Alieu and Cous, allow me to share some thoughts on Gambia. The Gambia River was used mainly as a conduit of slaves from the interior to the ports for onward shipment abroad. The forts and miniports along the river were managed at various times by the British, French, and portuguese until the viral independences in Africa. At that time, and because the settlements along the river were heritages of the various merchant colonizers, the question of what to do with Gambia was debated. Because Britain had the largest influence in those settlements, territorial trades left Gambia wit Britain. Britain had always called Gambia The Gambia to reflect its interest solely in the river and its purpose. After Independence, a name change to reflect The Gambia's value as political settlement was not conscientiously entertained and because the River remained the dominant feature, the magnet for the settlements - which were a mosaic of interior peoples, Gambia was never envisaged as a nation onto its own. Imagine a nation called The Saloum or The Mano within Senegal and Sierrovia. The most logical conclusion for Gambia would be assimilation by Senegal in a wider treaty of West African Union that includes Bissau, Liberia, SierraLeone, Mali, La-Guinea, Ivory Coast, and Burkina Faso. Until then, Gambia and The Gambia are used interchangeably for the nation of the River peoples of Senegal, Mali, Burkina, La-Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and SierraLeone. Haruna. -----Original Message----- From: Alieu S.K Cham <[log in to unmask]> To: GAMBIA-L <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Mon, May 16, 2011 6:48 am Subject: Re: Question Hello Fankung, or whatever your name is. Interesting question! I do not know for sure but i i think gambia is the name of both the country and the river. As you know, names of rivers are usually preceded by the definite article 'the' - the congo, the nile, the limpopo etc. Therefore gambia river became known as the gambia. However, i will need help to explain why and at what point in time one decided to add 'the' to the name of the country. It is indeed a very unique case as far as i know. Regards, Alieu SK Cham Oslo, Norway 2011/5/15 Fankung Fankung Jammeh <[log in to unmask]> Hello all, A friend ask me why we call Gambia, the Gambia. I thought I read someone referring to river Gambia but not sure. Anyone know why we say the Gambia instead of Gambia. Thanks in advance On May 13, 2011 8:30 PM, "Haruna Darbo" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > As president of Ivory Coast on May 6th, 2011. President Ouattara visits Senegal on board a charter jet provided by his Senegalese counterpart President Abdoulaye Wade. You will recall that President Wade was a vocal supporter of President Ouattara during the ECOWAS considerations and many Senegalese live and work in Ivory Coast. Gadio is also PM GUillaume Soro's friends. President Wade has made many errors before, but he was right in this instance for standing with th truth behind President Ouattara. Many Senegalese were injured and killed during the Gbagbo militia's rampage. Gbagbo had even recalled his representative in Dakar to protest Wade's support of Ouattara. We thank and hail Wade for this solidarity-in-truth. > > On another note, I have learned that Ble Goude has been killed or died at the hands of folk whose parents and relatives he supervised the killing of. I like this picture of Ouattara and Wade. May the good lord bless them both. > > Haruna. > > > Côte d’Ivoire : le président Ouattara poursuit à Dakar sa 1e visite à l’étranger > > > DAKAR (AFP) - Le président ivoirien Alassane Ouattara poursuit à Dakar son premier voyage à l’étranger depuis sa prestation de serment le 6 mai. > > Il devait avoir dans la matinée une rencontre avec son homologue sénégalais Abdoulaye Wade, suivie d’une conférence de presse. > Alassane Ouattara, est arrivé jeudi après-midi à Dakar, à bord de l’avion du président sénégalais Abdoulaye Wade qui est venu l’accueillir à l’aéroport. Les deux chefs d’Etat se sont donnés une longue et chaleureuse accolade, puis se sont rendus main dans la main de l’appareil à la salle de réception de l’aéroport. > Plusieurs centaines de militants du parti du président Wade, le parti démocratique sénégalais (PDS), étaient rassemblés à l’extérieur de l’aéroport international Léopold Sedar Senghor, brandissant et agitant des drapeaux du Sénégal et de la Côte d’Ivoire. > Pendant la crise post-électorale ivoirienne, Abdoulaye Wade a été un allié de poids pour Alassane Ouattara face au président déchu Laurent Gbagbo. > Il s’agit du premier déplacement à l’étranger de M. Ouattara depuis sa prestation de serment le 6 mai comme président de Côte d’Ivoire, après cinq mois de crise liée à la contestation des résultats de l’élection présidentielle de novembre 2010 par l’ex-président Gbagbo, arrêté le 11 avril à Abidjan. > La présidence sénégalaise avait annoncé mardi cette "visite d’amitié" en évoquant les "relations traditionnelles qui ont toujours existé entre le peuple ivoirien et le peuple sénégalais". La chute de Laurent Gbagbo "est une très bonne chose", avait réagi M. Wade le 13 avril. > Plusieeurs dizaines de milliers de Sénégalais vivent et travaillent en Côte d’Ivoire où certains ont été victimes des violences post-électorales. > Entre les deux tours du scrutin, le candidat Alassane Ouattara avait déjà effectué une visite à Dakar, où il avait rencontré le président Wade, provoquant la colère de Laurent Gbagbo qui avait alors rappelé son ambassadeur à Dakar. > Le Rassemblement des républicains (RDR) d’Alassane Ouattara et le PDS d’Abdoulaye Wade appartiennent tous deux à l’internationale libérale. > Les deux chefs d’Etat doivent assister jeudi soir à un dîner officiel donné en l’honneur du président Ouattara. Ils se verront en tête-à-tête vendredi matin au siège de la présidence de la République du Sénégal à dakar. Il est ensuite prévu que M. Ouattara s’adresse à la presse avant son départ à la mi-journée. > 13 mai 2011 > > > > > > > > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ > To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface > at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html > > To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l > To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: > [log in to unmask] > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interfaceat: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-lTo contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:[log in to unmask]¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤