Fajara is a coastal suburb of Bakau

Bakau

Bakau is a town on the Atlantic Ocean coast of The Gambia, lying west of Banjul. It is known for its botanical gardens, its crocodile pool Bakau Kachikally and for the beaches at Cape Point. It is the first major suburb outside Banjul and the most developed town in The Gambia...

 in The Gambia

The Gambia

The Republic of The Gambia, commonly referred to as The Gambia, or Gambia , is a country in West Africa. Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa, surrounded by Senegal except for a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean in the west....

.

It is home to the Vice President

Vice president

A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...

 Isatou Njie Saidy

Isatou Njie Saidy

Isatou Njie-Saidy is a Gambian politician. She has been Vice President and Secretary of State for Women's Affairs of The Gambia since 20 March 1997 and is the first Gambian woman to hold the position of Vice President...

, the US Ambassador, and former Gambian president Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara. The Medical Research Council

Medical Research Council (UK)

The Medical Research Council is a publicly-funded agency responsible for co-ordinating and funding medical research in the United Kingdom. It is one of seven Research Councils in the UK and is answerable to, although politically independent from, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills...

 is located within a fenced complex on Atlantic Boulevard. The MRC has a long history in The Gambia and is a leading global centre of excellence in malaria

Malaria

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...

 research. There is also a large military camp.

Tourism

Prior to the arrival of the first tourists in the 1960s the inhabitants' living revolved largely around fishing. Fajara is, however, becoming an increasingly popular tourist destination with around 20 hotel complexes on the beach and many more inland.

Bertil Harding Highway is one of the town's main thoroughfares, named after the pioneering Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 tourist who arrived in 1965.

Notable people

• Isatou Njie Saidy
  Isatou Njie Saidy
  Isatou Njie-Saidy is a Gambian politician. She has been Vice President and Secretary of State for Women's Affairs of The Gambia since 20 March 1997 and is the first Gambian woman to hold the position of Vice President...
  
  
• Dawda Jawara
  Dawda Jawara
  Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara, GCMG was the first leader of The Gambia, serving first as Prime Minister from 1962 to 1970 and then as President from 1970 to 1994....
  
  
• Momodou Baboucarr Njie
• Amadou Samba
• Julia Dolly Joiner
  Julia Dolly Joiner
  Julia Dolly Joiner is a Gambian politician. She is Commissioner of Political Affairs for the African Union, based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia...