Senegal vs Gambia

Why people mix them up

Gambia is almost completely surrounded by Senegal, apart from a short stretch of Atlantic coast, so on a map it looks like a sliver cut out of its neighbour. The two even formed a short-lived confederation called Senegambia in the 1980s. People often ask whether Gambia is part of Senegal and why the border looks so unusual. It follows the Gambia River, which runs through the middle of both.

How to tell them apart

• Gambia is a thin strip along the Gambia River, rarely more than about 50 km wide; Senegal surrounds it on three sides.
• Gambia is the smallest country on the African mainland, about 11,000 km²; Senegal is roughly 18 times larger.
• Senegal's official language is French; Gambia's is English, a legacy of British rule.
• Senegal's flag has vertical green, yellow and red stripes with a green star; Gambia's has horizontal red, blue and green stripes separated by thin white lines.
• The capitals are Dakar (Senegal) and Banjul (Gambia). Dakar sits on the westernmost point of mainland Africa.
• Senegal uses the West African CFA franc; Gambia uses the dalasi.

Memory hook

Gambia is the river: its blue stripe runs across the flag the way the Gambia River runs across the country. Senegal is the land around it.

On the map

Find the bulge of West Africa where the coast turns south. Senegal is the country at the westernmost point, with Dakar on the tip. Look for the thin horizontal sliver cutting into Senegal from the coast, a little to the south of Dakar: that is Gambia. If the country you are tapping is long, narrow and surrounded on three sides by one neighbour, it is Gambia.