically in villages.

Celebrations• Independence Day

is 18 February. There is a six-month "tourist" festival based on the television series and book Roots. It runs from June to January, with variable dates. Christmas, New Year's, and other general holidays are also celebrated.

The ArtsGambia is a poor country and can spare little for

the arts.• Music plays an important part of Gambian

culture: “The drum” seems a simple instrument, but use of the drum is not limited to musical entertainment. It has a serious application in many societies across the continent.

The drum is the sign of life – its beat is the heartbeat of the community.

THAN

KS