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The Gambia - People

A wide variety of ethnic groups live in The Gambia with a minimum of intertribal friction, each preserving its own language and traditions. The Mandinka tribe is the largest, followed by the Fula, Wolof, Jola, and Sarahule. Approximately 3,500 non-Africans live in The Gambia, including Europeans and families of Lebanese origin.

According to the 1993 census, more than 63% of Gambians lived in rural villages, although more and more young people were coming to the capital in search of work and education. Provisional figures from the 2003 census showed that the gap between the urban and rural populations was narrowing as more areas were declared urban. While urban migration, development projects, and modernization are bringing more Gambians into contact with Western habits and values, the traditional emphasis on the extended family, as well as indigenous forms of dress and celebration, remain integral parts of everyday life.

According to 2003 census data, the Mandinka tribe is the largest ethnic group in The Gambia, approximately 42 percent of the population of approximately 1.5 million. The Fula and Wolof tribes constitute 18 and 16 percent respectively, followed by the Jola (10 percent), Serahuli (nine percent), and smaller tribes such as the Sererr, Manjago, and Aku. Jolas formerly made up little more than five percent of the population, half of the current estimate. The contacts suggested the source of the increase is immigration from the Casamance, the southern Senegalese region where Jolas are the majority tribe. It borders the Fonis, a group of five Gambian districts that is traditionally home to the Jolas.

Of the five regions in The Gambia, the Western Region is predominantly Mandinka and Jola; the Lower River Region is predominantly Mandinka; the Central River Region is a mixture of Wolof, Fula, and Mandinka tribes in relatively equal proportions; the Upper River Region is made up of Mandinka, Fula, and Serahuli tribes; and the North Bank Region is largely Mandinka.

The Gambia is also home to non-African and non-Gambian residents, including an economically prominent Lebanese minority, estimated to be at least 3,500, many of whom have been in The Gambia and West Africa for generations. Among resident Africa expatriates, Senegalese are the largest group, numbering several hundred thousand, and constitute much of the skilled labor in the country. The Senegalese are largely either Wolof or Jola, but also represent other tribes. Other notable African expatriates with economic clout include, inter alia, Mauritanians, Nigerians, Guineans, Sierra Leoneans, and Liberians, each community numbering 5,000 or more. Frequent intermarriage among ethnic and national groups tends to blur such distinctions.

While members of all ethnic groups are found in all walks of life, particularly farming, certain occupations tended to be dominated by particular tribes. Excluding Lebanese domination of the business community here, Fulas generally control the retail trade sector, while Wolofs and Serahulis own the majority of large businesses. Wolofs and Mandinkas make up the bulk of the civil service, while Jolas constitute the majority of unskilled laborers (e.g. household help) and dominate the fishing industry. All of the ethnic groups are represented in the security forces, but Jolas and Manjagos were becoming more dominant within these services.

The Gambia is lauded by its government, people, and visitors for its ethnic diversity and the apparent harmony among its many tribes. The lack of civil conflict along ethnic lines in an often-troubled region is prized by Gambians. Freedom from tribalism is also touted at the political level as officials from different backgrounds work together, publicly eschewing ethnic ties under the banner of unified Gambian identity.

However, the years of the Jammeh regime witnessed the decline in political power of the country's largest tribe, the Mandinkas, who have historically held the majority of high-level positions in the GOTG and other key institutions, while President Jammeh's tribe, the Jolas, gained both political and economic clout. The rise in the Jolas' socioeconomic status indicated a significant shift in power, as Mandinkas were no longer represented proportionately in top government, security, and media posts.

The Gambia’s youthful age structure – almost 60% of the population is under the age of 25 – is likely to persist because the country’s total fertility rate remains strong at nearly 4 children per woman. The overall literacy rate is around 55%, and is significantly lower for women than for men. At least 70% of the populace are farmers who are reliant on rain-fed agriculture and cannot afford improved seeds and fertilizers. Crop failures caused by droughts between 2011 and 2013 have increased poverty, food shortages, and malnutrition.

The Gambia is a source country for migrants and a transit and destination country for migrants and refugees. Since the 1980s, economic deterioration, drought, and high unemployment, especially among youths, have driven both domestic migration (largely urban) and migration abroad (legal and illegal). Emigrants are largely skilled workers, including doctors and nurses, and provide a significant amount of remittances. The top receiving countries for Gambian emigrants are Spain, the US, Nigeria, Senegal, and the UK. While the Gambia and Spain do not share historic, cultural, or trade ties, rural Gambians have migrated to Spain in large numbers because of its proximity and the availability of jobs in its underground economy (this flow slowed following the onset of Spain’s late 2007 economic crisis).

The Gambia’s role as a host country to refugees is a result of wars in several of its neighboring West African countries. Since 2006, refugees from the Casamance conflict in Senegal have replaced their pattern of flight and return with permanent settlement in The Gambia, often moving in with relatives along the Senegal-Gambia border. The strain of providing for about 7,400 Casamance refugees has increased poverty among Gambian villagers.

Trafficking in persons is a serious problem; trafficking victims usually end up as street vendors, sex workers, and domestic servants. The country is a source and destination for women and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Criminals subjected women, girls, and, to a lesser extent, boys to sex trafficking and domestic servitude. The government did not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and did not make significant efforts to do so.

Carnal knowledge with a girl under the age of 16 is a felony except within marriage, which can occur as early as age 12. The constitution states, “marriage shall be based on the free and full consent of the intended parties,” although in many villages, girls reportedly were forced to marry at a young age. According to UNICEF’s 2010 multiple indicator report, 8.6 percent of women married before they were 15 years old, while 46.5 percent married before the age of 18.

Families often arranged marriages. Some ethnic groups practiced polygyny. Women in polygynous unions had problems with property and other rights arising from their marriages. They had the option to divorce but no legal right to disapprove or receive advance notification of subsequent marriages by their husbands. The Women’s Bureau under the Office of the Vice President oversees programs to provide for the legal rights of women. Active women’s rights groups existed.

The government did not interfere with the basic right of couples and individuals to decide the number, spacing, and timing of their children; manage their reproductive health; and have the information and means to do so free from discrimination, coercion, or violence. According to the Health Ministry, the maternal mortality rate in 2013 was 433 per 100,000 live births. According to the World Health Organization, hemorrhage, anemia, early pregnancy, and obstructed labor were the main causes of maternal mortality. World Development Indicators published by the World Bank in September stated the contraceptive prevalence rate for girls and women ages 15 to 49 was 13.3 percent.