Why is The Gambia considered Africa’s smallest nonisland country?

The Gambia is considered Africa’s smallest nonisland country primarily due to its limited land area of 4,127 square miles. Its unique, narrow shape—extending roughly 300 miles into the interior while spanning only 15 to 30 miles in width—is the result of 19th-century territorial compromises between Great Britain, which controlled the lower Gambia River, and France, which held the surrounding territory of Senegal.123

Because it is a mainland nation rather than an island state like Cape Verde or Seychelles, its small geographic footprint makes it the smallest country on the African continent that is not an island.34