The Gambia (officially the Republic of The Gambia), is a country in West Africa. The Gambia is often referred to as 'The Smiling Coast'. It is the smallest country within mainland Africa, and is surrounded by Senegal, except for its western coast on the Atlantic Ocean. It has an area of 10,689 square kilometres (4,127 sq mi) with a population of 1,857,181 as of the April 2013 census. Banjul is the Gambian capital.

English is the official language of the Gambia. Owing to the country's geographical setting, knowledge of French (an official language in much of West Africa) is relatively widespread.

Most of the languages spoken in Gambia belong to the Niger-Congo language family of the Atlantic or Congo branches. There are at least 10 languages spoken in Gambia by the various ethnic groups. Apart from English which is the official language spoken in schools and public offices there is also Wolof, Serer-Sine, Sarahole, Pulaar, Maninkakan, Mandjaque, Mandingo, Jola-Fonyi and the Aku's Creole (pidgin English). They are further broken down into various dialects such as Fana Fana of Saloum for the Wollof speakers.

Before the arrival of the Europeans none of the ethnic languages were written as they were in purely oral form.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org