Janjanbureh or Jangjangbureh is a town, founded in 1832, on Janjanbureh Island, also known as MacCarthy Island, in the

Gambia River The Gambia River (formerly known as the River Gambra) is a major river in West Africa, running from the Fouta Djallon plateau in north Guinea westward through Senegal and The Gambia to the Atlantic Ocean at the city of Banjul. It is navigable ...

in eastern

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

. Until 1995, it was known as Georgetown and was the second largest town in the country. It is the capital of Janjanbureh Local Government Area (formerly the

Central River Division Central River is the largest of the five administrative divisions of the Gambia. Its capital is Janjanbureh (formerly Georgetown), on MacCarthy Island. The largest settlement is Bansang, with an estimated population in 2008 of 8,381. Until 19 ...

), and the Janjanbureh

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

. The population of the Janjanbureh LGA was 127,333 at the 2013 population census. The town is best known as home to Gambia's main prison. The Wassu stone circles lie 22 km northwest of Lamin Koto, on the north bank across from Janjanbureh. It was the birthplace of the late Yale University historian Lamin Sanneh. The island is known locally as MacCarthy Island and is located in what used to be called MacCarthy Island Division. The island is accessed by bridge from the south bank, and small boat ferries or government ferry on the north bank. In 1995, both the city of Georgetown and MacCarthy Island were renamed Janjanbureh respectively.

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Information from "Slavery Trade of the Gambia"
{{Administrative divisions of the Gambia Central River Division Populated places established in 1832 Populated places in the Gambia Gambia River 1832 establishments in Africa Local Government Areas of the Gambia