Why does The Gambia exist? (Short Animated Documentary)

The Gambia is a tiny country in West Africa that is entirely surrounded by Senegal which is has much in common with. Despite the fact The Gambia is a nation which came about as a result of colonial partitions, why didn't it join Senegal and why does it exist as in independent country? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

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[ChessedGamon]

If the Gambia didn't exist a story with a modern country built almost entirely around a river of the same name would be mocked as unrealistic.

[bodilsoldeberg]

As a Gambian, I ask myself this very same question every single day.

[InRealTime]

The most unbelievable part of this video was that anyone would think that 19th century Britain would give support to France

[ElysiumCreator]

If it’s Napoleons fault, I’m going to lose it

[jmantime]

Fun Fact: The Gambia has a larger military than some NATO countries like Montenegro, Iceland and Luxembourg with over 4, 000 Gambian troops, sailors and air men.

[snowfloofcathug]

“It follows the river of Gambia and not much else”

The name would be too unwieldy if it followed other rivers too

[smilingearth]

I love how History Matters has basically revealed every important global event or situation today can, within a few degrees of separation, be tied to Napoleon Bonaparte.

[breaderikthegreat]

Short answer:Senegal was french, Gambia was british

[tomm]

My late grandad always told me the borders were decided by sailing a boat up the river, firing cannons and marking where they landed. Great story but very unlikely to be true!

[carmi]

0:50 Nice mention of the Courlandian attempt to colonize The Gambia. Your attention to dettails is great as always

[joshuacarre]

There is no greater reason to do something than to annoy France

[Fyreflier]

"It seemed like the only reason for keeping The Gambia would be to annoy France"
well that sounds like a perfectly good reason for keeping it to me!

[aldotorres]

Gambia exists to make Senegalese commutes more interesting

[privatename]

I love how it's name is The Gambia instead of just Gambia, because it isn't so much a country as an independent river.

[tomquirk]

Great video! In terms of the theme of “why does X exist”, a video on San Marino, a teeny tiny European microstate located entirely within Italy and which somehow was never absorbed into Italy during its unification would be quite interesting.

[seeyouchump]

France: *being beaten badly by Germany, the capital is being encircled and starved to death + a revolution breaks out*
England: So France, about Gambia I suggest...

[fabvz]

It's nice to have a video about history outside of europe every now and then, great work

[antoniooliveira]

Hello there, Portuguese historian here! I know you did it for brevity and hilarity's sake, but Portugal was not conquered by Spain nor did it stop existing; it was simply ruled by the same monarch as the rest of Spain, whilst mainting its autonomy.

[HelloimthisguyYT]

Apparently the borders between the gambia and senegal were decided by someone shooting cannons out of a ship down the river

[Croz]

I'm honestly shocked that "annoying France" wasnt seen as a legitimate reason for keeping the territory by the British.