Bansang

---

title: "Bansang" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["central-river-division", "populated-places-in-the-gambia"] topic_path: "general/central-river-division" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bansang" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
official_name	Bansang
native_name
settlement_type
image_skyline	Gambia bansang havard.jpg
imagesize	300px
dot_x
pushpin_map	Gambia
pushpin_label_position	bottom
pushpin_mapsize	300
pushpin_map_caption	Location in the Gambia
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name	The Gambia
subdivision_type1	Division
subdivision_name1	Central River Division
subdivision_type2	District
subdivision_name2	Fulladu West
leader_title1
established_title	Founded
established_date	1262
established_title2	Re-settled
established_date2	1920s
established_title3
unit_pref	Imperial
area_land_km2
population_as_of	2012
population_total	8,843
population_blank1_title	Ethnicities
population_blank2_title	Religions
timezone	GMT
utc_offset	+0
coordinates
elevation_footnotes
elevation_ft
postal_code_type
::

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Bansang is a town in the Central River Division of the Gambia, with a population of 8,843 (2012). Although the official government center of the Division is located in Janjanbureh downstream, Bansang has better access to the more affluent coastal region of the country, and is sometimes considered the unofficial "upcountry" economic capital.

The town is a market for peanuts, rice and fish.

History

According to legend, Bansang was founded as Ba-Sansango, meaning 'river tata' in the early 1260s, during Tiramakhan Traore's migration into the Gambia River valley. The area became part of the kingdoms of Jimara and Wuropana, constituent states of the Kaabu empire. In the 1860s the Fula kingdom of Fuladu rose as Kaabu declined.

By the late 19th century, Bansang was merely a wharf and river-crossing point. It became an important settlement during the colonial period as families settled there to take advantage of opportunities in the growing trade of peanuts on the Gambia River. Mandinka people were the first to resettle the place, followed by Fula and Wolof in the 20th century. The village began as a seasonally inhabited trading post, until the first compound was founded by a prosperous local trader, Bakary Darboe, in the 1920s. His family was followed by relatives of Musa Molloh Balde, former ruler of Fuladu.

Gallery

File:Bansang Central River Division Gambia.jpg|The main street in Bansang File:RiverGambia BansangCentralRiverDivisionGambia.jpg|Upstream view of the River Gambia File:River Ferry Bansang Central River Division Gambia.jpg|The manually-operated vehicle ferry across the river

Sources

• The Atlas of the Gambia

References

References

2. [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/52153/Bansang Bansang], Encyclopædia Britannica online. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
3. "Chronologie de Tiramanghan".
4. Bellagamba, Alice. "A Matter of Trust. Political Identities and Interpersonal Relationships along the River Gambia." Paideuma, vol. 46, 2000, p. 38. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40341782. Accessed 4 June 2023.
5. Bellagamba, 47-8.

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