Divisions of Gambia

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Updates: 

I acquired a three-volume world gazetteer in China, which had populations and areas for the divisions as of 1993. I have added them under Change history.

FIPS Publication Change Notice No. 10, affecting FIPS PUB 10-4, was issued on 2006-03-23. It changes the name of MacCarthy Island to Central River.

The results of the 1993 and 2003 censuses of the Gambia have become available.

Country overview: 

The Gambia was a British colony until its independence on 1965-02-18. With Senegal, it formed a federation called Senegambia from 1982-02-01 to 1989-09-21. In text, the country name is often given as The Gambia; on maps, it usually appears as just Gambia. The country's stamps were inscribed Gambia until 1966, when The Gambia came into use. In alphabetized lists, the country invariably appears under G.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Gambia
2. Dutch: Gambia, Republiek Gambia (formal)
3. English: Republic of The Gambia (formal), The Gambia (variant)
4. Finnish: Gambia
5. French: Gambie f
6. German: Gambia n
7. Icelandic: Gambía
8. Italian: Gambia f
9. Norwegian: Gambia, Republikken Gambia (formal)
10. Portuguese: Gâmbia f, República f da Gâmbia f (formal)
11. Spanish: Gambia, República f de Gambia (formal)
12. Swedish: Gambia
13. Turkish: Gambiya, Gambiya Cumhuriyeti (formal)

Origin of name: 

from Gambia River, corruption of native name Ba-Dimma: river

Primary subdivisions: 

Gambia is divided into five divisions and one independent city.

Further subdivisions:

See the Districts of Gambia page.

The country is subdivided into 37 districts.

In addition to divisions, Gambia is divided into local government areas (LGAs). Four divisions are equivalent to LGAs; the other two are divided into two LGAs each. Apparently, the LGAs and the divisions have both existed since independence (1965). Reference works almost unanimously list the divisions, and maps show them, which is why I have chosen them as the primary subdivisions of Gambia. Here are the LGAs.

Origins of names: 

Banjul: native bangjulo: rope mats (informants thought they were being asked, what are you making?)
Bathurst: after Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst, British colonial secretary in 1816.
MacCarthy Island: after Sir Charles MacCarthy, governor of Gambia from 1814 to 1824.

Change history: 

1. Before 1935, the Gambia was divided into the Colony (a small area containing present-day Banjul) and the Protectorate. The Protectorate had five divisions: Kombo Saint Mary, MacCarthy Island, North Bank, South Bank, and Upper River.
2. 1935: Gambia divided into five provinces (Lower River, MacCarthy Island, North Bank, Upper River, and Western) and the Greater Bathurst Area by the Provinces Act of 1935. Probably the Greater Bathurst Area consisted of the Colony and Kombo Saint Mary, and Lower River and Western were formed from South Bank. According to another source, the divisions as of 1935 were Central, MacCarthy Island, Upper River, and Western.
3. 1968-10-30: North Bank division split from Lower River division.
4. 1973-04-24: Name of national capital and its division changed from Bathurst to Banjul. At this time, Gambia consisted of one city and six divisions:

1. The more recent lists of divisions of Gambia imply that Kombo Saint Mary has merged with Banjul. It may be that the two areas are administratively separate in some way, but are treated as a unit because they are adjacent and have a different status from the rest of the country. I haven't found a specific date at which they stopped being counted as separate divisions.
2. Some sources indicate that Kanifing was the capital of Kombo Saint Mary. I will try to check on this fact.
3. 1995: The name of MacCarthy Island, referring to an island in the Gambia River, was changed to Janjanbureh Island. The name of MacCarthy Island, referring to a division of Gambia, was changed to Central River. The name of its capital, Georgetown, was changed to Janjanbureh.

Other names of subdivisions: 

1. Central River: Jangjangbureh, Janjanbureh, Janjangburreh (variant); MacCarthy Island (obsolete)
2. Janjanbureh [LGA]: Central River South, Georgetown (obsolete)
3. Kombo Saint Mary: Kombo, Kombo North and Saint Mary (variant)
4. Kuntaur: Central River North (obsolete)
5. Lower River: Central (obsolete); South Bank (variant)