Telephone system: General assessment: adequate; a packet switched data network is available. Domestic: adequate network of microwave radio relay and open wire International: microwave radio relay links to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 3, FM 2, shortwave 0 (2001)
Radios: 196,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 1 (government-owned) (1997)
The Gambia was once part of the Empire of Ghana and the Kingdom of the Songhais.
An 1889 agreement with France established the present boundaries, and The Gambia became a British Crown Colony, divided for administrative purposes into the colony (city of Banjul and the surrounding area) and the protectorate (remainder of the territory).
The Gambia gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1965; it formed a short-lived federation of Senegambia with Senegal between 1982 and 1989.
The cost of The Gambia’s yearly imports is usually much more than its export earnings; in 2003 imports totaled $163 million and exports were valued at $5 million.
Tourists from Europe began to visit The Gambia in the 1960s, and by the mid-1970's tourism had become an important sector of the economy.
Foreign visitors come to The Gambia for the winter sunshine and to enjoy the beaches, bird life, excursions on the Gambia River, and the traditions of the Gambian people.
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