Barra (Gambia)
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Coordinates: 13 ° 29 ′ N , 16 ° 33 ′ W |
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| Region: | North Bank | |
| District: | Lower Niumi | |
| Residents: | 5799 (2013)
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Barra (former name Barrinding ) is a town of historical importance in the West African state of Gambia .
According to a calculation for 2013, around 5,799 inhabitants live there, the result of the last published census from 1993 was 4,257.
geography
The place is in the North Bank Region , district lower niumi at the mouth of the River Gambia in the Atlantic Ocean to the Barra Point , about five line kilometers of Banjul removed.
history
Great Britain had banned the slave trade with the Slave Trade Act 1807 and in 1816 acquired the St. Mary's Island branch and established the settlement of Bathurst (now Banjul ) there.
In 1826 they built Fort Bullen , named after the commander Charles Bullen , on the other side of the river estuary and together with the Six-Gun Battery in Bathurst they controlled the mouth of the Gambia River in order to prevent the slave trade.
At the end of November 2019, a former fishing boat cast off in Barra, with which about 195 people wanted to cross over to the Canary Islands . The ship crashed a few days later off the coast of Mauritania , killing at least 62 of the passengers. Several dozen passengers came from Barra and the surrounding area.
Economy and Infrastructure
traffic
To the west there is the ferry connection Banjul-Barra , which runs every 90 minutes to the capital Banjul on the other side of the river. As a ferry terminal, Barra is an important station from Banjul to reach the areas in the North Bank Division, i.e. the historical sites Albreda and Juffure as well as the other larger cities via the North Bank Road , such as Kerewan , Salikenne and Farafenni north of the Gambia. River. Furthermore, a trunk road leads north to Senegal , which continues as the Senegalese N 5 and goes via Kaolack to Dakar .
Culture and sights
World Heritage
With Kunta Kinteh Island and associated sites , seven objects have been combined and have been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2003 . The Bullen fort is located near Barra , but only ruins remain.
Sons and daughters of the place
- Deyda Hydara (1946-2004), journalist
- Abubacarr Gaye (1951–2010), medic and politician
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Barra on bevoelkerungsstatistik.de (no longer available online, last accessed May 2013)
- ^ Gambia's coastal town shocked by boat wreck in Mauritania. Retrieved January 9, 2020 .