The population of the city proper is 26,461, with theGreater Banjul Area, which includes the City of Banjul and theKanifing municipality, at a population of 405,809 (2024 census).[6] The island is connected to the mainland to the west and the rest of Greater Banjul Area via bridges. There are also ferries linking Banjul to the mainland at the other side of the river.
From the 19th century until 24 April 1973, the city was known asBathurst.[7]
There are several etymologies for 'Banjul.' One traditional history recounts that Bandjougou, son of Barafin, came to the island after fleeing the attacks ofSoumaoro Kante on theManding region. His name became attached to the island, and over time changed to 'Bandjoulou'.[8]Another theory claims that Banjul takes its name fromBang julo, theMandinka word forrope fibre that theMandinka people gathered on the island.[9]
A sketch of Bathurst, published in 1824Senior Medical Officers' quarters in Bathurst, Gambia. Photograph, c. 1911.Bathurst [Banjul] 1:2,500 (6.6 MB) and city center Surveyed in 1910-11 and partly Revised in 1918 by W.F. Crook, reprinted by Engineer Reproduction Plant, U.S. Army War College 1941Arch 22 at the entrance to Banjul. The statue of the former presidentYahya Jammeh was removed following democratic elections in 2016.
On 23 April 1816,Tumani Bojang, the King of Kombo, ceded Banjul Island toAlexander Grant, the British commandant, in exchange for an annual fee of 103 iron bars. Grant's expedition, consisting of 75 men and tasked with establishing a military garrison, had been ordered byCharles MacCarthy.[11] Grant founded Banjul as a trading post and base, constructing houses and barracks for controlling entrance to the Gambia estuary and suppressing theslave trade.[12] The British renamed Banjul Island as St. Mary's Island and named the new town Bathurst, afterthe 3rd Earl Bathurst,Secretary of State for War and the Colonies at the time.[13] Streets were laid out in a modified grid pattern, and named after Allied generals at theBattle of Waterloo. The town became the centre of British activity in theGambia Colony and Protectorate.[13]
Within a few years of its establishment, the town started attracting migrants. Its population consisted of Africans of various origins,Levantines (Syrians, Lebanese) as well as Europeans (English, French, Portuguese). A majority of the population was Muslim but there was a significant Christian minority, including theAku inhabitants.The majority of the Africans consisted ofWolof people, whose population rose from 829 in 1881 to 3,666 in 1901 and then 10,130 in 1944. They had mainly hailed fromGorée andSaint-Louis. TheMandinka were the second largest African group, followed by theJola as well as theFula. TheSerer people make up 3.5% of the country's demographics.[14] Islamic schools calleddara were founded in Bathurst from its early years, resulting in the foundation of the first Muslim court in 1905, in addition to the increasingly more sophisticated British legal framework.[11]
Bathurst was officially declared the capital of theProtectorate of the Gambia in 1889, leading to an increase in population. Through the 20th century, it became an even greater attraction for Gambians due to the availability of jobs fuelled by British colonial activities as well as social activities such as cinemas.[citation needed][15] Young men from rural farming villages would move to Bathurst to work at the Public Works Department (established in 1922) or docks. The town was an important Allied naval and air hub duringWorld War II, resulting in an increase in population from 14,370 in 1931 to 21,154 in 1944.[11]
After independence, the town's name was changed to Banjul in 1973.[12] On 22 July 1994, Banjul was the scene of a bloodless militarycoup d'état in which President SirDawda Jawara was overthrown and replaced byYahya Jammeh. To commemorate this event,Arch 22 was built as an entrance portal to the capital. The gate is 35 metres tall and stands at the centre of an open square. It houses atextilemuseum.
Banjul features hot weather year round. Under theKöppen climate classification, Banjul features atropical wet and dry climate (Aw). The city features a lengthydry season, spanning from November to May and a relatively shortwet season covering the remaining five months. However, during those five months, Banjul tends to see heavy rainfall. August is usually the rainiest month, with on average 350 millimetres or 14 inches of rainfall. Maximum temperatures are somewhat constant, though morning minima tend to be hotter during the wet season than the dry season.
According to a Gambian government minister, Banjul is at risk of submerging under water by a metre rise in sea levels as a result of climate change and global warming.[16]
A 2019 paper published inPLOS One estimated that underRepresentative Concentration Pathway 4.5, a "moderate" scenario ofclimate change where global warming reaches ~2.5–3 °C (4.5–5.4 °F) by 2100, the climate of Banjul in the year 2050 would most closely resemble the current climate ofBamako inMali. The annual temperature would increase by 2 °C (3.6 °F), and the temperature of the warmest month by 3.3 °C (5.9 °F), while the temperature of the coldest month would actually decrease by 1.2 °C (2.2 °F).[19][20] According toClimate Action Tracker, the current warming trajectory appears consistent with 2.7 °C (4.9 °F), which closely matches RCP 4.5.[21]
Banjul is the country's economic and administrative centre and includes theCentral Bank of the Gambia.Peanut processing is the country's principal industry, butbeeswax,palm wood,palm oil, and skins and hides are also shipped from the port of Banjul.[22]
^Mane, Daouda (2021). "La Question des Origines et de l'Emergence de l'Etat de Kaabu". In Fall, Mamadou; Fall, Rokhaya; Mane, Mamadou (eds.).Bipolarisation du Senegal du XVIe - XVIIe siecle (in French). Dakar: HGS Editions. p. 251.
^abcSaho, Bala (2018).Contours of Change: Muslim Courts, Women, and Islamic Society in Colonial Bathurst, the Gambia, 1905-1965. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press. pp. 45–51.ISBN9781611862669.
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