# Datacard for Gambia, The Water Indicators (1960-2024)

This dataset contains a time-series of key water indicators for Gambia, The, spanning from 1960 to 2024. The data has been aggregated from multiple sources, cleaned, and processed into a single, analysis-ready CSV file.

The raw data was sourced from **The World Bank** data portal. The original files were provided in Excel (.xls) format.

- **Temporal Coverage**: 1960-2024
- **Geographic Coverage**: Gambia, The
- **Format**: Comma-Separated Values (CSV)

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## Data Points (Features)

The dataset includes the following water indicators, with 'Year' serving as the primary date column:

1. `annual_freshwater_withdrawals_total_of_internal_resources_`: Annual freshwater withdrawals, total (% of internal resources)
2. `marine_protected_areas_of_territorial_waters_`: Marine protected areas (% of territorial waters)
3. `people_using_at_least_basic_drinking_water_services_of_population_`: People using at least basic drinking water services (% of population)
4. `people_with_basic_handwashing_facilities_including_soap_and_water_of_population_`: People with basic handwashing facilities including soap and water (% of population)

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## Data Preparation & Missing Data Handling

The raw data was processed using a Python script to transform it into a clean, structured format. The key steps were:

1.  **Filtering**: The data was filtered to include only records for 'Gambia, The'.
2.  **Reshaping**: The original wide-format data (years as columns) was melted into a long format.
3.  **Merging**: Data from all indicator files was merged into a single DataFrame on 'Year'.
4.  **Handling Missing Data**: Missing values (`NaN`) were filled using a two-step strategy: linear interpolation followed by a back-fill to handle any remaining gaps at the start of the series.