The Gambia
Britain drew borders by gunboat range along the Gambia River in 1889; groundnut monoculture established in the 1830s still drives 20% of exports while Senegambia confederation attempts failed.
The Gambia is not a country with a river; it is a river with a country. The nation stretches 450 kilometers along the Gambia River but never exceeds 50 kilometers in width, creating a geographic absurdity that makes perfect sense through colonial logic. Britain wanted the river—a navigable highway into West Africa's interior. France wanted everything else. The 1889 boundary agreement drew borders by gunboat: where British cannons could reach from the water, Britain ruled. The result is Africa's smallest mainland nation, a sliver of territory completely surrounded by Senegal except for a short Atlantic coastline.
This shape is not an accident but a founder effect frozen in time. The Gambia River was the prize—deep enough for ocean-going vessels, penetrating 200 kilometers inland to the trading post at Banjul. Colonial boundaries became path-dependent infrastructure. After independence in 1965, the new nation inherited borders optimized for 19th-century river commerce, not 20th-century nation-building.
The peanut tells the economic story. British merchants established groundnut monoculture in the 1830s, and the crop still accounts for over 20% of export earnings. The Gambia produces roughly 200,000 tonnes annually, ranking among Africa's top ten producers. This is classic founder-effect economics: the colonial cash crop persists because roads, processing facilities, and farmer knowledge all evolved around groundnuts.
Senegambia—the obvious solution—was tried and failed. A confederation with Senegal from 1982 to 1989 collapsed over economic integration disputes and Gambian fears of absorption. The nations share the same river, the same ethnic groups (Mandinka, Wolof, Fula), and the same colonial legacy split by an accident of European competition. Yet the Gambia maintains separate sovereignty, dependent on Senegal for transit and trade while resisting integration.
Today, tourism provides roughly 20% of GDP—the 'Smiling Coast of Africa' brand draws European visitors to beaches near Banjul. But the fundamentals remain challenging: per capita GDP around $850, 60% of the population in agriculture, and a structural dependence on groundnuts, tourism, and remittances that leaves little room for diversification.