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
Foreign relations of the Gambia The Gambia did not do so, however, citing international opinion. In November 2010, the Gambia severed all diplomatic ties with Iran following the seizure of a suspicious arms shipment in Nigeria. During the early months of the Libyan Civil War, the Gambia became the first African state to recognize the National Transitional Council as the sole legitimate representative of Libya. The Gambia was a member of the Commonwealth of Nations from its independence in 1965 until its withdrawal in October 2013. After presidential elections in 2016, the winning candidate Adama Barrow promised to return The Gambia to the Commonwealth. On