Gambia People of gambia gambians Gambia - Africa Costumes Gambia Gambia food Gambia medicine GAMBIA

1. GAMBIA

2. GAMBIA
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NAME:
Gambia
LOCATION:
Africa & The Middle East
GOVERNMENT:
Republic
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE:
English (official),
Mandinka, Wolof and
Fula.

4. • 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

8. • 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.

9. 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.

10. Celebrations
• Independence Day
is 18 February.
There is a sixmonth "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.

12. The Arts
Gambia 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.

14. THANKS