Basse Santa Su, usually known as Basse, is a town in

the Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

, lying on the south bank of the

River Gambia The Gambia River (formerly known as the River Gambra, French: ''Fleuve Gambie'', Portuguese: ''Rio Gâmbia'') is a major river in West Africa, running from the Fouta Djallon plateau in north Guinea westward through Senegal and The Gambia to t ...

. The easternmost major town in the nation, it is known for its important market. Basse is the capital of the

Upper River Division Upper River was one of the five Subdivisions of the Gambia, Divisions of the Gambia. Its capital was Basse Santa Su. It was subsequently reorganised as the Basse (Gambia), Basse Local Government Area, without any change in the area covered. Per ...

, which is coterminous with the Basse

Local Government Area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

. As of 2009, the town has an estimated population of 18,414. According to the 2013 census, the Basse LGA has 243,791 residents. Famous people include

Adama Barrow Adama Barrow (, born 15 February 1965) is a The Gambia, Gambian politician and real estate developer who has served as President of The Gambia since 2017. Born in Mankamang Kunda, a village in Jimara district, he attended Crab Island Secondary ...

, the president of Gambia.

History

According to oral histories, the first

Mandinka Mandinka, Mandika, Mandinkha, Mandinko, or Mandingo may refer to: Media * Mandingo (novel), ''Mandingo'' (novel), a bestselling novel published in 1957 * Mandingo (film), ''Mandingo'' (film), a 1975 film based on the eponymous 1957 novel * ''Man ...

immigrants to the Gambia area, the Fati clan, settled in Tumana near Basse. They subsequently acted as hosts and/or agents for future migrants, potentially including

Tiramakhan Traore Tiramakhan Traore (variations : Toure-Makhan Traoré or Tirimakhan Trawally) was a 13th-century general in the Mali Empire who served under Sundiata Keita. In oral histories, Traore is credited with expanding the power of Mali into two very diffe ...

. Basse was at this point a hub in regional trade networks bringing

kola nut The kola nut ( Yoruba: ''obi'', Dagbani: ''guli'', Hausa: goro, Igbo: ''ọjị'', Sängö: ''gôro,'' Swahili: ''mukezu'') is the seed of certain species of plant of the genus ''Cola'', placed formerly in the cocoa family Sterculiaceae and ...

s and

Guinea pepper Guinea pepper is a name for several unrelated pepper-like spices traded from the general region of West Africa: * Grains of paradise (''Aframomum melegueta''), from the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), also known as grains of paradise, melegueta pe ...

north from what is now

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border, its north and Guinea to Guinea–Guinea-Bissau b ...

and

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

and salted fish up the river from the coast. A bridge over the

Gambia river The Gambia River (formerly known as the River Gambra, French language, French: ''Fleuve Gambie'', Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Rio Gâmbia'') is a major river in West Africa, running from the Fouta Djallon plateau in north Guinea westward ...

, funded by the Chinese Government, opened in October 2021.

Climate

Basse Santa Su has a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry "winter") and ''As'' (for a dry "summer"). The driest month has less than ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Aw''), almost dry enough to be a

hot semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...

(''BSh'') with almost no rainfall from November to May and heavy rainfall from June to October.

Gallery

Gambia 093 from KG.jpg, Basse riverside in 2000 Basse Bridge.jpg, Basse riverside in 2021, showing the new bridge 2521454-Things To Do-The Gambia.jpg,

References

Upper River Division Local Government Areas of the Gambia Populated places in the Gambia Gambia River {{Gambia-geo-stub