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Larabanga
Larabanga ( ar, لارابانجا) is a village in West Gonja district, a district in northwestern Northern Region of Ghana. It is known for its whitewashed adobe Sahelian mosque, said to date from 1421, and which, having been built at the height of the trans-Saharan trade, is reputed to be Ghana's oldest mosque and houses a copy of the Qur'an almost as old. The village is also known for its Mystic Stone, for its patterned , and as the entrance to the Mole National Park
Mole National Park is Ghana's largest wil ...
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Larabanga Mosque
The Larabanga Mosque () is a mosque built in the Sudanese architectural style in the village of Larabanga, Ghana. It is the oldest mosque in the country and one of the oldest in West Africa, and has been referred to as the "Mecca of West Africa". It has undergone restoration several times since it was founded in 1421. The World Monuments Fund (WMF) has contributed substantially to its restoration, and lists it as one of the 100 Most Endangered Sites. The restoration works have revived the knowledge of adobe maintenance. The mosque has an old Quran, believed by the locals to have been given as a gift from heaven in 1650 to Yidan Barimah Bramah, the Imam at the time, as a result of his prayers. The mosque, built using West African adobe, has two tall towers in pyramidal shape, one for the mihrab which faces towards Mecca forming the facade on the east and the other as a minaret in the northeast corner. These are buttressed by twelve bulbous shaped structures, which are fitte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sahelian Architecture
Sudano-Sahelian architecture refers to a range of similar indigenous architectural styles common to the African peoples of the Sahel and Sudanian grassland (geographical) regions of West Africa, south of the Sahara, but north of the fertile forest regions of the coast. This style is characterized by the use of mudbricks and adobe plaster, with large wooden-log support beams that jut out from the wall face for large buildings such as mosques or palaces. These beams also act as scaffolding for reworking, which is done at regular intervals, and involves the local community. The earliest examples of Sudano-Sahelian style probably come from Jenné-Jeno around 250 BC, where the first evidence of permanent mudbrick architecture in the region is found. Difference between Savannah and Sahelian styles The earthen architecture in the Sahel zone region is noticeably different from the building style in the neighboring savannah. The "old Sudanese" cultivators of the savannah built th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mole National Park
Mole National Park is Ghana's largest wildlife refuge. The park is located in the Savannah region of Ghana on savanna and riparian ecosystems at an elevation of 50 m, with a sharp escarpment forming the southern boundary of the park. The park's entrance is reached through the nearby town of Larabanga. The Levi and Mole Rivers are ephemeral rivers flowing through the park, leaving behind only drinking holes during the long dry season. This area of Ghana receives over 10 mm per year of rainfall. A long-term study has been done on Mole National Park to understand the impact of human hunters on the animals in the preserve. History The park's lands were set aside as a wildlife refuge in 1958. In 1971, the small human population of the area was relocated and the lands were designated a national park. The park has not seen major development as a tourist location since its original designation. The park as a protective area is underfunded and national and international concern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Though villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighborhoods. Villages are normally permanent, with fixed dwellings; however, transient villages can occur. Further, the dwellings of a village are fairly close to one another, not scattered broadly over the landscape, as a dispersed settlement. In the past, villages were a usual form of community for societies that practice subsistence agriculture, and also for some non-agricultural societies. In Great Britain, a hamlet earned the right to be called a village when it built a church. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Regions Of Ghana
The Regions of Ghana constitute the first level of subnational government administration within the Republic of Ghana. As of 2020, there are currently sixteen regions, which are further divided for administrative purposes into 260 local metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (or MMDA's). Current regions The former ten regional boundaries were officially established in 1987, when the Upper West Region was inaugurated as the state's newest administrative region. Although the official inauguration was in 1987, the Upper West Region had already functioned as an administrative unit since the break-up of the Upper Region in December 1982, prior to the 1984 national census. The referendum on the creation of six new regions was held on 27 December 2018 – all proposed new regions were approved. Previous regional configurations Independence - 6 March 1957 At Independence in March 1957, the Northern Territories, Trans-Volta Togoland and the Gold Coast came together to fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern Region, Ghana
The Northern Region is one of the sixteen regions of Ghana. It is located in the north of the country and was the largest of the sixteen regions, covering an area of 70,384 square kilometres or 31 percent of Ghana's area until December 2018 when the Savannah Region and North East Region were created from it. The Northern Region is divided into 14 districts. The region's capital is Tamale. Geography and climate Location and size The Northern Region is bordered on the north by the North East region, on the east by the eastern Ghana-Togo international border, on the south by the Oti region, and on the west by the Savannah Region. Northern region is made up of 14 districts. Climate and vegetation The Northern Region is a Guinea Savanna grassland. The vegetation consists predominantly of grassland, especially savanna with clusters of drought-resistant trees such as baobabs or acacias. Between January and March is the dry season. The wet season is between about July and Decem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Districts Of Ghana
The Districts of Ghana are second-level administrative subdivisions of Ghana, below the level of region. There are 261 local metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (or MMDA's). History The districts of Ghana were re-organized in 1988/1989 in an attempt to decentralize the government and to assist in development. The reform of the late 1980s subdivided the regions of Ghana into 110 districts, where local district assemblies should deal with the local administration. By 2006, an additional 28 districts were created by splitting some of the original 110, bringing their number up to 138. In February 2008, there were more districts created and some were upgraded to municipal status. This brought the final number to 170 districts in Ghana. Since then, a further 46 districts have been added since 28 June 2012 bringing the total to 216 districts. Types of Districts Districts are classified into three types: Ordinary Districts with a minimum population of seventy-five thous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West Gonja District
West Gonja Municipal Assembly is one of the seven districts in Savannah Region, Ghana. Originally created as an ordinary district assembly on 23 December 1988 when it was known as West Gonja District, until the southern part of the district was split off by a decree of president John Agyekum Kufuor in August 2004 to create Central Gonja District; thus the remaining part was retained as West Gonja District. However, on 6 February 2012, the northern part of the district was later split off to create North Gonja District; thus the remaining part has been retained as West Gonja District. Later, it was elevated to municipal district assembly status on 27 January 2020 to become West Gonja Municipal District. The municipality is located in the central part of Savannah Region and has Damongo Damongo is a town and the capital of West Gonja Municipal, a municipal in the Savannah Region of northern Ghana. On 12 February 2019, Damongo was declared the capital of the newly created Savanna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greenwich Mean Time
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being calculated from noon; as a consequence, it cannot be used to specify a particular time unless a context is given. The term 'GMT' is also used as one of the names for the time zone UTC+00:00 and, in UK law, is the basis for civil time in the United Kingdom. English speakers often use GMT as a synonym for Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). For navigation, it is considered equivalent to UT1 (the modern form of mean solar time at 0° longitude); but this meaning can differ from UTC by up to 0.9s. The term GMT should thus not be used for purposes that require precision. Because of Earth's uneven angular velocity in its elliptical orbit and its axial tilt, noon (12:00:00) GMT is rarely the exact moment the Sun crosses the Greenwich Meridian and reaches its highest po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Togo in the east.Jackson, John G. (2001) ''Introduction to African Civilizations'', Citadel Press, p. 201, . Ghana covers an area of , spanning diverse biomes that range from coastal savannas to tropical rainforests. With nearly 31 million inhabitants (according to 2021 census), Ghana is the second-most populous country in West Africa, after Nigeria. The capital and largest city is Accra; other major cities are Kumasi, Tamale, and Sekondi-Takoradi. The first permanent state in present-day Ghana was the Bono state of the 11th century. Numerous kingdoms and empires emerged over the centuries, of which the most powerful were the Kingdom of Dagbon in the north and the Ashanti Empire in the south. Beginning in the 15th century, the Portuguese E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, including outdoor courtyards. The first mosques were simple places of prayer for Muslims, and may have been open spaces rather than buildings. In the first stage of Islamic architecture, 650-750 CE, early mosques comprised open and closed covered spaces enclosed by walls, often with minarets from which calls to prayer were issued. Mosque buildings typically contain an ornamental niche ('' mihrab'') set into the wall that indicates the direction of Mecca (''qiblah''), Wudu, ablution facilities. The pulpit (''minbar''), from which the Friday (jumu'ah) sermon (''khutba'') is delivered, was in earlier times characteristic of the central city mosque, but has since become common in smaller mosques. Mosques typically have Islam and gender se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trans-Saharan Trade
Trans-Saharan trade requires travel across the Sahara between sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa. While existing from prehistoric times, the peak of trade extended from the 8th century until the early 17th century. The Sahara once had a very different environment. In Libya and Algeria, from at least 7000 BC, there was pastoralism, the herding of sheep, goats, large settlements, and pottery. Cattle were introduced to the Central Sahara (Ahaggar) from 4000 to 3500 BC. Remarkable rock paintings (dated 3500 to 2500 BC) in places that are currently very dry, portray flora and fauna that are not present in the modern desert environment. As a desert, Sahara is now a hostile expanse that separates the Mediterranean economy from the economy of the Niger basin. As Fernand Braudel points out, crossing such a zone, especially without mechanized transport, is worthwhile only when exceptional circumstances cause the expected gain to outweigh the cost and the danger. Trade was conducted by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
