Gambia is admitted to the United Nations

Situated on the west coast of Africa, the banks of the River Gambia have been inhabited for many centuries. The first known written record of The Gambia is a brief reference in the account by Hanno the Carthaginian of his voyage through West Africa around 470BC. During the 5th and 8th centuries AD most of the Sene-Gambian area was part of the Empire of Ghana, whose rulers were of the Serahuli tribe. In the centuries to follow, tribes of Mandingoes and Susus from the Fouta Djalon Plateau of Guinea established themselves in what is now known as Mali. The Gambia was part of a large British colony known as the Province of Senegambia with covered present day Senegal and The Gambia. It's capital was St. Louis on the River Senegal. It was the first British colony in Africa. In 1779 the French captured the Senegal part of the region and the British agreed to base their trade around Bathurst and First James instead. In 1821, The Gambia became a Crown Colony attached to the British colony of Sierra Leone. In 1843, the parts of the Gambia ruled by Britain were again separated from Sierra Leone. The rest of what is now called The Gambia. The Gambia became a British Protectorate in 1888. The oldest English speaking country in West Africa and a member of the Commonwealth, The Gambia gained independence from Britain in 1965, led by Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara, first President of the Republic of The Gambia. A bloodless coup took place in July 1994, and an Interim government was installed. Elections have since returned the country to democracy under the leadership of the President, Alhagie Dr Yahya A JJ Jammeh. In September 2006 Jammeh won the election to return as President for a third five-year term.