[3] Those who acquire nationality at birth include: Naturalisation can be granted to persons who have resided in the territory of The Gambia for a sufficient period of time to confirm they understand the customs and traditions of the society.

General provisions are that applicants have good character and conduct; are able to economically support themselves and their family; and intend to permanently reside in the territory.

[20] António, Prior of Crato was one of the claimants to the throne and to raise money to support his claim and pay his debts, he sold the exclusive rights for ten years to trade along the Senegal and Gambia Rivers, to Anthony Dassell, a London merchant operating on the Barbary Coast, and a group of merchants from Barnstaple, Colyton, Exeter and London for £400.

[25][26] When the agreed-to term expired a decade later, Elizabeth granted a trade monopoly along the Gambia River to Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham and John Stanhope, 1st Baron Stanhope in January 1598,[25] which was granted in 1618, by James I to Robert Rich, 1st Earl of Warwick and a consortium of London merchants.

[26] By 1620 British settlements had expanded upriver and inland, to a village named Oranto, which was later known as Tobabkunda,[27] but their venture failed by 1624 and subsequent explorers focused on the areas which would become the Gold Coast.

[28][32] He established a fort on the island and another at Banyon Point, sending colonists and missionaries to found permanent settlements.

[28] By 1662, the Dutch had taken the original Portuguese settlements in Africa and the Americas and conflict escalated into war between Britain and the Netherlands.

[39] At the conclusion of the war in 1667, under terms of the Treaty of Breda, each side primarily retained what was in their possession and the British agreed to accept the Dutch principle of free trade.

[43][44] In 1816, British Army captain, Alexander Grant negotiated a land cession from the Kombo chieftain on Banjul Island.

He established the British town of Bathurst on St. Mary's Island and constructed barracks, government buildings, and harbor facilities.

[44] In Britain, allegiance, in which subjects pledged to support a monarch, was the precursor to the modern concept of nationality.

[53] The uniform law, which went into effect on 1 January 1915, required a married woman to derive her nationality from her spouse, meaning if he was British, she was also, and if he was foreign, so was she.

[56] The statute reiterated common law provisions for natural-born persons born within the realm on or after the effective date.

[57] For those born abroad on or after the effective date, legitimacy was still required, and could only be derived by a child from a British father (one generation), who was natural-born or naturalised.

[60] Because of a rise in statelessness, a woman who did not automatically acquire her husband's nationality upon marriage or upon his naturalisation in another country, did not lose their British status after 1933.

[61] The 1943 revision allowed a child born abroad at any time to be a British national by descent if the Secretary of State agreed to register the birth.

[64][65] When Britain extended this status over a territory, it took responsibility for both internal and external administration, including defense and foreign relations.

[68][69] Until 1934, when the British Protected Persons Order was drafted, the status of BPP was not statutory, but rather granted at the prerogative of the monarch.

[64] Under the 1934 Order, Belonger status with regard to protected territories was defined to mean persons born before or after the Order in a protectorate who possessed no nationality and were not a British subject, or persons born abroad to a native of a protectorate who were stateless and not British subjects.

[81] The changes that year also allowed both foreign husbands and wives to acquire nationality by marriage to a Gambian spouse after a seven-year residency.

[18] In 2010, President Yahya Jammeh proclaimed, without making legal provisions, that Black African descents willing to settle in The Gambia could acquire Gambian nationality.

[84] The proposal did not receive the requisite three-quarters support from the legislators to allow it to formally be approved and submitted to a referendum.