Ghana

For other uses, see Ghana (disambiguation).

Republic of Ghana
Flag Coat of arms of Ghana Coat of arms
Motto: "Freedom and Justice"
Anthem: God Bless Our Homeland Ghana
Capital and largest city	Accra
Official languages	English
Government	Constitutional republic
• President	John Agyekum Kufuor
• Vice-President	Alhaji Aliu Mahama
Independence  from the United Kingdom
• Declared	6 March 1957
• Republic	1 July 1960
• Constitution	28 April 1992
• Water (%)	3.5
Population
• 2005 estimate	24,000,0001 (45th)
GDP (PPP)	2006 estimate
• Total	$60 billion (75th)
• Per capita	$2,700 (136th)
HDI (2007)	0.532 low (136th)
Currency	Ghanaian cedi (GHS)
Time zone	GMT
• Summer (DST)	GMT
Calling code	233
ISO 3166 code	GH
Internet TLD	.gh

The Republic of Ghana is a country in West Africa. It borders Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. The word "Ghana" means "Warrior King."

It was inhabited in pre-colonial times by a number of ancient kingdoms, including the Ga Adangbes on the eastern coast, inland Ashanti kingdom and various Fante states along the coast and in land. Trade with European states flourished after contact with the Portuguese in the 15th century, and the British established a crown colony, Gold Coast, in 1874.

Upon achieving independence from the United Kingdom in 1957, the name Ghana was chosen for the new nation to reflect the ancient Empire of Ghana that once extended throughout much of west of Africa.

History

Main article: History of Ghana

Medieval Ghana (4th - 13th Century): The Republic of Ghana is named after the medieval Ghana Empire of West Africa. The actual name of the Empire was Wagadugu. Ghana was the title of the kings who ruled the kingdom. It was controlled by Sundiata in 1240 AD, and absorbed into the larger Mali Empire. (Mali Empire reached its peak of success under Mansa Musa around 1307.)

Geographically, the old Ghana is 500 miles north of the present Ghana, and occupied the area between Rivers Senegal and Niger.

Some inhabitants of present Ghana had ancestors linked with the medieval Ghana. This can be traced down to the Mande and Voltaic people of Northern Ghana--Mamprussi, Dagomba and the Gonja.

Anecdotal evidence connected the Akans to this great Empire. The evidence lies in names like Danso shared by the Akans of present Ghana and Mandikas of Senegal/Gambia who have strong links with the Empire.

Ghana was also the sight of the Empire of Ashanti which was the most advanced black state in sub-Sahara Africa. It is said that at its peak, the King of Ashanti could field 450,000 troops.

Gold Coast & European Exploration: Before March 1957 Ghana was called the Gold Coast. The Portuguese who came to Ghana in the 15th Century found so much gold between the rivers Ankobra and the Volta that they named the place Mina - meaning Mine. The Gold Coast was later adopted to by the English colonisers. Similarily, the French, equally impressed by the trinkets worn by the coastal people, named The Ivory Coast, Cote d'Ivoire.

In 1482, the Portuguese built a castle in Elmina. Their aim was to trade in gold, ivory and slaves. In 1481 King John II of Portugal sent Diego d'Azambuja to build this castle.

In 1598 the Dutch joined them, and built forts at Komenda and Kormantsi. In 1637 they captured the castle from the Portuguese and that of Axim in 1642 (Fort St Anthony). Other European traders joined in by the mid 18th century. These were the English, Danes and Swedes. The coastline were dotted by forts built by the Dutch, British and the Danish merchants. By the latter part of 19th century the Dutch and the British were the only traders left and when the Dutch withdrew in 1874, Britain made the Gold Coast a crown colony.

For most of central sub-Saharan Africa, agricultural expansion marked the period before 500. Farming began earliest on the southern tips of the Sahara, eventually giving rise to village settlements. Toward the end of the classical era, larger regional kingdoms were formed in West Africa, one of which was the Kingdom of Ghana, north of what is today the nation of Ghana. After its fall at the beginning of the 13th century, Akan migrants moved southward then founded several tribal empires including the first great Akan empire of the Bono which is now known as the Brong Ahafo region in Ghana. Later Akan groups such as the Ashanti federation and Fante states are thought to possibly have roots in the original Bono settlement at Bono manso. Much of the area was united under the Ashanti confederation by the 16th century. The Ashanti government operated first as a loose network and eventually as a centralized kingdom with a highly-specialized bureaucracy centered in Kumasi.

The first contact between the Ghanaian peoples, the Fantes on the coastal area and Europeans occurred in 1482. The Portuguese first landed at Elmina, a coastal city inhabited by the Fanti nation-state in 1482. During the next few centuries pieces of the area were controlled by British, Portuguese, and Scandinavian powers, with the British ultimately prevailing. These nation-states maintained varying alliances with the colonial powers and each other, which resulted in the 1806 Ashanti-Fante War, as well as an ongoing struggle by the Empire of Ashanti against the British. Moves toward regional de-colonialization began in 1946, and the area's first constitution was promulgated in 1951.

Formed from the merger of the British colony Gold Coast, The Empire of Ashanti and the British Togoland trust territory by a UN sponsored plebiscite, Ghana became the first democratic sub-Sahara country in colonial Africa to gain its independence in 1957. Kwame Nkrumah, founder and first president of the modern Ghanaian state, was not only an African anti-colonial leader but also one with a dream of a united Africa which would not drift into neo-colonialism. He was the first African head of state to espouse Pan-Africanism, an idea he came into contact with during his studies at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania (United States), at the time when Marcus Garvey was becoming famous for his "Back to Africa Movement." He merged the dreams of both Marcus Garvey and the celebrated African-American scholar W.E.B. Du Bois into the formation of the modern day Ghana. Ghana's principles of freedom and justice, equity and free education for all, irrespective of ethnic background, religion or creed borrows from Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah's implementation of Pan-Africanism.

Nkrumah was overthrown by an Ashanti supported CIA-backed coup. A series of subsequent coups ended with the ascension to power of Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings in 1981. These changes resulted in the suspension of the constitution in 1981 and the banning of political parties. A new constitution, restoring multi-party politics, was promulgated in 1992, and Rawlings was elected as president in a free and fair elections of that year and again won the elections 1996 to serve his second term. The constitution prohibited him from running for a third term. John Kufuor, the current president, is now serving his second term which ends in 2008 where another election would be held to elect a new president. The year 2007 marks Ghana's Golden Jubilee celebration of fifty years of independence, which was on March 6th 1957. As a result there is a programme line up through out the whole year and in all the 10 regions to mark the anniversary.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Ghana

See also: List of Presidents of Ghana, List of Ghana governments, and List of political parties in Ghana

Ghana is a republic and member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Its head of state is President John Agyekum Kufuor, the ninth leader of the country since independence. The government sits at Osu Castle. The Parliament of Ghana is unicameral and dominated by two main parties, the New Patriotic Party and National Democratic Congress. Kofi Annan, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, is from Ghana.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Ghana

Well endowed with natural resources, Ghana has twice the per capita output of the poorer countries in West Africa. Even so, Ghana remains heavily dependent on international financial and technical assistance. Gold, timber, cocoa, diamond, and manganese exports are major sources of foreign exchange. In June 2007, it was announced that a huge oilfield worth at least 600 million barrels of light oil was discovered off the coast.

The domestic economy continues to revolve around subsistence agriculture, which accounts for 50% of GDP and employs 85% of the work force, mainly small landholders. Ghana made mixed progress under a three-year structural adjustment programme in cooperation with the IMF. On the negative side, public sector wage increases and regional peacekeeping commitments have led to continued inflationary deficit financing, depreciation of the cedi, and rising public discontent with Ghana's austerity measures. Even so, Ghana remains one of the more economically sound countries in all of Africa.

The country has since July, 2007, embarked on a currency redenomination exercise, from Cedi (¢) to the new currency, the Ghana Cedi (GH¢). The transfer rate is 1 Ghana Cedi for every 10,000 Cedis. The Bank of Ghana has embarked upon an aggressive media campaign to educate the public about what redenomination entails.

Regions and districts

Main articles: Regions of Ghana and Districts of Ghana

Regions of Ghana

Ghana is a divided into 10 regions, subdivided into a total of 138 districts. The regions are:

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Geography

Map of Ghana

Satellite image of Ghana

Main article: Geography of Ghana

Ghana is a beautiful country located on the Gulf of Guinea, only a few degrees north of the Equator.The Greenwich Meridian also passes through Ghana, specifically through the industrial city of Ghana-Tema;so it is said that Ghana is closest to the center of the world geographically than any other country in the world.La Cote d'Ivoire is located to the west of Ghana while Burkina Faso and Togo are located to its north and east respectively. The coastline is mostly a low, sandy shore backed by plains and scrub and intersected by several rivers and streams. A tropical rain forest belt, broken by heavily forested hills and many streams and rivers, extends northward from the shore. North of this belt, the land is covered by low bush, park-like savanna, and grassy plains.

The climate is tropical. The eastern coastal belt is warm and comparatively dry (see Dahomey Gap); the southwest corner, hot and humid; and the north, hot and dry. Lake Volta, the world's largest artificial lake, extends through large portions of eastern Ghana.

The capital, Accra, has a population of about 5 million.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Ghana

Major Ethnic groups: Akan 49%, Moshi-Dagomba 16%, Ewe 13%, Ga 8%. European and other: 0.2%

Religions: Christian 63%, Indigenous beliefs 21%, Muslim 16%

Languages: English (official), African languages (including Akan, Moshi-Dagomba, Ewe, Nzema, Dagaare, Gonja, Frafra, Hausa,Dangme and Ga)

Languages

Main article: Languages of Ghana

Ethnologue lists a total of forty-nine languages in Ghana (language map).

As with many former British colonies, the official language of Ghana is the colonial language, in this case English. Nine languages have the status of government-sponsored languages: Akan, Dagaare/Wale, Dagbane, Dangme, Ewe, Ga, Gonja, Kasem, and Nzema. Though not an official language, Hausa is the lingua-franca spoken among Ghana's minorities, with Twi the language shared by both the Asante and the Akan.

Education

Main article: Education in Ghana

Ghana has 12,130 primary schools, 5,450 junior secondary schools, 503 senior secondary schools, 21 training colleges, 18 technical institutions, two diploma-awarding institutions and five universities. That means that most Ghanaians have relatively easy access to a good education. This is In contrast with the one university and a handful of secondary and primary schools existing at the time of independence in 1957. Ghana's spending on education has varied between 28 and 40 percent of its annual budget in the past decade. All teaching is done in English, Ghana's official language.

Ghana is currently going through an educational reform and education is free in primary and middle schools but isn't mandatory until enough teachers and facilities are available to accommodate all students. The 6-year primary education begins at the age of six and, under the educational reforms implemented in 1987, they pass on to a 3-year junior secondary school program. At the end of the 3rd year, there is a Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). Those continuing must complete the 3-year senior secondary school program and take an admission exam to enter university. School enrollment totals almost 2 million: 1.3 million primary; 489,000 middle; 107,600 secondary; 21,280 technical; 11,300 teacher training, and 5,600 in university.

International rankings

Organization	Survey	Ranking
Heritage Foundation/The Wall Street Journal	Index of Economic Freedom	91 out of 157
Reporters Without Borders	Worldwide Press Freedom Index	34 out of 168
Transparency International	Corruption Perception Index	70 out of 163
United Nations Development Programme	Human Development Index	136 out of 177
Vision of Humanity	Global Peace Index	40 out of 121
World Economic Forum	Global Competitiveness Report	not ranked

See also

• Transport in Ghana
• List of Ghana-related topics
• List of Ghanaian companies
• Corruption in Ghana
• Communications in Ghana
• Military of Ghana
• Ghana Film Industry

External links

Wikimedia Atlas of right

Government

• Ghana official Website
• The Parliament of Ghana official site
• National Commission on Culture official site
• Ghana's Independence Video by Information Services Department

Healthcare

• Korle Bu Hospital
• Unite For Sight at Buduburam Refugee Camp, Ghana A Unite For Sight video documentary with interviews of residents at Buduburam Refugee Camp, Ghana. Unite For Sight provides free eye care for the residents.
• Subayo Foundation A not for profit charity for women and children in Ghana based out of the US.

Overviews

• Rural poverty in Ghana (IFAD)
• BBC Country Profile - Ghana
• Encyclopaedia Britannica, Country Page - Ghana
• CIA World Factbook - Ghana
• Open Directory Project - Ghana directory category
• US State Department — Ghana includes Background Notes, Country Study and major reports
• Business Anti-Corruption Portal Ghana Country Profile
• Historical Notes and Memorial Inscriptions From Ghana, Compiled 1988 to 1990 by M.E.J. Crew of Ofinso Training College, Ofinso, Ashanti, Ghana

Teaching resources

• Ghana: And Annotated List of Books and Other Resources for Teaching About Ghana
• Proverbs from Ghana

Tourism

• Template:Wikitravel
• Ghana@50 official independence anniversary site
• Teaching in Ghana