Gambia Colony and Protectorate
British colony and protectorate in Africa from 1821 until 1965
The Gambia Colony and Protectorate was the British colonial administration of The Gambia from 1821 to 1965, part of the British Empire in the New Imperialism era. The colony was the immediate area surrounding Bathurst (now Banjul), and the protectorate was the inland territory situated around the Gambia River, which was declared in 1894.
History
The foundation of the colony was Fort James and Bathurst, where British presence was established in 1815 and 1816, respectively. For various periods in its existence it was subordinate to the Sierra Leone Colony. However, by 1888 it was a colony in its own right with a permanently appointed Governor.
The boundaries of the territory were an issue of contention between the British and French authorities due to the proximity to French Senegal. Additionally, on numerous occasions the British government had attempted to exchange it with France for other territories, such as on the upper Niger River.
France and Britain agreed in 1889 in principle to set the boundary at 10 km (6.2 miles) north and south of the river and east to Yarbutenda, the furthest navigable point on the river Gambia. This was followed by the dispatch of a joint Anglo-French Boundary Commission to map the actual border. However, on its arrival in the area in 1891, the Boundary Commission was met with resistance by local leaders whose territories they were coming to divide.
The public source identifies “Gambia Colony and Protectorate” as british colony and protectorate in Africa from 1821 until 1965. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Gambia, Colony and Protectorate.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3557236. The first chronological checks are 1821, 1965, 1894 and 1815.
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This entry incorporates text from “Gambia Colony and Protectorate” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.