History of the Gambia The Courlanders remained dominant until 1659 when their possessions were handed over to the Dutch West India Company. In 1660, the Courlanders resumed possession, but the next year were expelled by the newly formed Royal Adventurers in Africa Company. In 1667, the rights of the Royal Adventurers to the Gambia were sublet to the Gambia Adventurers but later reverted to the new Royal African Company. 1677 saw the beginning of a century-and-a-half-long struggle between the English and French for supremacy over the Gambia and Senegal. The English possessions were captured several times by the French, but in the Treaty of
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