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 large green stretches with profusion of tree species, particularly the mango "(Mangifera indica)" trees. Law of the land Some parts of the land area of the Gambia, under the protection laws of the Banjul Declaration of 1977, which is the law on wild life, includes seven protected zones of the country. The law prohibits all types of hunting, except on animals harmful to the environment, such as warthog, giant pouched rat and francolin. Also, as a signatory to the International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES), the Gambia enforces law prohibiting export or even possession within the