Gambia, 2026.

The country, in numbers.

The Gambia runs the structural smallest mainland African country and the narrow English speaking sliver on the Gambia River corridor surrounded on three sides by Francophone Senegal on the 2026 cycle. The 11,295 square kilometer footprint hosts 2.71 million residents at the structural high population density (240 per square kilometer) at the structural West African upper band concentrated on the Atlantic coastal Greater Banjul Area. The 2026 GDP per capita of 835 dollars sits at the low income band, the structural West African lower tier. The structural Gambian economy runs the agricultural sector at 26 percent of GDP (groundnut, rice, millet, sorghum), the structural Gambian tourism cluster at 16 percent of GDP through the Senegambia and Kololi resort strip with the 246,000 international arrivals on the 2024 cycle, and the remittance inflow at 22 percent of GDP through the structural Gambian diaspora concentration in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, and Italy. The Gambian dalasi runs the structural managed float at 73.5 GMD per USD through the Central Bank of the Gambia framework.

The atlas profiles five Gambian settlements: Banjul (the capital and the structural administrative anchor on Banjul Island at the Gambia River estuary, population 31,000 on the municipal footprint and 415,000 on the Greater Banjul Area conurbation), Serekunda (the commercial capital and the structural Gambian largest urban settlement on the Kombo Saint Mary axis, population 340,000), Brikama (the structural West Coast Region administrative capital and the structural Gambian second largest urban concentration, population 89,000), Bakau (the structural Gambian tourism anchor on the Atlantic coast 14 kilometers west of Banjul, population 44,000), and Farafenni (the structural North Bank Region administrative town and the structural Trans Gambia Highway corridor crossing point, population 35,000). The Greater Banjul Area cluster runs the structural Gambian government, finance, and tourism concentration.

The visa stack.

The Gambia runs the structural moderate West African Anglophone work and residency entry path on the 2026 cycle. The Residence Permit runs as the structural foreign professional entry: the Residence Permit requires a Gambian registered employer sponsorship and approval from the Gambia Immigration Department for private sector roles or the relevant Ministry approval for development sector and diplomatic roles; the Residence Permit runs renewable annually at 85 to 285 dollar fees indexed to the duration and nationality. The 1 year initial Residence Permit fee runs 120 dollars; the 2 year extension fee runs 195 dollars. The Investor Residence Permit requires a minimum 50,000 dollar investment in a Gambian registered company through the Gambia Investment and Export Promotion Agency (GIEPA) framework, the lowest investor threshold in West Africa.

The Gambia issues the visitor visa at the Gambian diplomatic missions and the eVisa portal for 75 nationalities including the United States and Japan; the structural visitor visa fee runs 100 dollars for 28 days. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) member state, the Commonwealth (including the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada), and the European Union member state passports run visa free entry for 90 days. The Gambia does not yet operate a dedicated digital nomad visa as of 2026, though the 2025 Ministry of Tourism and Culture draft proposes a remote worker pathway through the structurally adjacent Mauritius and South African digital nomad framework benchmark. The structural remote worker entry runs the standard visitor visa at the 90 day visa free entry for the EU and Commonwealth passport with the 90 day extension through the Immigration Department at 95 dollars. The 2026 visa guide walks the pathway. The digital nomad cities ranking places Banjul at number 248 globally on the absent dedicated nomad framework constraint.

The climate, across the country.

The Gambia runs a single structural climate zone across the 11,295 square kilometer footprint: tropical savanna (Aw on the Koppen classification). The structural Gambian climate runs 57F to 95F across the year, with two seasonal phases. The cool dry season (November to May, the structural Gambian dry season) runs 57F to 90F with the structural Harmattan dust inflow from the Sahara on the December to March cycle dropping the visibility periodically and the night time temperatures dropping to 57F in January at the structural Gambian coolest reading. The warm wet southwest monsoon season (June to October) runs 73F to 95F with the structural West African afternoon thunderstorm cycle and the humidity at 78 to 92 percent.

Annual rainfall runs 1,050 millimeters on the Banjul Atlantic coastal position and 720 millimeters on the Basse Santa Su upper river region at the structural Gambian drier eastern interior. The structural Gambian monsoon rainfall delivers 92 percent of the annual total in June to October with the August peak at 285 millimeters monthly. The 2024 climate update notes the structural Gambian Atlantic sea level rise exposure at the Banjul Island and the Greater Banjul Area position (the 4 millimeter annual rise on the Banjul tidal gauge through 2024) and the structural Gambia River saline intrusion inland push to the 250 kilometer upriver point on the dry season. The climate match tool finds cities with similar profiles, including Dakar, Freetown, and Bissau.

The institutions, scored.

The Gambia runs a developing public private healthcare system. The Ministry of Health public hospital network covers the structural Gambian resident population through the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital in Banjul, the Bansang Hospital in the Central River Region, the Bwiam General Hospital in the Foni district, and the Farafenni Hospital in the North Bank Region; the system delivers 1.1 hospital beds per 1,000 residents (WHO 2024 release), at the structural West African lower band. The structural Gambian health challenge runs the malaria seasonal burden on the August to November rainy season cycle (the structural Gambian primary care priority), the high under five mortality at 50 per 1,000 live births (UNICEF 2024 release), and the structural Gambian rural health infrastructure thin staffing. The Banjul private clinic network (the AfriMed Clinic, the Lamtoro Clinic) runs at the middle quality tier for general procedures. The major complex procedures (cardiology, oncology, neurosurgery) typically route to the Dakar, the Casablanca, or the London medical referral pathway.

Private healthcare runs the dominant tier for the expat residency case. The structural Gambian foreign professional buys an international health insurance plan within 30 days of arrival; the major options run Allianz Worldwide Care, Cigna Global, BUPA International, and the SafetyWing international plan at 48 to 285 dollars a month per adult, with the structural Dakar medical evacuation coverage requirement at the 95,000 dollar minimum. The structural Gambian medical tourism outflow runs 4,200 visitors annually to the Dakar and Casablanca medical destinations.

School. The Gambian basic education runs free through the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education for the structural Gambian resident population in the English language medium with the structural Mandinka, Wolof, and Fula language transitional support. The structural Gambian international school stack runs the Marina International School in Bakau (the British curriculum at 8,500 to 14,500 dollars a year), the Banjul American Embassy School (the American curriculum at 12,500 to 18,500 dollars a year for the US embassy community), and the SOS Hermann Gmeiner International College in Bakoteh (the structural East African examination tier at 4,500 to 8,500 dollars a year). The University of the Gambia in Faraba Banta runs the major higher education anchor at 4,200 students on the 2025 cycle. The international schools ranking places Banjul at number 288 globally.

The numbers, cited.

Cost basket figures source Numbeo crowdsourced reports cross referenced against Mercer cost of living surveys for the 2026 cycle. Population and GDP per capita source the World Bank 2024 release. The Gambia Bureau of Statistics supplies the supplementary national statistics including the 2024 population and housing census, the quarterly Consumer Price Index, and the annual integrated household survey.

Tax brackets source the national revenue authority 2026 publication. Visa criteria source the national immigration department 2026 guidance. Safety scores source the national police public security data combined with the Numbeo crime index. Healthcare data source the World Health Organization national profile and the World Bank health indicators. Climate data source the national meteorological service country profile for the 1991 to 2020 normal cycle. All numbers verified May 2026 against the most recent official publication of each source.

The everycity.guide editorial team runs no paid placement, no sponsored content, and no tourism board partnership. The independent atlas runs ad supported and affiliate supported (the Wise, Booking.com, SafetyWing, NordVPN, and Babbel affiliate relationships disclosed in the affiliate disclosure) and the underlying scoring methodology is documented in full on the methodology page.