The Gambia less than wide at its widest point, with a total area of . About (11.5%) of the Gambia's area are covered by water. It is the smallest country on the African mainland. In comparative terms, the Gambia has a total area slightly less than that of the island of Jamaica. Senegal surrounds the Gambia on three sides, with of coastline on the Atlantic Ocean marking its western extremity. The present boundaries were defined in 1889 after an agreement between the United Kingdom and France. During the negotiations between the French and the British in Paris, the French initially gave the
Gambia–Philippines relations exploration following the recent discovery of oil in his country. Jammeh offered one block out of the five oil deposits in the Gambia to the Philippines to be developed in the proposed joint oil exploration. The Philippines agreed to conduct a joint oil exploration with the Gambia. The agreement was said to be the fruits of the New Asian–African Strategic Partnership signed by both countries in Jakarta. The Philippine National Oil Company subsequently said that the first 5 blocks offered did not show much potential, but that they were interested in the sixth block. The Gambia also wanted to reciprocate