In 2003 'James Island and Related Sites' was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. This is the first inscription for The Gambia.

The sites consist of:

• James Island, Lower Niumi District
• Six-Gun Battery, Banjul Municipality
• Fort Bullen, Upper Niumi District
• Ruins of San Domingo, Lower Niumi District
• Remains of Portuguese Chapel, Lower Niumi District
• CFAO Building, Lower Niumi District
• Maurel Freres Building, Lower Niumi District

James Island and Related Sites were inscribed on the World Heritage List on the basis of cultural criteria (iii) and (vi).

Criterion (iii): James Island and Related Sites on the River Gambia provide an exceptional testimony to the different facets of the African-European encounter from the 15th to 20th centuries. The River Gambia formed the first trade route into the interior of Africa and became an early corridor for the slave trade.

Criterion (vi): James Island and Related Sites, the villages and batteries, were directly and tangibly associated with the beginning and the conclusion of the slave trade, retaining its memory related to the African Diaspora.

The information on this web site is intended to be general only. More detailed queries should be directed to the Gambian National Council for Arts and Culture.