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
Queen of the Gambia Queen of the Gambia Elizabeth II was Queen of The Gambia from 1965 to 1970, when The Gambia was a constitutional monarchy within the Commonwealth of Nations. The Queen was also the monarch of the other Commonwealth realms, including the United Kingdom. Her constitutional roles in The Gambia were delegated to a Governor-General. The Gambia was granted independence in 1965 under the Parliament of the United Kingdom's Gambia Independence Act 1964, which unified the Gambia Colony and Protectorate into an independent sovereign state. After two referenda on constitutional amendments, the first unsuccessful because it did not pass by the necessary