A Familiar Name
The new president of the Muslim-majority West African nation The Gambia, Adama Barrow, has removed “Islamic Republic” from the official name of his country. Photo credit: Andrew Renniesen/Getty Images
In what was clearly his first major policy directive, President Barrow announced in a press conference soon after his assumption of office that the country would return to its old name and be known as the “Republic of the Gambia,” excising the word “Islamic” that former President Jammeh introduced when he renamed the country “The Islamic Republic of Gambia” in a fit of anti-Western fervour back in December 2015.
President Barrow told the press that despite having an overwhelming Muslim population (90 percent), with the rest as either Christians or animists, the Gambia was a secular nation and therefore a republic, not an Islamic republic.
