Senegambia, officially the Senegambia Confederation or Confederation of Senegambia, was a loose confederation in the late 20th century between the West African countries of Senegal and its neighbour the Gambia, which is almost completely surrounded by Senegal. The confederation was founded on 1 February 1982 following an agreement between the two countries signed on 12 December 1981. It was intended to promote cooperation between the two countries, but was dissolved by Senegal on 30 September 1989 after the Gambia refused to move closer toward union. The Senegambia Confederation should not be confused with the historic Senegambia region, generally shortened to the Senegambia. Background Early history As a political unit, Senegambia was created by duelling French and English colonial forces in the region. Competition between the French and English started in the late 16th century when merchants from both nations started to establish trading centres in the region. Although there was some overlap in their areas of influence, French trade centred on the Senegal River and the Cap-Vert region and English trade on the Gambia River. As European trading activities in the region intensified, Senegambia quickly became a major African center of the Atlantic triangular trade, with merchants from Europe bringing manufactured goods to trade for gold, ivory and slaves. During various periods of conflict between the British and the French in the 18th century, the trading posts of both nations in Senegambia quickly became military targets. During the Seven Years' War, American merchant Thomas Cumming convinced Southern Secretary William Pitt to dispatch a British expeditionary force to capture French trading posts in Senegal; after the expedition was successful, the region under British occupation was transformed into the crown colony of Senegambia. The unified region collapsed in 1779. With the British occupied by the American War of Independence in North America, the French recaptured Saint Louis and destroyed the largest British trading post in the Gambia region. The unified region ended officially in 1783 in the aftermath of the British defeat by and independence of the United States. The Treaty of Versailles (signed along with the Treaty of Paris that officially ended the American War of Independence) created a balance between France and Britain: Saint Louis, l'île de Gorée and the Senegal River region were restored to France, and the Gambia was left to the British. In the 1860s and 1870s, both nations began to consider a land-trading proposal to unify