River
Gambia River
1,130 km from source to mouth · Gambia, Guinea and Senegal.
Gambia, Guinea and SenegalFlows into Atlantic Ocean
In numbers
Length
1,130km
Average flow
2,000m³/s
Basin
69,931km²
Drop
744m
from 744 m to 0 m
Countries
3
The journey
From source to mouth
1,130 km of river and 14 stops on the way: 9 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmFouta Djallonat 744 m
- 218 kmKédougou30,051 people
- 452 kmNiokolo Kobatributary
- 563 kmKoulountoutributary
- 643 kmBarrakunda Falls
- 671 kmGarawol10,547 people
- 741 kmBasse Santa Su14,380 people
- 830 kmBansang9,528 people
- 849 kmSankulay Kunda Bridge
- 849 kmMacCarthy Island3,954 people
- 870 kmMimang Island
- 897 kmBird Island
- 933 kmPappa Island
- 936 kmLittle Pappa Island
- 1,015 kmSenegambia bridge
- 1,130 kmAtlantic Oceanat 0 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in West Africa
At the mouth it carries 2,000 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 1.2 seconds. It drops from 744 m to 0 m, 0.7 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 69,931 km², about the size of GE. 2.1 million people live in it. Highest water: September; lowest: from January to April. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.
Where to start
- KédougouLargest city on its banks · 30,051 people
- Kayes Dag Dag Airport (KYS)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 230 km from the city
- On the water36 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From December to JanuaryThe best months to visit
Gambia River, month by month
Highest water: September
Lowest water: from January to April. Best months to visit: from December to January.
From about 14 m³/s in the lowest month to 640 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.
Plan the trip
Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The basin
Gambia River: the basin in numbers
72,616 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 2.1millionpeople live in the basin
- 29/km²people per km²
- 124maverage altitude of the basin
- 933mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 27.6°Caverage air temperature
- 20%protected areas
- 0.1%covered by lakes
What covers the basin
- 13% Forest
- 10% Cropland
- 28% Pasture
- 1% Towns and cities
RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.
Along the river
Gambia River: what you find on the way
- 3Boat rampsNorth Bank Crossing, Janjanbureh
- 33Ferry piersBasse Ferry Terminal, Traversier McCarthy, Janjanbureh and 30 more
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.3 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Gambia River in our other atlases
What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.
1waterfall on the riverCascadyas
1mountain at the sourcePeakyas
Waterfalls (1)
On the river, by Cascadyas
- Barrakunda Fallskm 624
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
From space
The source and the mouth, seen from orbit
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.
Photos
Gambia River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (8)
Also: Koulountou, Niokolo Koba, Niéri Ko, bolong Tuba Kuta, Diakha, Prufu Bolon, Tiokoye, Niaoulé
Nearby
Rivers nearby
Senegal401 km86 m³/s100 km awaySaloum RiverSenegal378 km13 m³/s82 km awayGeba River
Guinea-Bissau545 km130 m³/s206 km awayRio de CanjambariGuinea-Bissau69 km26 m³/s146 km awaySenegal RiverSenegal1,050 km640 m³/s294 km awayCorubal RiverGuinea-Bissau560 km300 m³/s244 km awayGorgol River
Mauritania258 km66 m³/s415 km awayFalémé RiverMauritania400 km480 m³/s443 km awayWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q160819) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata |
| Flow | WaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate along the river | WorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Towns, bridges, dams | Wikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Along the river | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Our other atlases | Cascadyas, Peakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every source and licence is on the data sources page.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit 
lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit