Music of the Gambia for an international competition to produce an anthem (and flag) before independence from the United Kingdom in 1965. The Gambia, the smallest country in mainland Africa, is an independent coastal state along the River Gambia. It gained its separate identity as a colony of the United Kingdom while Senegal was a colony of France, but the two countries' traditional music are very much intertwined. Among Gambia's people, who together number some 1.728 million (2010), 42% are Mandinka, 18% Fula, 16% Wolof\Serer, 10% Jola and 9% Soninke, the remainder being 4% other African and 1% non-African (2003). 63% of Gambians live
Wildlife of the Gambia period. This practice has since changed to two or three years rotation. While the agricultural crops grown are sorghum, millet and ground nuts, the tree species retained, within the lands cleared for agricultural use, are the "Acacia albida", baobab, ficus species, winterthorn and African locust "(Parkia biglobosa)". Savanna and the Sahel habitats are of two types. One is the southern Guinea savanna which has rich and dense vegetation of over 50 tree species. The other is the Sudan Savanna which is contiguous to the Guinea savanna on the north bank of the Gambia River. These areas are dry woodlands with