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Photograph:Located near the mouth of the Gambia River in The Gambia, the port city of Banjul is the country's …
* Located near the mouth of the Gambia River in The Gambia, the port city of Banjul is the country's …
Banjul is the capital and largest city of The Gambia, which is the smallest country in Africa. The city lies on St. Mary's Island, near the mouth of the Gambia River. Banjul was called Bathurst until 1973.
Places of interest
Popular attractions in Banjul are the King Fuad Mosque Mosque, with its tall minarets, and the 19th-century State House. The Gambia National Museum displays wooden carvings and items of historical interest. The Royal Victoria Hospital is the country's main hospital; associated with it are the Gambia School of Nursing and other health institutions. Banjul's most lively suburb is Serekunda.
Economy
Banjul is The Gambia's center for commerce and transportation. Peanuts (groundnuts) and peanut oil are processed and exported from Banjul's deepwater port. Ships at the port also load up with fish, cotton, and palm kernels. Meanwhile, ships unload cargos of food, fuel, machinery, and other goods.
Unemployment is a problem in Banjul, but there are some jobs in government offices, banks, shops, and restaurants. Factories in Banjul make foods, beverages, leather goods, farm machinery, clothing, and wood and metal products. Farmers in the area around the city grow millet, sorghum, rice, corn (maize), cassava (tapioca), and palm kernels.
History
People lived in the area around Banjul for thousands of years before Europeans arrived. Portuguese explorers reached the area in the 1400s. Over the next four centuries, Europeans visited the coast to trade in slaves and gold. The city itself dates from 1816, when the British officer Alexander Grant bought the island from the king of Kombo. Grant set up a military post there with barracks and cannons overlooking the river. The British used the fort to force an end to the slave trade on the western coast of Africa. British and African merchants, who had left Senegal and inland areas, soon arrived and created a trading post. The settlement was named Bathurst for Henry Bathurst, who was a British government official.
During World War II, the airport at Bathurst was used by the Allies, and many soldiers from The Gambia shipped out from Bathurst to fight in Burma (Myanmar). Bathurst became the national capital when The Gambia gained independence in 1965.
The city's name was changed to Banjul in 1973. In 1981 troops from Senegal helped defeat an attempt to overthrow the Gambian government, but only after heavy fighting in Banjul. In the 1980s and 1990s, the central district of Banjul did not grow much, but many people moved into the surrounding suburbs. Population (1993 census), 42,407.
