It's the smallest country in mainland Africa

The Gambia has a total area of 11,295 km2 and is less than 50 kilometers (31 miles) wide at its widest point (4,361 sq mi). Water covers approximately 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles) (11.5 percent) of the Gambia's land area. It is the African continent's smallest country. In terms of total area, the Gambia is slightly smaller than the island of Jamaica.

Senegal surrounds the Gambia on three sides, with 80 km (50 mi) of coastline on the Atlantic Ocean marking its western extremity. The Gambia is commonly referred to as the smiling coast of Africa. Despite its small size, the country has a dense population of approximately 2.28 million people. The most people are concentrated around the Gambia's capital, Banjul, and its increasingly urbanized landscape.