Banjul

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The capital and principal port city of The Gambia, situated on St. Mary's Island at the mouth of the Gambia River in West Africa
2. A West African coastal city that serves as the capital of The Gambia, located where the Gambia River meets the Atlantic Ocean
3. The seaport capital of The Gambia in western Africa, built on an island near the estuary of the Gambia River

Etymology: Banjul is a proper noun, the capital of The Gambia, and its name is older than the city's modern role. The town was founded in 1816 by the British on St Mary's Island, at the mouth of the Gambia River, as a base for trade and for suppressing the slave trade. It was called Bathurst, after Earl Bathurst, then the British Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The name Banjul came much later, after independence, when the town was renamed in 1973 for the Mandinka name of the place, Banjul, which refers to the bamboo or bamboo-like plants of the island's ground. The renaming reflected the broader change of the country from colony to independent state, and the city stayed the capital throughout. Nothing in the record suggests the original colonial name was ever used in the local language, so the change restored a local name to a place the British had named for a minister in London.