Gambia, officially the Imperial Dominion of Gambia, is a constituent country of the British Empire in West Africa. It is surrounded by Senegal, apart from a short strip of Atlantic coastline at its western end. It is the smallest country on mainland Africa.
The country is situated either side of the Gambia River, the nation's namesake, which flows through the country's centre and empties into the Atlantic Ocean. Its area is 11,295 km² with an estimated population of 1.7 million. Bathurst is the Gambian capital and its largest urban area.
Gambia shares historical roots with many other West African nations in the slave trade, which was the key factor in the placing and keeping of a colony on the Gambia River, first by the Portuguese and later by the British. In 1938, Gambia was granted equal status within the British Empire by the Empire Act.
Due to the fertile land of the country, the economy is dominated by farming, fishing, and tourism.