Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...
. It abuts the
Gulf of Guinea
The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is in the ...
and the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
to the south, sharing borders with
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...
in
the west
West is a cardinal direction or compass point.
West or The West may also refer to:
Geography and locations
Global context
* The Western world
* Western culture and Western civilization in general
* The Western Bloc, countries allied with NATO ...
,
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...
in
the north, and
Togo
Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...
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
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
. The capital and
largest city
The United Nations uses three definitions for what constitutes a city, as not all cities in all jurisdictions are classified using the same criteria. Cities may be defined as the cities proper, the extent of their urban area, or their metropo ...
is
Accra
Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...
; other major cities are
Kumasi
Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is the ...
,
Tamale
A tamale, in Spanish tamal, is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of masa, a dough made from nixtamalized corn, which is steamed in a corn husk or banana leaf. The wrapping can either be discarded prior to eating or used as a plate. Tamale ...
, and
Sekondi-Takoradi
Sekondi-Takoradi is a city in Ghana comprising the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi. It is the capital of Sekondi – Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly and the Western Region of Ghana. Sekondi-Takoradi is the region's largest city and an indus ...
.
The first permanent state in present-day Ghana was the
Bono state
Bono State (or Bonoman) was a trading state created by the Bono people, located in what is now southern Ghana. Bonoman was a medieval Akan kingdom in what is now Bono, Bono East and Ahafo region respectively named after the (Bono and Ahafo) and ...
of the 11th century. Numerous kingdoms and empires emerged over the centuries, of which the most powerful were the
Kingdom of Dagbon
The Kingdom of Dagbon is one of the oldest and most organised traditional kingdoms in Ghana founded by the Dagomba people (Dagbamba) in the 11th century. During its rise, it comprised, at various points, the Northern, Upper West, Upper East and ...
in the north and the
Ashanti Empire
The Asante Empire (Asante Twi: ), today commonly called the Ashanti Empire, was an Akan state that lasted between 1701 to 1901, in what is now modern-day Ghana. It expanded from the Ashanti Region to include most of Ghana as well as parts of Iv ...
in the south. Beginning in the 15th century, the
Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the l ...
, followed by numerous other European powers, contested the area for trading rights, until the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
ultimately established control of the coast by the late 19th century. Following over a century of colonisation, Ghana's current borders took shape, encompassing four separate British colonial territories:
Gold Coast
Gold Coast may refer to:
Places Africa
* Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana:
** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642)
** Dutch G ...
,
Ashanti, the
Northern Territories, and
British Togoland
British Togoland, officially the Mandate Territory of Togoland and later officially the Trust Territory of Togoland, was a territory in West Africa, under the administration of the United Kingdom, which subsequently entered into union with Ghana ...
. These were unified as an independent dominion within the
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...
on 6 March 1957, becoming the first colony in West Africa to achieve sovereignty.
Ghana subsequently became influential in
decolonisation efforts and the
Pan-African movement.
Ghana is a multi-ethnic country with a diverse population, linguistic and religious groups;
while the
Akan Akan may refer to:
People and languages
*Akan people, an ethnic group in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire
*Akan language, a language spoken by the Akan people
*Kwa languages, a language group which includes Akan
*Central Tano languages, a language group w ...
are the largest ethnic group, they constitute only a plurality. Most
Ghanaians
The Ghanaian people are a nation originating in the Gold Coast (region), Ghanaian Gold Coast. Ghanaians predominantly inhabit the Republic of Ghana and are the predominant cultural group and residents of Ghana, numbering 30 million people as of ...
are
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
(71.3%); almost a fifth are
Muslims
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
; a tenth practise traditional faiths or report no religion.
Ghana is a
unitary
Unitary may refer to:
Mathematics
* Unitary divisor
* Unitary element
* Unitary group
* Unitary matrix
* Unitary morphism
* Unitary operator
* Unitary transformation
* Unitary representation
* Unitarity (physics)
* ''E''-unitary inverse semigroup ...
constitutional democracy
Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into diff ...
led by a president who is both
head of state
A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...
and
head of government
The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a gro ...
.
Ghana has maintained since 1993 one of the freest and most stable governments on the continent, and it performs relatively well in healthcare, economic growth, and human development,
so that it has significant influence in West Africa
and is highly integrated in international affairs, being a member of the
Non-Aligned Movement
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide.
The movement originated in the aftermath o ...
, the
African Union
The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...
, the
Economic Community of West African States
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as in French and Portuguese) is a regional political union, political and economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. Collectively, these countries comprise an ...
, the
Group of 24
The Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four on International Monetary Affairs and Development, or The Group of 24 (G-24) was established in 1971 as a chapter of the Group of 77 in order to help coordinate the positions of developing countries on ...
, and the
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...
.
Etymology
''Ghana'' means "strong warrior king" and was the title accorded to the kings of the medieval
Ghana Empire
The Ghana Empire, also known as Wagadou ( ar, غانا) or Awkar, was a West African empire based in the modern-day southeast of Mauritania and western Mali that existed from c. 300 until 1100. The Empire was founded by the Soninke people, ...
in
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...
—not to be confused with today's Ghana, for the empire was further north, in modern-day
Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...
,
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...
and southern
Mauritania
Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
, as well as in
the region of Guinea.
Ghana was known for its large gold usage and hence was named the ''Land of Gold''
History
Medieval kingdoms
Most of what is now Ghana was inhabited in the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
and the
Age of Discovery
The Age of Discovery (or the Age of Exploration), also known as the early modern period, was a period largely overlapping with the Age of Sail, approximately from the 15th century to the 17th century in European history, during which seafarin ...
by different ethnic groups. The earliest known kingdoms to emerge in modern Ghana were the
Mole-Dagbani states.
The Mole-Dagomba came on horseback from present-day
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...
under a single leader,
Naa Gbewaa Na Gbewa (also known as Nedega or Kulu Gbagha) is, traditionally, the founder of the Kingdom of Dagbon, in what is now northern Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the ...
. With their advanced weapons and based on a central authority, they easily invaded and occupied the lands of the local people ruled by the ''tendamba'' (land god priests), established themselves as the rulers over the locals, and made
Gambaga
Gambaga is the capital of the East Mamprusi Municipal Assembly in the North East Region of Ghana. Once a residence of Mamprusi-kings it is still the capital of East Mamprusi Municipal Assembly, a municipality in the North East Region of Ghana. ...
their capital. The death of Naa Gbewaa caused seccession among his children, some of whom broke off and founded separate states including
Mamprugu
Mamprusis are an ethnic group in northern Ghana and Togo. Estimates are that there are about 200,000 Mamprusis living in the Northern Regions of Ghana as of 2013, They speak Mampruli, one of the Gur languages. In Ghana, the Mamprusis live mainly ...
and
Nanung. Whiles Gbewaa was still alive, his daughter
Yennenga
Yennenga was a legendary princess, considered the mother of the Mossi people of Burkina Faso. She was a famous warrior precious for her father, Naa Gbewaa or Nedega, the founder of the kingdom of Dagbon, now in present day Ghana. But the princess ...
, travelled north and founded the
Mossi Kingdoms
The Mossi Kingdoms, sometimes referred to as the Mossi Empire, were a group of powerful kingdoms in modern-day Burkina Faso which dominated the region of the upper Volta river for hundreds of years. The largest Mossi kingdoms was that of Ouagad ...
, who constitute majority of present day
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...
. Other kingdoms that emerged from
Dagbon
The Kingdom of Dagbon is one of the oldest and most organised traditional kingdoms in Ghana founded by the Dagomba people (Dagbamba) in the 11th century. During its rise, it comprised, at various points, the Northern Region (Ghana), Northern, Uppe ...
include the
Bouna Kingdom of Ivory Coast, and the
Dagaaba states of
Upper West Region
The Upper West Region of Ghana is located in the north-western corner of Ghana and is bordered by Upper East region to the east, Northern region to the south, and Burkina Faso to the west and north. The Upper West regional capital and largest set ...
.
Although the area of present-day Ghana has experienced many population movements, the
Akan Akan may refer to:
People and languages
*Akan people, an ethnic group in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire
*Akan language, a language spoken by the Akan people
*Kwa languages, a language group which includes Akan
*Central Tano languages, a language group w ...
-speaking peoples began to move into it toward the end of the 15th century.
By the early 16th century, the Akans were firmly established in the Akan state called
Bonoman
Bono State (or Bonoman) was a trading state created by the Bono people, located in what is now southern Ghana. Bonoman was a medieval Akan kingdom in what is now Bono, Bono East and Ahafo region respectively named after the (Bono and Ahafo) a ...
, for which the
Brong-Ahafo region was named.
From the 17th century, Akans emerged from what is believed to have been the Bonoman area, to create several Akan states, mainly based on gold trading. These states included Bonoman (Brong-Ahafo region), Ashanti (
Ashanti Region
The Ashanti Region is located in southern part of Ghana and it is the third largest of 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of or 10.2 percent of the total land area of Ghana. In terms of population, however, it is the mo ...
),
Denkyira
Denkyira was a powerful nation of Akan people that existed before the 1620s, in what is now modern-day Ghana. Like all Akans, they originated from Bono state. Before 1620, Denkyira was called Agona. The ruler of the Denkyira was called Denkyirah ...
(
Western North region
The Western North Region is one of the six new regions of Ghana created in 2019. The region is bounded by the Ivory Coast ( Comoé District) on the west, the Central region in the southeast, and the Ashanti, Ahafo, Bono East and Bono regions ...
),
Mankessim Kingdom
The Mankessim Kingdom (1252–1844) was a pre-colonial African state in modern-day Ghana. It is regarded as the heartland of the Fante people, and operated as capital of the Fante Confederacy in the 19th century. The town of Mankessim still exis ...
(
Central region), and
Akwamu
Akwamu was a state set up by the Akwamu people in present-day Ghana. After migrating from Bono state, the Akan founders of Akwamu settled in Twifo-Heman. The Akwamu led an expansionist empire in the 17th and 18th centuries. At the peak of their ...
(Eastern region).
By the 19th century, the territory of the southern part of Ghana was included in the
Kingdom of Ashanti
The Asante Empire (Asante Twi: ), today commonly called the Ashanti Empire, was an Akan state that lasted between 1701 to 1901, in what is now modern-day Ghana. It expanded from the Ashanti Region to include most of Ghana as well as parts of Iv ...
, one of the influential states in sub-saharan Africa prior to the onset of colonialism.
The government of the Ashanti Empire operated first as a loose network and eventually as a centralised kingdom with an advanced, highly specialised bureaucracy centred in the capital city of
Kumasi
Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is the ...
.
Prior to Akan contact with Europeans, the Akan people created an advanced economy based on principally gold and
gold bar
A gold bar, also called gold bullion or gold ingot, is a quantity of refined metallic gold of any shape that is made by a bar producer meeting standard conditions of manufacture, labeling, and record keeping. Larger gold bars that are produced ...
commodities
In economics, a commodity is an economic good, usually a resource, that has full or substantial fungibility: that is, the market treats instances of the good as equivalent or nearly so with no regard to who produced them.
The price of a comm ...
then traded with the states of Africa.
The Ga-Dangme and Ewe migrated westward from south-western Nigeria because of pressure from incessant tribal wars. The Ga- Dangme occupy the Greater Accra Region and parts of the Eastern Region while the Ewe are found in the
Volta Region
Volta Region (or Volta) is one of Ghana's sixteen administrative regions, with Ho designated as its capital. It is located west of Republic of Togo and to the east of Lake Volta. Divided into 25 administrative districts, the region is multi-et ...
as well as the neighboring Togo and Benin.
European contact and colonialism
![Elmina_slave_castle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Elmina_slave_castle.jpg)
Akan trade with European states began after contact with the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
in the 15th century. Early European contact by the
Portuguese people
The Portuguese people () are a Romance nation and ethnic group indigenous to Portugal who share a common culture, ancestry and language. The Portuguese people's heritage largely derives from the pre-Celts, Proto-Celts (Lusitanians, Conii) a ...
, who came to the
Gold Coast region in the 15th century to trade and then established the
Portuguese Gold Coast
The Portuguese Gold Coast was a Portuguese colony on the West African Gold Coast (present-day Ghana) along the Gulf of Guinea. Established in 1482, the colony was officially incorporated into Dutch territory in 1642 following Portugal’s defea ...
(Costa do Ouro), focused on the extensive availability of gold.
The Portuguese built a trading lodge at a coastal settlement called Anomansah (the perpetual drink) which they renamed
São Jorge da Mina
Elmina Castle was erected by the Portugal, Portuguese in 1482 as Castelo de São Jorge da Mina (''St. George of the Mine Castle''), also known as ''Castelo da Mina'' or simply ''Mina'' (or ''Factory (trading post), Feitoria da Mina''), in presen ...
.
In 1481, King
John II of Portugal
John II ( pt, João II; ; 3 March 1455 – 25 October 1495), called the Perfect Prince ( pt, o Príncipe Perfeito, link=no), was King of Portugal from 1481 until his death in 1495, and also for a brief time in 1477. He is known for re-establishi ...
commissioned
Diogo de Azambuja
Diogo de Azambuja or Diego de Azambuja (1432–1518) was a Portuguese noble and explorer.
Soldier
He was born at Montemor-o-Velho, and became a knight of the Order of Aviz in the service of the Infante Dom Pedro, son of the Regent Infante ...
to build the
Elmina Castle
Elmina Castle was erected by the Portugal, Portuguese in 1482 as Castelo de São Jorge da Mina (''St. George of the Mine Castle''), also known as ''Castelo da Mina'' or simply ''Mina'' (or ''Factory (trading post), Feitoria da Mina''), in presen ...
, which was completed in three years.
By 1598, the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
had joined the Portuguese in the gold trade, establishing the
Dutch Gold Coast
The Dutch Gold Coast or Dutch Guinea, officially Dutch possessions on the Coast of Guinea (Dutch: ''Nederlandse Bezittingen ter Kuste van Guinea'') was a portion of contemporary Ghana that was gradually colonized by the Dutch, beginning in 1612. ...
(Nederlandse Bezittingen ter Kuste van Guinea) and building forts at
Fort Komenda
Fort Komenda was a British fort on the Gold Coast, currently preserved as a ruin. Because of its testimony to the Atlantic slave trade and European economic and colonial influence in West Africa, the fort was inscribed on the UNESCO World Herita ...
and Kormantsi.
In 1617, the Dutch captured the Olnini Castle from the Portuguese and
Axim
Axim is a coastal town and the capital of Nzema East Municipal district, a district in Western Region of South Ghana. Axim lies 64 kilometers west of the port city of Sekondi-Takoradi in the Western Region, west of Cape Three Points. Axim has ...
in 1642 (
Fort St Anthony).
Other European traders had joined in gold trading by the mid-17th century, most notably the
Swedes
Swedes ( sv, svenskar) are a North Germanic ethnic group native to the Nordic region, primarily their nation state of Sweden, who share a common ancestry, culture, history and language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countr ...
, establishing the
Swedish Gold Coast
The Swedish Gold Coast ( sv, Svenska Guldkusten) was a colony of the Swedish Africa Company founded in 1650 by Hendrik Carloff on the Gulf of Guinea in present-day Ghana in Africa. Under foreign occupation for much of its existence, it disappea ...
(Svenska Guldkusten), and
Denmark–Norway
Denmark–Norway (Danish and Norwegian: ) was an early modern multi-national and multi-lingual real unionFeldbæk 1998:11 consisting of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Norway (including the then Norwegian overseas possessions: the Faroe I ...
, establishing the
Danish Gold Coast
The Danish Gold Coast ( da, Danske Guldkyst or ''Dansk Guinea'') comprised the colonies that Denmark–Norway controlled in Africa as a part of the Gold Coast (roughly present-day southeast Ghana), which is on the Gulf of Guinea. It was coloniz ...
(Danske Guldkyst ''or'' Dansk Guinea).
In addition to the gold trade, European traders participated in the
Atlantic slave trade
The Atlantic slave trade, transatlantic slave trade, or Euro-American slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and i ...
in this area.
More than 30 forts and castles were built by the merchants. The Germans also established the
Brandenburger Gold Coast
The Brandenburger Gold Coast, later Prussian Gold Coast, was a part of the Gold Coast. The Brandenburg colony existed from 1682 to 1721, when King Frederick William I of Prussia sold it for 7200 ducats to the Dutch Republic.
Brandenburger Gol ...
''or'' Groß Friedrichsburg). In 1874 Great Britain established control over some parts of the country, assigning these areas the status of
British Gold Coast
The Gold Coast was a British Crown colony on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa from 1821 until its independence in 1957 as Ghana. The term Gold Coast is also often used to describe all of the four separate jurisdictions that were under the ad ...
.
[MacLean, Iain (2001), ''Rational Choice and British Politics: An Analysis of Rhetoric and Manipulation from Peel to Blair'', p. 76, .] Many military engagements occurred between the British colonial powers and the various Akan nation-states. The Kingdom of Ashanti defeated the British a few times in the 100-year-long
Anglo-Ashanti wars
The Anglo-Ashanti wars were a series of five conflicts that took place between 1824 and 1900 between the Ashanti Empire—in the Akan interior of the Gold Coast—and the British Empire and its African allies. Though the Ashanti emerged victorio ...
but eventually lost with the
War of the Golden Stool
The War of the Golden Stool, also known as the Yaa Asantewaa War, the Third Ashanti Expedition, the Ashanti Uprising, or variations thereof, was a campaign in 1900 during the series of conflicts between the United Kingdom and the Ashanti Empire ...
in 1900.
[Chronology of world history: a calendar of principal events from 3000 BC to AD 1973, Part 1973, Rowman & Littlefield, 1975, .]
![British_Ransack_Fomena_Palace](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/British_Ransack_Fomena_Palace.png)
Transition to independence
![Kwame Nkrumah (JFKWHP-AR6409-A)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Kwame_Nkrumah_%28JFKWHP-AR6409-A%29.jpg)
In 1947, the newly formed
United Gold Coast Convention
The United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) was a political party founded in 1947 whose aim was to bring about Ghanaian independence from their British colonial masters after the Second World War. The United Gold Coast Convention appointed its leade ...
led by
"The Big Six" called for "self-government within the shortest possible time" following the
1946 Gold Coast legislative election.
Kwame Nkrumah
Kwame Nkrumah (born 21 September 190927 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He was the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957. An in ...
, a Ghanaian nationalist who led Ghana from 1957 to 1966 as the country's first
prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
and
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
, formed the
Convention People's Party
The Convention People's Party (CPP) is a Socialism, socialist political party in Ghana based on the ideas of the first President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah. The CPP was formed in June 1949 after Nkrumah broke away from the United Gold Coast Conven ...
in 1949 with the motto "self-government now".
The party initiated a "positive action" campaign involving non-violent protests, strikes and non-cooperation with the British authorities. Nkrumah was arrested and sentenced to one year imprisonment during this time. In the Gold Coast's
1951 general election, he was elected to Parliament and released from prison to become leader of government business.
He became prime minister in 1952. He improved the infrastructure of the country, and his Africanisation policies created better career opportunities for Ghanaians.
On 6 March 1957 at midnight, the Gold Coast, Ashanti, the Northern Territories and
British Togoland
British Togoland, officially the Mandate Territory of Togoland and later officially the Trust Territory of Togoland, was a territory in West Africa, under the administration of the United Kingdom, which subsequently entered into union with Ghana ...
were unified as one single independent dominion within the
British Commonwealth
The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...
under the name Ghana. This was done under the
Ghana Independence Act 1957
The Ghana Independence Act 1957 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that granted the Gold Coast fully responsible government within the British Commonwealth of Nations under the name of Ghana. The Act received the Royal Assent on ...
. The current
flag of Ghana
The national flag of Ghana consists of a horizontal triband of Red, Gold, and Green. It was designed in replacement of the British Gold Coast's Blue Ensign.
The flag was adopted upon the independence of the Dominion of Ghana on March 6, 1957. I ...
, consisting of the colours red, gold, green, and a black star, dates back to this unification.
It was designed by
Theodosia Okoh
Theodosia Salome Okoh (born 13 June 1922 – 19 April 2015) was a Ghanaian teacher and artist known for designing Ghana's national flag in 1957. She exhibited her artwork internationally. She also played a leading role in the development of h ...
; the red represents the blood that was shed towards independence, the gold represents the
industrial mineral
Industrial resources (minerals) are geological materials which are mined for their commercial value, which are not fuel (fuel minerals or mineral fuels) and are not sources of metals (metallic minerals) but are used in the industries based on th ...
s wealth of Ghana, the green symbolises the rich grasslands of Ghana, and the black star is the symbol of the Ghanaian people and African emancipation.
On 1 July 1960, following the
Ghanaian constitutional referendum and
Ghanaian presidential election, Nkrumah declared Ghana a republic and assumed the presidency.
6 March is the nation's
Independence Day
An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...
, and 1 July is celebrated as
Republic Day
Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics.
List
January 1 January in Slovak Republic
The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially cal ...
. At the time of independence Nkrumah declared, "My first objective is to abolish from Ghana poverty, ignorance, and disease. We shall measure our progress by the improvement in the health of our people; by the number of children in school, and by the quality of their education; by the availability of water and electricity in our towns and villages; and by the happiness which our people take in being able to manage their own affairs. The welfare of our people is our chief pride, and it is by this that my government will ask to be judged.".
Nkrumah was the first African head of state to promote the concept of
Pan-Africanism
Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement exte ...
, which he had been introduced to during his studies at
Lincoln University, Pennsylvania in the United States, at the time when
Marcus Garvey
Marcus Mosiah Garvey Sr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African ...
was popular for his "Back to Africa Movement".
Nkrumah merged the teachings of Garvey,
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
and the naturalised Ghanaian scholar
W. E. B. Du Bois into the formation of 1960s Ghana.
Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, as he became known, played an instrumental part in the founding of the
Non-Aligned Movement
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide.
The movement originated in the aftermath o ...
, and in establishing the
Kwame Nkrumah Ideological Institute The Kwame Nkrumah Ideological Institute (officially known as the Kwame Nkrumah Institute of Economics and Political Science or Winneba ideological Institute) was an educational body in Winneba, founded to promote socialism in Ghana as well as the d ...
to teach his ideologies of
communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
and
socialism
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
. His life achievements were recognised by Ghanaians during his centenary birthday celebration, and the day was instituted as a
public holiday in Ghana (
Founders' Day).
Operation Cold Chop and aftermath
The government of Nkrumah was subsequently overthrown by a coup by the
Ghana Armed Forces
The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) is the unified armed force of Ghana, consisting of the Army (GA), Navy (GN), and Ghana Air Force.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces is the president of Ghana, who is also the supreme military commander ...
codenamed "Operation Cold Chop". This occurred while Nkrumah was abroad with
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 J ...
in the People's Republic of China, on a fruitless mission to
Hanoi
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
in Vietnam to help end the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
. The coup took place on 24 February 1966, led by Colonel
Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka
Lieutenant-General Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka Born (26 September 1926 – 17 April 1967) was a Ghanaian military officer who was a member of the ruling National Liberation Council which came to power in Ghana in a military coup d'état on 24 February ...
and Brigadier Akwasi Afrifa. The
National Liberation Council
The National Liberation Council (NLC) led the Ghanaian government from 24 February 1966 to 1 October 1969. The body emerged from a ''coup d'état'' against the Nkrumah government carried out jointly by the Ghana Police Service and Ghana Armed For ...
was formed, chaired by Lieutenant General
Joseph A. Ankrah.
A series of alternating military and civilian governments, often affected by economic instabilities, ruled Ghana from 1966 to 1981, ending with the ascension to power of
Flight Lieutenant
Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...
Jerry John Rawlings
Jerry John Rawlings (22 June 194712 November 2020) was a Ghanaian military officer and politician who led the country for a brief period in 1979, and then from 1981 to 2001. He led a military junta until 1992, and then served two terms as the de ...
of the
Provisional National Defence Council
The Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) was the name of the Ghanaian government after the People's National Party's elected government was overthrown by Jerry Rawlings, the former head of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, in a coup ...
in 1981.
These changes resulted in the suspension of the
Constitution of Ghana
The Constitution of Ghana is the supreme law of the Republic of Ghana. It was approved on 28 April 1992 through a national referendum after 92% support. It defines the fundamental political principles, establishing the structure, procedures, pow ...
in 1981 and the banning of
political parties
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...
.
The economy soon declined, so Rawlings negotiated a structural adjustment plan changing many old economic policies, and economic growth recovered during the mid-1980s.
A new constitution restoring
multi-party system
In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in coal ...
politics was promulgated in the
presidential election of 1992; Rawlings was elected as president of Ghana then, and again in the
general election of 1996.
At least 1,000 and as many as 2,000 people were killed during the
conflict
Conflict may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton
* ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne
* ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...
between the
Konkomba and other ethnic groups such as the Nanumba,
Dagomba and
Gonja, while 150,000 people were displaced as part of the tribal war in
Northern 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 ...
in 1994.
21st century
![Kpetoee](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Kpetoee.jpg)
Winning the
2000 general election,
John Kufuor
John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor (born 8 December 1938) is a Ghanaian politician who served as the President of Ghana from 7 January 2001 to 7 January 2009. He was also Chairperson of the African Union from 2007 to 2008.
Kufuor's career has been sp ...
of the
New Patriotic Party
, logo =
, colorcode = #132f7a
, founder =
, founded = 28 July 1992
, dissolved =
, leader = Nana Akufo-Addo
, chairman = Stephen Ayensu Ntim
Stephen Ntim elected NPP National Chairman on fifth attempt http://www.gna.org.gh/1.2152672 ...
was sworn into office as president of Ghana on 7 January 2001 and attained the presidency again in the
2004 election, thus also serving two terms (the term limit) as president of Ghana and thus marking the first time under the fourth republic that power was transferred from one legitimately elected head of state and head of government to another.
Nana Akufo-Addo, the ruling party candidate, was defeated in a very close election by
John Atta Mills
John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills (21 July 1944 – 24 July 2012) was a Ghanaian politician and legal scholar who served as President of Ghana from 2009 until his death in 2012. He was inaugurated on 7 January 2009, having defeated the governing party ...
of the
National Democratic Congress following the
2008 general election. Mills died of natural causes and was succeeded by Vice President
John Mahama
John Dramani Mahama (; born 29 November 1958) is a Ghanaian politician who served as President of Ghana from 24 July 2012 to 7 January 2017. He previously served as Vice President of Ghana from January 2009 to July 2012, and took office as presi ...
on 24 July 2012. Following the
2012 general election, Mahama became president,
and Ghana was a stable democracy.
As a result of the
2016 general election,
Nana Akufo-Addo
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ( ; born 29 March 1944) is a Ghanaian politician who has served as the president of Ghana since 7 January 2017. In 2020, he was re-elected for his second term, which will end on 6 January 2025. Akufo-Addo previously ...
became president on 7 January 2017. He was re-elected after a tightly contested
election in 2020.
On 11 June 2021, Ghana inaugurated Green Ghana Day in an aim of planting 5 million trees in a concentrating effort to preserve the country's cover of rainforest to combat deforestation.
Geography
Ghana is located on the
Gulf of Guinea
The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is in the ...
, only a few degrees north of the
Equator
The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can als ...
, therefore giving it a warm climate.
Ghana spans an area of and has an Atlantic coastline that stretches on the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to its south.
[, ] Dodi Island
Dodi Island is an island in Ghana, located off the shore of Lake Volta. It is a tourist destination and a land place for the cruise ship, Dodi Princess.
Gallery
File:Dodi Island and Rocky Shore − Lake Volta.jpg, Rocky Shores of Dodi Isla ...
and
Bobowasi Island are near the south coast.
It lies between latitudes 4°45'N and 11°N, and longitudes 1°15'E and 3°15'W. The
prime meridian
A prime meridian is an arbitrary meridian (a line of longitude) in a geographic coordinate system at which longitude is defined to be 0°. Together, a prime meridian and its anti-meridian (the 180th meridian in a 360°-system) form a great c ...
passes through Ghana, specifically through
Tema
Tema is a city on the Bight of Benin and Atlantic coast of Ghana. It is located east of the capital city; Accra, in the region of Greater Accra, and is the capital of the Tema Metropolitan District. As of 2013, Tema is the eleventh most popul ...
.
Ghana is geographically closer to the "centre" of the Earth than any other country, since the notional centre, (0°, 0°) is located in the Atlantic Ocean approximately off the south-east coast of Ghana.
Grasslands mixed with south coastal shrublands and forests dominate Ghana, with forest extending northward from the coast and eastward for a maximum of about with several locations for mining of industrial minerals and timber.
Ghana is home to five terrestrial ecoregions:
Eastern Guinean forests
The Eastern Guinean forests are a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of West Africa.
Geography
The ecoregion includes the lowland forests extending from the Gulf of Guinea a few hundred kilometres inland, from western Côte d'Ivoire to ...
,
Guinean forest–savanna mosaic
The Guinean forest-savanna mosaic is an ecoregion of West Africa, a band of interlaced forest, savanna, and grassland running east to west and dividing the tropical moist forests near the coast from the West Sudanian savanna of the interior.
Set ...
,
West Sudanian savanna
The West Sudanian savanna is a tropical savanna ecoregion that extends across West Africa.
Geography
The ecoregion stretches east and west across West Africa, from the Atlantic coast of Senegal to the Mandara Mountains on Nigeria's eastern borde ...
,
Central African mangroves
The Central African mangroves ecoregion consists of the largest area of mangrove swamp in Africa, located on the coasts of West Africa, mainly in Nigeria.
Location and description
These mangroves are found in fertile rivermouths and lagoons and ...
, and
Guinean mangroves
The Guinean mangroves are a coastal ecoregion of mangrove swamps in rivers and estuaries near the ocean of West Africa from Senegal to Sierra Leone.
Location and description
Guinean mangroves can be found: in the Saloum River and Casamance del ...
.
It had a 2018
Forest Landscape Integrity Index
The Forest Landscape Integrity Index (FLII) is an annual global index of forest condition measured by degree of anthropogenic modification. Created by a team of 48 scientists, the FLII, in its measurement of 300m pixels of forest across the globe ...
mean score of 4.53/10, ranking it 112th globally out of 172 countries.
The
White Volta
The White Volta or Nakambé is the headstream of the Volta River, Ghana's main waterway. The White Volta emerges in northern Burkina Faso, flows through North Ghana and empties into Lake Volta in Ghana. The White Volta's main tributaries are the ...
River and its tributary
Black Volta
The Black Volta or Mouhoun is a river that flows through Burkina Faso for approximately 1,352 km (840 mi) to the White Volta in Dagbon, Ghana, the upper end of Lake Volta. The source of the Black Volta is in the Cascades Region of Burki ...
, flow south through Ghana to
Lake Volta
Lake Volta, the largest artificial reservoir in the world based on surface area, is contained behind the Akosombo Dam which generates a substantial amount of Ghana's electricity. It is completely within the country of Ghana and has a surface area ...
, the world's
third-largest reservoir by volume and largest by surface area, formed by the hydroelectric
Akosombo Dam
The Akosombo Dam, also known as the Volta Dam, is a hydroelectric dam on the Volta River in southeastern Ghana in the Akosombo gorge and part of the Volta River Authority. The construction of the dam flooded part of the Volta River Basin and led ...
, completed in 1965. The Volta flows out of Lake Volta into the Gulf of Guinea. The northernmost part of Ghana is Pulmakong and the southernmost part of Ghana is
Cape Three Points
Cape Three Points is a small peninsula in the Western Region of Ghana on the Atlantic Ocean. It forms the southernmost tip of Ghana.
Location
Cape Three Points is located between the coastal village of Dixcove and town of Princes Town, Ghana. ...
.
Volta Region: Longest mountain range in Ghana-Akwapim Togo ranges
Mt Afadja- highest mountain in Ghana
Wli waterfall- the highest waterfall in Ghana
Amedzofe- Mt Gemi- waterfall and canopy walk.
Golden sandy beaches stretching from Anyanui to Aflao
Aflao: the eastern gateway to Ghana and bordering Lome, the Togolese capital
Keta- Fort Prizenstein, the former Danish slave trading post. Site of proposed Keta Port. The town with the most promising and expanding tourism potential in Ghana
Climate
The
climate of Ghana
The climate of Ghana is tropical. The eastern coastal belt is warm and comparatively dry, the south-west corner of Ghana is hot and humid, and the north of Ghana is hot and dry. Ghana is located on the Gulf of Guinea, only a few degrees north o ...
is
tropical
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in
the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...
, and there are two main seasons: the
wet season
The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...
and the
dry season
The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...
.
Ghana sits at the intersection of three hydro-climatic zones.
Changes in rainfall, weather conditions and sea-level rise affects the salinity of coastal waters. This is expected to negatively affect both farming and fisheries. The national economy stands to suffer from the impacts of climate change because of its dependence on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, energy, and forestry. Moreover, access to fresh water is expected to become more challenging, and reduced water supply will have a negative impact on hydropower, which provides 54% of the country's electricity capacity. Additionally, Ghana will likely see more cases of
malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
and
cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
, since both are impacted by changes in water conditions.
In 2015, the government produced a document titled "Ghana's Intended Nationally Determined Contribution."
Following that, Ghana signed the Paris Climate Agreement in 2016.
Politics
![Presidents of Ghana and of the 4th Republic of Ghana](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Presidents_of_Ghana_and_of_the_4th_Republic_of_Ghana.JPG)
Ghana is a
unitary
Unitary may refer to:
Mathematics
* Unitary divisor
* Unitary element
* Unitary group
* Unitary matrix
* Unitary morphism
* Unitary operator
* Unitary transformation
* Unitary representation
* Unitarity (physics)
* ''E''-unitary inverse semigroup ...
presidential constitutional democracy
Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into diff ...
with a parliamentary
multi-party system
In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in coal ...
that is dominated by two parties—the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP). Ghana alternated between civilian and military governments until January 1993, when the military government gave way to the Fourth Republic of Ghana after
presidential and
parliamentary elections
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
in late 1992. The 1992
constitution of Ghana
The Constitution of Ghana is the supreme law of the Republic of Ghana. It was approved on 28 April 1992 through a national referendum after 92% support. It defines the fundamental political principles, establishing the structure, procedures, pow ...
divides powers among a
commander-in-chief of the
Ghana Armed Forces
The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) is the unified armed force of Ghana, consisting of the Army (GA), Navy (GN), and Ghana Air Force.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces is the president of Ghana, who is also the supreme military commander ...
(
President of Ghana
The president of the Republic of Ghana is the elected head of state and head of government of Ghana, as well as commander-in-chief of the Ghana Armed Forces. The current president of Ghana is Nana Akufo-Addo, who won the 2020 presidential elec ...
), parliament (
Parliament of Ghana
The Parliament of Ghana is the legislative body of the Government of Ghana.
History
Legislative representation in Ghana dates back to 1850, when the country was a British colony known as Gold Coast. The body, called the Legislative Council, ...
), cabinet (
Cabinet of Ghana), council of state (
Ghanaian Council of State), and an independent judiciary (
Judiciary of Ghana
The Judiciary of Ghana comprises the Superior Courts of Judicature, established under the 1992 Constitution, and the Inferior Courts, established by Parliament. The hierarchy of courts derives largely from British juridical forms. The courts hav ...
). The government is elected by
universal suffrage
Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stanc ...
after every four years.
["Government and Politics". ]
A Country Study: Ghana
'' (La Verle Berry, editor). Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
Federal Research Division
The Federal Research Division (FRD) is the research and analysis unit of the United States Library of Congress.
The Federal Research Division provides directed research and analysis on domestic and international subjects to agencies of the Unite ...
(November 1994). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
Lcweb2.loc.gov
Nana Akufo-Addo
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ( ; born 29 March 1944) is a Ghanaian politician who has served as the president of Ghana since 7 January 2017. In 2020, he was re-elected for his second term, which will end on 6 January 2025. Akufo-Addo previously ...
won the presidency in the
general election in 2016, defeating incumbent
John Mahama
John Dramani Mahama (; born 29 November 1958) is a Ghanaian politician who served as President of Ghana from 24 July 2012 to 7 January 2017. He previously served as Vice President of Ghana from January 2009 to July 2012, and took office as presi ...
. He also won the
2020 election, after the presidential election results were challenged at the Supreme Court by flagbearer of the NDC, John Mahama. Presidents are limited to two four-year terms in office. The president can serve a second term only upon re-election.
The 2012
Fragile States Index
The Fragile States Index (FSI; formerly the Failed States Index) is an annual report published by the United States think tank the Fund for Peace and the American magazine ''Foreign Policy'' from 2005 to 2018, then by The New Humanitarian since 2 ...
indicated that Ghana is ranked the 67th-least fragile state in the world and the fifth-least fragile state in Africa. Ghana ranked 112th out of 177 countries on the index. Ghana ranked as the 64th-least corrupt and politically corrupt country in the world out of all 174 countries ranked and ranked as the fifth-least corrupt and politically corrupt country in Africa out of 53 countries in the 2012
Transparency International Corruption Perception Index. Ghana was ranked 7th in Africa out of 53 countries in the 2012
Ibrahim Index of African Governance
The Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG), established in 2007, provides an annual assessment of the quality of governance in African countries. Compiled by combining over 100 variables from more than 30 independent African and global instit ...
. The Ibrahim Index is a comprehensive measure of African government, based on variables which reflect the success with which governments deliver essential political goods to its citizens.
Foreign relations
![Kofi Annan at OYW](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Kofi_Annan_at_OYW.jpg)
Since independence, Ghana has been devoted to ideals of nonalignment and is a founding member of the
Non-Aligned Movement
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide.
The movement originated in the aftermath o ...
. Ghana favours international and regional political and economic co-operation, and is an active member of the United Nations and the African Union.
Ghana has a strong relationship with the United States. Three recent U.S. presidents--
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
,
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
, and
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
—made diplomatic trips to Ghana. Many Ghanaian diplomats and politicians hold positions in international organisations, including Ghanaian diplomat and former Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, International Criminal Court Judge Akua Kuenyehia, as well as former President
Jerry John Rawlings
Jerry John Rawlings (22 June 194712 November 2020) was a Ghanaian military officer and politician who led the country for a brief period in 1979, and then from 1981 to 2001. He led a military junta until 1992, and then served two terms as the de ...
and former President John Kufuor, John Agyekum Kufuor, who both served as diplomats of the United Nations.
[
In September 2010, President ]John Atta Mills
John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills (21 July 1944 – 24 July 2012) was a Ghanaian politician and legal scholar who served as President of Ghana from 2009 until his death in 2012. He was inaugurated on 7 January 2009, having defeated the governing party ...
visited China on an official visit. Mills and China's former President Hu Jintao marked the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two nations, at the Great Hall of the People. China reciprocated with an official visit in November 2011, by the vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, Zhou Tienong who visited Ghana and met with Ghana's President John Mahama
John Dramani Mahama (; born 29 November 1958) is a Ghanaian politician who served as President of Ghana from 24 July 2012 to 7 January 2017. He previously served as Vice President of Ghana from January 2009 to July 2012, and took office as presi ...
. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with Mahama in 2013 to hold discussions on strengthening the Non-Aligned Movement
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide.
The movement originated in the aftermath o ...
and also co–chair a bilateral meeting between Ghana and Iran at the Ghanaian presidential palace Jubilee House, Flagstaff House.
The Sustainable Development Goals and Ghana, Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) were integrated into Ghana's development agenda and the budget. According to reports, the SDGs were implemented through a decentralized planning approach. This allows stakeholders participations such as UN agencies, traditional leaders, civil society organizations, academia, and others. The 17 SDGs are a global call to action to end poverty among others, and the UN and its partners in the country are working towards achieving them. According to the President Nana Akufo-Addo
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ( ; born 29 March 1944) is a Ghanaian politician who has served as the president of Ghana since 7 January 2017. In 2020, he was re-elected for his second term, which will end on 6 January 2025. Akufo-Addo previously ...
, Ghana was "the first sub-Saharan African country to achieve the goal of halving poverty, as contained in Goal 1 of the Millennium Development Goals"
Military
In 1957, the Ghana Armed Forces
The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) is the unified armed force of Ghana, consisting of the Army (GA), Navy (GN), and Ghana Air Force.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces is the president of Ghana, who is also the supreme military commander ...
(GAF) consisted of its headquarters, support services, three battalions of infantry and a reconnaissance squadron with armoured vehicles.[Kilford, Christopher R. (2010)]
''The Other Cold War: Canada's Military Assistance to the Developing World 1945–75''
, Kingston, Ontario, Kingston, Ontario: Canadian Defence Academy Press, p. 138, . President Nkrumah aimed at rapidly expanding the GAF to support the United States of Africa ambitions. Thus in 1961, 4th and 5th Battalions were established, and in 1964 6th Battalion was established, from a Paratrooper, parachute Airborne forces, airborne unit originally raised in 1963. Today, Ghana is a regional power and Regional hegemony, regional hegemon. In his book ''Shake Hands with the Devil (book), Shake Hands with the Devil'', Canadian Armed Forces, Canadian Forces commander Roméo Dallaire highly rated the GAF soldiers and military personnel.
The military operations and military doctrine of the GAF are conceptualised in the constitution, Ghana's Law on Armed Force Military Strategy, and Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre agreements to which GAF is attestator. GAF military operations are executed under the auspices and imperium of the Ministry of Defence (Ghana), Ministry of Defence. Although Ghana is relatively peaceful and is often considered to be one of the least violent countries in the region, Ghana has experienced political violence in the past and 2017 has thus far seen an upward trend in incidents motivated by political grievances.
Law enforcement
The Ghana Police Service and the Criminal Investigation Department are the main law enforcement agencies, responsible for the detection of crime, maintenance of law and order and the maintenance of internal peace and security. The Ghana Police Service has eleven specialised police units including a Militarized police Rapid deployment force and Ghana Police Service#Marine Police Unit, Marine Police Unit. The Ghana Police Service operates in 12 divisions: ten covering the regions of Ghana, one assigned specifically to the seaport and industrial hub of Tema
Tema is a city on the Bight of Benin and Atlantic coast of Ghana. It is located east of the capital city; Accra, in the region of Greater Accra, and is the capital of the Tema Metropolitan District. As of 2013, Tema is the eleventh most popul ...
, and the twelfth being the Railways, Ports and Harbours Division. The Ghana Police Service's Marine Police Unit and Division handles issues that arise from the country's offshore oil and gas industry.[
The Ghana Prisons Service and the sub-division Borstal Institute for Juveniles administers incarceration.] Ghana retains and exercises the death penalty for treason, corruption, robbery, piracy, drug trafficking, rape, and homicide. The new sustainable development goals adopted by the United Nations call for the international community to come together to promote the rule of law; support equal access to justice for all; reduce corruption; and develop effective, accountable, and transparent institutions at all levels.
Ghana is used as a key narcotics industry transshipment point by traffickers, usually from South America as well as some from other African nations. In 2013, the UN chief of the Office on Drugs and Crime stated that "West Africa is completely weak in terms of border control and the big drug cartels from Colombia and Latin America have chosen Africa as a way to reach Europe." There is not a wide or popular knowledge about the narcotics industry and intercepted narcotics within Ghana since it is an black market, underground economy. The social context within which narcotic trafficking, storage, transportation, and repacking systems exist in Ghana and the state's location along the Gulf of Guinea makes Ghana an attractive country for the narcotics business. The Narcotics Control Board (Ghana), Narcotics Control Board has impounded container ships at the Sekondi Naval Base in the Takoradi Harbour. These ships were carrying thousands of kilograms of cocaine, with a street value running into billions of Ghanaian cedi, Ghana cedis. However, drug seizures saw a decline in 2011. Drug cartels are using new methods in narcotics production and narcotics exportation, to avoid Ghanaian security agencies. Underdeveloped institutions, porous open borders, and the existence of established smuggling organisations contribute to Ghana's position in the narcotics industry. President Mills initiated ongoing efforts to reduce the role of airports in Ghana's drug trade.
Human rights
Homosexuality, Homosexual acts are prohibited by law in Ghana. According to a 2013 survey by the Pew Research Center, 96% of Ghanaians believe that homosexuality should not be accepted by society.["The Global Divide on Homosexuality."](_blank)
Pew Research Center. 4 June 2013. Sometimes elderly women in Ghana are accused of witchcraft, particularly in rural Ghana. Issues of witchcraft mainly remain as speculations based on superstitions within families. In some parts of northern Ghana, there exist what are called witch camps. This is said to house a total of around 1,000 people accused of witchcraft. The Ghanaian government has announced that it intends to close the camps.
Administrative divisions
Ghana is divided into 16 Administrative division, administrative regions, sub-divided into 275 districts:
Economy
Key sectors
Ghana is an average natural resource enriched country possessing industrial mineral
Industrial resources (minerals) are geological materials which are mined for their commercial value, which are not fuel (fuel minerals or mineral fuels) and are not sources of metals (metallic minerals) but are used in the industries based on th ...
s, hydrocarbons and precious metals. It is an emerging designated digital economy with mixed economy hybridisation and an emerging market. It has an economic plan target known as the "Ghana Vision 2020". This plan envisions Ghana as the first African country to become a developed country between 2020 and 2029 and a Newly industrialized country, newly industrialised country between 2030 and 2039. This excludes fellow Group of 24
The Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four on International Monetary Affairs and Development, or The Group of 24 (G-24) was established in 1971 as a chapter of the Group of 77 in order to help coordinate the positions of developing countries on ...
member and Sub-Saharan African country South Africa, which is a newly industrialised country.
Ghana's economy has ties to the Renminbi, Chinese yuan renminbi along with Ghana's vast gold reserves. In 2013, the Bank of Ghana began circulating the renminbi throughout Ghanaian state-owned banks and to the Ghana public as hard currency along with the national Ghanaian cedi for second national trade currency. Ghana is the leader in the adoption of digital financial services in Africa and is set to increase financial inclusion to more than 85% until 2024.
Between 2012 and 2013, 38% of rural dwellers were experiencing poverty whereas only 11% of urban dwellers were. Urban areas hold greater opportunity for employment, particularly in informal trade, while nearly all (94 percent) of rural poor households participate in the agricultural sector.
The Volta River Authority and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, both state-owned, are the two major electricity producers. The Akosombo Dam
The Akosombo Dam, also known as the Volta Dam, is a hydroelectric dam on the Volta River in southeastern Ghana in the Akosombo gorge and part of the Volta River Authority. The construction of the dam flooded part of the Volta River Basin and led ...
, built on the Volta River in 1965, along with the Bui Dam, the Kpong Dam and several other hydroelectric dams, provide hydropower. In addition, the government sought to Nuclear power in Ghana, build the second nuclear power plant in Africa.
The Ghana Stock Exchange is the 5th largest on continental Africa and 3rd largest in sub-saharan Africa with a Market capitalization, market capitalisation of Ghana Cedi, GH¢ 57.2 billion or Renminbi, CN¥ 180.4 billion in 2012 with the South Africa JSE Limited as first. The Ghana Stock Exchange was the 2nd best performing stock exchange in sub-saharan Africa in 2013.
Ghana produces high-quality Cocoa bean, cocoa. It is the 2nd largest producer of cocoa globally. Ghana is classified as a middle income country. Tertiary sector of the economy, Services account for 50% of GDP, followed by Secondary sector of the economy, manufacturing (24.1%), Primary sector of the economy, extractive industries (5%), and taxes (20.9%). Ghana has an increasing primary manufacturing economy and export of digital technology goods along with assembling and exporting automobiles and ships, diverse resource rich exportation of industrial mineral
Industrial resources (minerals) are geological materials which are mined for their commercial value, which are not fuel (fuel minerals or mineral fuels) and are not sources of metals (metallic minerals) but are used in the industries based on th ...
s, agricultural products primarily cocoa, petroleum and natural gas, and Private industry, industries such as information and communications technology primarily via Ghana's state digital technology corporation Rlg Communications which manufactures tablet computers with smartphones and various consumer electronics. Urban car, Urban electric cars have been manufactured in Ghana since 2014.
Ghana announced plans to issue government debt by way of social and green bonds in Autumn 2021, making it the first African country to do so. The country, which is planning to borrow up to $5 billion on international markets this year, would use the proceeds from these sustainable bonds to refinance debt used for social and environmental projects and pay for educational or health. Only a few other nations have sold them so far, including Chile and Ecuador. The country will use the proceeds to forge ahead with a free secondary-school initiative started in 2017 among other programs, despite having recorded its lowest economic growth rate in 37 years in 2020.
Petroleum and natural gas production
Ghana produces and exports an abundance of hydrocarbons such as sweet crude oil and natural gas. The 100%-state-owned filling station company of Ghana, Ghana Oil Company, is the number 1 petroleum and gas filling station of Ghana, and the 100%-state-owned state oil company Ghana National Petroleum Corporation oversees hydrocarbon exploration and production of Ghana's entire petroleum and natural gas reserves. Ghana aims to further increase output of oil to per day and gas to per day.[Clark, Nancy L. "Petroleum Exploration". ]
A Country Study: Ghana
'' (La Verle Berry, editor). Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
Federal Research Division
The Federal Research Division (FRD) is the research and analysis unit of the United States Library of Congress.
The Federal Research Division provides directed research and analysis on domestic and international subjects to agencies of the Unite ...
(November 1994). ''This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
.'
Lcweb2.loc.gov
The Jubilee Oil Field, which contains up to of sweet crude oil, was discovered in 2007. Ghana is believed to have up to to of petroleum in reserves, which is the fifth-largest in Africa and the 21st-to-25th-List of countries by proven oil reserves, largest proven reserves in the world. It also has up to of natural gas in reserves, which is the sixth-largest in Africa and the 49th-List of countries by natural gas proven reserves, largest natural gas proven reserves in the world. Hydrocarbon exploration, Oil and gas exploration off Ghana's eastern coast on the Gulf of Guinea is ongoing, and the amount of both crude oil and natural gas continues to increase. The government has drawn up plans to Nationalization, nationalise Ghana's entire petroleum and natural gas reserves to increase government revenue.
Industrial minerals mining
As of 2019, Ghana was the 7th largest producer of gold in the world, producing ~140 tonnes that year. This record saw Ghana surpass South Africa in output for the first time, making Ghana the largest gold producer in Africa. In addition to gold, Ghana also exports silver, timber, diamonds, bauxite, and manganese, and has numerous other not-yet-fully-Exploitation of natural resources, exploited mineral deposits. Ghana ranks 9th in the world in both diamond export and reserve size. The government has drawn up plans to Nationalization, nationalize Ghana's mining industry to increase government revenue.
Electricity generation
Severe shortages of electricity in 2015 & 2016 led to dumsor (persistent, irregular and unpredictable electric power outages), increasing the interest in renewables. As of 2019, there is now a surplus of electricity which now presents a new set of financial challenges.
Economic transparency
The Judiciary of Ghana, judicial system of Ghana deals with corruption, economic malpractice and lack of economic transparency. Despite significant economic progress, obstacles do remain. Particular institutions need reform, and Property rights (economics), property rights need improvement. The overall Foreign direct investment, investment regime lacks Transparency (market), market transparency. Tackling these issues will be necessary if Ghana's rapid economic growth is to be maintained. According to Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index of 2018, out of 180 countries, Ghana was ranked 78th, with a score of 41 on a scale where a 0–9 score means highly corrupt, and a 90–100 score means very clean. This was based on perceived levels of public sector corruption.
Science and technology
Ghana was the first sub-Saharan African country to launch a cellular mobile network (1992). It was one of the first countries in Africa to be connected to the internet and to introduce ADSL broadband services. Ghana was ranked 112nd in the Global Innovation Index in 2021, down from 106th in 2019.
Space and satellite programmes
The Ghana Space Science and Technology Centre (GSSTC) and Ghana Space Agency (GhsA) oversee the space exploration and space programmes of Ghana. GSSTC and GhsA worked to have a national security Earth observation satellite, observational satellite launched into orbit in 2015. Ghana's annual space exploration expenditure has been 1% of its GDP, to support research in science and technology. In 2012, Ghana was elected to chair the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (Comsats); Ghana has a joint effort in space exploration with the South African National Space Agency.
Tourism
In 2011, 1,087,000 tourists visited Ghana. Tourist arrivals include South Americans, Asians, Europeans, and North Americans. The attractions and major tourist destinations include a warm, tropical climate year-round, diverse wildlife, waterfalls such as Kintampo waterfalls and the largest waterfall in west Africa, Wli waterfalls, the coastal palm-lined sandy beaches, caves, mountains, rivers, and reservoirs and lakes such as Lake Bosumtwi and the largest man-made lake in the world by surface area, Lake Volta
Lake Volta, the largest artificial reservoir in the world based on surface area, is contained behind the Akosombo Dam which generates a substantial amount of Ghana's electricity. It is completely within the country of Ghana and has a surface area ...
, dozens of List of castles in Ghana, forts and castles, World Heritage Sites, nature reserves and national parks. In addition to the beautiful natural reserves which serve as tourist sites, there are some castles that attract many tourists from all over the world. Some of the notable castles are Cape Coast Castle Museum, Cape Coast Castle and the Elmina Castle
Elmina Castle was erected by the Portugal, Portuguese in 1482 as Castelo de São Jorge da Mina (''St. George of the Mine Castle''), also known as ''Castelo da Mina'' or simply ''Mina'' (or ''Factory (trading post), Feitoria da Mina''), in presen ...
. Not only are the castles important for tourism, they also mark where blood was shed in the slave trade and preserve and promote the African heritage stolen and destroyed through the slave trade. As a result of this, the World Heritage Site, World Heritage Convention of UNESCO named Ghana's castles and forts as World Heritage Monuments.
The World Economic Forum statistics in 2010 showed that out of the world's favourite tourist destinations, Ghana was ranked 108th out of 139 countries. The country had moved two places up from the 2009 rankings. In 2011, ''Forbes'' magazine, published that Ghana was ranked the eleventh most friendly country in the world. The assertion was based on a survey in 2010 of a cross-section of travellers. Of all the African countries that were included in the survey, Ghana ranked highest.[ Tourism is the fourth highest earner of foreign exchange for the country.][ In 2017, Ghana ranked as the Global Peace Index, 43rd–most peaceful country in the world.]
A growing tourist attraction is surfing. Up and down the coastline, several spots have been identified and cultivated by locals and internationals alike. Renowned surfers have made trips to the country to sample the waves. Suitable for beginners and seasoned surfers alike, there is a quality and consistency to the waves to suit all levels of skill. It is not unusual now to see surfers carrying their boards amid traditional Ghanaian Traditional fishing boat, fishing vessels. Busua, Kokrobite, and Muuston boast some of the country's best surf in warm, tropical waters.
According to Destination Pride – a data-driven search platform used to visualize the world's LGBTQ+ laws, rights and social sentiment – Ghana's Pride score is 22 (out of 100).
Education
Ghana's education system is divided in three parts: basic education, secondary cycle, and tertiary education. "Basic education" lasts 11 years (ages 4‒15). It is divided into kindergarten (2 years), primary school (2 modules of 3 years) and junior high (3 years). Junior high school ends with the Basic Education Certificate Examination. Once certified, the pupil can proceed to the secondary cycle. Hence, the pupil has the choice between general education (offered by the senior high school) and vocational education (offered by the technical senior high school or the technical and vocational institutes). Senior high school lasts three years and leads to the West African Senior School Certificate Examination, which is a prerequisite for enrollment in a university bachelor's degree programme. Polytechnics are open to vocational students.
A bachelor's degree usually requires four years of study. It can be followed by a one- or two-year master's degree programme, which can be followed by a PhD programme of at least three years. A polytechnic programme lasts two or three years. Ghana possesses numerous colleges of education. Some of the notable universities the University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and University of Cape Coast, to mention a few.
With over 95% of its children in school, Ghana currently has one of the highest school enrollment rates in all of Africa. The female and male ages 15–24 years literacy rate in Ghana was 81% in 2010, with males at 82%, and females at 80%. Ghana's education system annually attracts a large number of foreign students particularly in the university sector.
Ghana has a free education 6-year primary school education system beginning at age six.The government largely funds basic education comprising public primary schools and public junior high schools. Senior high schools were subsidised by the government until September 2017/2018 academic year that senior high education became free. At the higher education level, the government funds more than 80% of resources provided to public universities, polytechnics and teacher training colleges. As part of the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education, Fcube, the government supplies all basic education schools with all their textbooks and other educational supplies like exercise books. Senior high schools are also provided with all their textbook requirement by the government. Private schools acquire their educational material from private suppliers.
Demographics
As of 2019, Ghana has a population of 30,083,000. Around 29% of the population is under the age of 15, while persons aged 15–64 make up 57.8 percent of the population. The 2010 census reported that the largest ethnic groups are the Akan (47.3%), the Mole-Dagbani (16.6%), the Ewe (13.9%), the Ga-Dangme (7.4%), the Gurma (5.7%) and the Guan (3.7%).
The median age of Ghanaian citizens is 30 years old and the average household size is 3.6 persons.
With Immigration to Ghana, recent legal immigration of skilled workers who possess Ghana Cards, there is a small population of Chinese, Malaysian, Indian, Middle Eastern and European nationals. In 2010, the Ghana Immigration Service reported a large number of economic migrants and Illegal immigration to Ghana, Illegal immigrants inhabiting Ghana: 14.6% (or 3.1 million) of Ghana's 2010 population (predominantly Nigerians, Burkinabe citizens, Togolese citizens, and Malian citizens). In 1969, under the "Ghana Aliens Compliance Order" enacted by the Prime Minister Kofi Abrefa Busia; The Border Guard Unit deported over 3,000,000 aliens and illegal immigrants in three months as they made up 20% of the population at the time.In 2013, there was a mass deportation of illegal miners, more than 4,000 of them Chinese nationals.
Languages
English is the official language of Ghana. Additionally, there are eleven languages that have the status of government-sponsored languages:
* Akan languages (Asante dialect, Asante Twi, Akuapem Twi, Fante dialect, Fante which have a high degree of mutual intelligibility, and Nzema language, Nzema, which is less intelligible with the above)
* Adangme language, Dangme
* Ewe language, Ewe
* Ga language, Ga
* Gua language, Guan
* Kasem language, Kasem
* Oti-Volta languages, Mole-Dagbani languages (Dagaare and Dagomba language, Dagbanli)
Of these, Asante Twi is the most widely spoken.
Because Ghana is surrounded by List of countries and territories where French is an official language, French-speaking countries, French is widely taught in schools and used for commercial and international economic exchanges. Since 2006, Ghana has been an associate member of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, the global organisation that unites French-speaking countries (84 nations on six continents). In 2005, more than 350,000 Ghanaian children studied French in schools. Since then, its status has been progressively updated to a mandatory language in every junior high school, and it is in the process of becoming an official language.
Ghanaian Pidgin English, also known as Kru English (or in Akan, ''kroo brofo''), is a variety of West African Pidgin English spoken mainly in Accra and in the southern towns.[Magnus Huber, ''Ghanaian Pidgin English in its West African Context'' (1999), page 139] It can be divided into two varieties, referred to as "uneducated" or "non-institutionalized" pidgin and "educated" or "institutionalized" pidgin, the former associated with uneducated or illiterate people and the latter acquired and used in institutions such as universities.[Huber (1999), pp. 138–153]
Religion
In 2010, the population was 72.2% Christian (24.3% Pentecostalism, Pentecostal, 18.4% Protestantism, Protestant, 13.1% Catholic Church, Catholic and 11.4% other). Approximately 18.6% of the population of Ghana are Muslim, (51% Sunni Islam, Sunni, 16% Ahmadiyya, and 8% Shia Islam, Shia).[, ] Hinduism in Ghana was popularized by Swami Ghana Nanda ji, who opened several temples in the nation. The temple of Lord Shiva in Accra is one of the largest where there are celebrations to Ganesh Chaturthi, Rath Yatra, and other Hindu observations. The Baháʼí Faith, Bahá’í religious community, established in Ghana in 1951, today includes more than 100 communities and over 50 local Bahá’í administrative councils, called Local Spiritual Assemblies.
Universal health care and life expectancy
Ghana has a universal health care system strictly designated for Ghanaian people, Ghanaian nationals, National Health Insurance Scheme (Ghana), National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). Health care is variable throughout Ghana and in 2012, over 12 million Ghanaian nationals were covered by the NHIS. Urban centres are well served and contain most of the hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies. There are over 200 hospitals, and Ghana is a destination for medical tourism. In 2010, there were 0.1 physicians per 1,000 people and , 0.9 hospital beds per 1,000 people. 5.2% of Ghana's GDP was spent on health in 2010.[Field Listing :: Health expenditures](_blank)
. Retrieved 24 June 2013. In 2020, the WHO announced Ghana became the second country in the WHO African Region to attain regulatory system "maturity level 3", the second-highest in the four-tiered WHO classification of National medicines regulatory systems.
Life expectancy at birth in 2020 was 71 for a female and 65 for a male. In 2013 infant mortality was to 39 per 1,000 live births. Sources vary on life expectancy at birth; the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated 62 years for men and 64 years for women born in 2016. The fertility rate declined from 3.99 (2000) to 3.28 (2010) with 2.78 in urban region and 3.94 in rural region. The United Nations reports a fertility decline from 6.95 (1970) to 4.82 (2000) to 3.93 live births per woman in 2017.
, the HIV/AIDS prevalence was estimated at 1.40% among adults aged 15–49.
Culture
Food and drink
Ghanaian cuisine includes an assortment of soups and stews with varied seafoods; most Ghanaian soups are prepared with vegetables, meat, poultry or fish. Fish is important in the diet with tilapia, roasted and fried whitebait, smoked fish and crayfish all being common components of Ghanaian dishes. Banku (dish), Banku (akple) is a common starchy food made from ground corn (maize), and cornmeal based staples kɔmi (kenkey) and banku (akple) are usually accompanied by some form of fried fish (chinam) or grilled tilapia and a very spicy condiment made from raw red and green chillies, onions and tomatoes (pepper sauce). Banku and tilapia is a combo served in most restaurants. Fufu is the most common exported Ghanaian dish and is a delicacy across the African diaspora. Rice is an established staple meal across the country, with various rice based dishes serving as breakfast, lunch and dinner, the main variants are waakye, plain rice and stew (eight kontomire or tomato gravy), fried rice and jollof rice.
Literature
Clothing
During the 13th century, Ghanaians developed their unique art of ''Adinkra symbols, adinkra'' printing. Hand-printed and hand-embroidered adinkra clothes were made and used exclusively by royalty for devotional ceremonies. Each of the motifs that make up the Text corpus, corpus of adinkra symbolism has a name and meaning derived from a proverb, a historical event, human attitude, ethology, plant life-form, or shapes of inanimate and man-made objects. These are graphically rendered in stylised geometric shapes. The meanings of the motifs may be categorised into aesthetics, ethics, human relations, and concepts. The Adinkra symbols have a decorative function as tattoos but also represent objects that encapsulate evocative messages that convey traditional wisdom, aspects of life or the environment. There are many different symbols with distinct meanings, often linked with proverbs. In the words of Kwame Anthony Appiah, Anthony Appiah, they were one of the means in a pre-literate society for "supporting the transmission of a complex and nuanced body of practice and belief".
Along with the ''adinkra cloth,'' Ghanaians use many different cloth fabrics for their traditional attire. The different ethnic groups have their own individual cloth. The most well known is the Kente cloth. Kente is a very important national costume and clothing, and these cloths are used to make traditional and modern Kente attire. Different symbols and different colours mean different things. Kente cloth, Kente is the most famous of all the Ghanaian cloths. Kente is a ceremonial cloth hand-woven on a horizontal Loom, treadle loom and strips measuring about 4 inches wide are sewn together into larger pieces of cloths. Cloths come in various colours, sizes and designs and are worn during very important social and religious occasions. In a cultural context, kente is more important than just a cloth as it is a visual representation of history and also a form of written language through weaving. The term kente has its roots in the Akan word ''kɛntɛn'' which means a basket and the first kente weavers used raffia fibres to weave cloths that looked like kenten (a basket); and thus were referred to as ''kenten ntoma''; meaning basket cloth. The original Akan name of the cloth was ''nsaduaso'' or ''nwontoma'', meaning "a cloth hand-woven on a loom"; however, "kente" is the most frequently used term today.
Contemporary Ghanaian fashion includes traditional and modern styles and fabrics and has made its way into the African and global fashion scene. The cloth known as African wax prints, African print fabric was created out of Dutch wax textiles. It is believed that in the late 19th century, Dutch ships on their way to Asia stocked with machine-made textiles that mimicked Indonesian batik stopped at many West African ports on the way. The fabrics did not do well in Asia. However, in West Africa—mainly Ghana where there was an already established market for cloths and textiles—the client base grew and it was changed to include local and traditional designs, colours and patterns to cater to the taste of the new consumers. Today outside of Africa it is called "Ankara," and it has a client base well beyond Ghana and Africa as a whole. It is popular among Caribbean peoples and African Americans; celebrities such as Solange Knowles and her sister Beyoncé have been seen wearing African print attire. Many designers from countries in North America and Europe are now using African prints, and they have gained a global interest. British luxury fashion house Burberry created a collection around Ghanaian styles. American musician Gwen Stefani has repeatedly incorporated African prints into her clothing line and can often be seen wearing it. Internationally acclaimed Ghanaian-British designer Ozwald Boateng introduced African print suits in his 2012 collection.
Music and dance
The music of Ghana is diverse and varies between different ethnic groups and regions. Ghanaian music incorporates several distinct types of musical instruments such as the talking drum ensembles, Akan Drum, goje fiddle and koloko lute, court music, including the Akan Seperewa, the Akan atumpan, the Ga kpanlogo styles, and log xylophones used in asonko music. The most well known genres to have come from Ghana are African jazz, which was created by Guy Warren, Kofi Ghanaba, and its earliest form of secular music, called highlife. Highlife originated in the late 19th century and early 20th century and spread throughout West Africa.
In the 1990s a new genre of music was created by the youth incorporating the influences of highlife, Afro-reggae, dancehall and Hip hop music, hip hop. This hybrid was called hiplife. Ghanaian artists such as "Afro Roots" singer, activist and songwriter Rocky Dawuni, R&B and soul singer Rhian Benson and Sarkodie (rapper), Sarkodie have had international success. In 2015, Rocky Dawuni became the first Ghanaian musician to be nominated for a Grammy award in the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album category for his sixth studio album, titled ''Branches of The Same Tree.''
Ghanaian dance is as diverse as its music, and there are traditional dances and different dances for different occasions. The most known dances are those for celebrations. These dances include the Adowa dance, Adowa, Kpanlogo, Azonto, Klama, Agbadza, Borborbor and Bamaya. The Nana Otafrija Pallbearing Services, also known as the Dancing Pallbearers, come from the coastal town of Prampram. The group was featured in a BBC feature story in 2017, and footage from the story became part of an Internet meme in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 world pandemic.
Film
Ghana has a budding and thriving film industry. Cinema of Ghana, Ghana's film industry dates as far back as 1948 when the Gold Coast Film Unit was set up in the Information Services Department. Some internationally recognised films have come from Ghana. In 1970, ''I Told You So'' was one of the first Ghanaian films to receive international acknowledgement and received great reviews from ''The New York Times''. It was followed by the 1973 Ghanaian and Italian production ''The African Deal'' also known as "''Contratto carnale''" featuring Bahamian American actor Calvin Lockhart. 1983's ''Kukurantumi: the Road to Accra'', a Ghanaian and German production directed by King Ampaw, was written about by famous American film critic Vincent Canby. In 1987, ''Cobra Verde'', another Ghanaian and German production directed by Werner Herzog, received international acclamation and in 1988, ''Heritage Africa'' won more than 12 film awards.
In recent times there have been collaborations between Ghanaian and Nigerian crew and cast and a number of productions turned out. Many Ghanaian films are co-produced with Cinema of Nigeria, Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry, and some are distributed by Nigerian marketers. Also, Nigerian filmmakers often feature Ghanaian actors and actresses in their movies, and Ghanaian filmmakers feature Nigerian actors and actresses in theirs. Nadia Buari, Yvonne Nelson, Lydia Forson and Jackie Appiah all popular Ghanaian actresses, and Van Vicker and Majid Michel are popular Ghanaian actors, have starred in many Nigerian movies. As a result of these collaborations, Western viewers often confuse Ghanaian movies with Nollywood and count their sales as one; however, they are two independent industries that sometimes share ''Nollywood''. In 2009, Unesco described Nollywood as the second-biggest film industry in the world after Hindi cinema, Bollywood. Though The film industry had a downtrend for almost a decade mainly because of low input in production this scenario has drastically changed. New and emerging young film makers are adding spice to the already rich Ghana movie scene. Bliz Bazawule, Peter Sedufia, Joseph Clef and many others have shown the world the new age of filming in Ghana.
Media
The media of Ghana are amongst the most free in Africa. Chapter 12 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana guarantees freedom of the press and independence of the media, while Chapter 2 prohibits censorship.[, ''Government of Ghana''.] Post-independence, the government and media often had a tense relationship, with private outlets closed during the military governments and strict media laws that prevented criticism of government.[Anokwa, K. (1997). In ''Press Freedom and Communication in Africa''. Erbio, F. & Jong-Ebot, W. (Eds.) Africa World Press. .] Press freedoms were restored in 1992, and after the election in 2000 of Kufuor the tensions between the private media and government decreased. Kufuor supported press freedom and repealed a Defamation, libel law, but maintained that the media had to act responsibly.[Basic Data](_blank)
. pressreference.com The Ghanaian media has been described as "one of the most unfettered" in Africa, operating with little restriction. The private press often carries criticism of government policy.[BBC Country Profile: Ghana](_blank)
, BBC News.
Sports
Association football is the top spectator sport in Ghana, and the Ghana national football team, national men's football team is known as the Black Stars, with the Ghana national under-20 football team, under-20 team known as the Black Satellites. Ghana has won the Africa Cup of Nations four times, the FIFA U-20 World Cup once, and has participated in three consecutive FIFA World Cups in 2006, 2010, and 2014. In the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Ghana became the third African country to reach the quarter-final stage after Cameroon in 1990 and Senegal in 2002. Ghana is the first and only country on the Africa continent to be crowned FIFA U-20 World Cup Champions, and two-time runners up in 1993 FIFA World Youth Championship, 1993 and 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship, 2001. The Ghana national U-17 football team known as the Black Starlets are two-time FIFA U-17 World Cup champions in 1991 FIFA U-17 World Championship, 1991 and 1995 FIFA U-17 World Championship, 1995, two-time runners up in 1993 FIFA U-17 World Championship, 1993 and 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship, 1997.
Ghanaian football teams Asante Kotoko S.C., Asante Kotoko SC and Accra Hearts of Oak S.C., Accra Hearts of Oak SC are the 5th and 9th best football teams on the Africa continent and have won a total of five Africa continental association football and Confederation of African Football trophies; Asante Kotoko SC has been crowned two-time CAF Champions League winners in 1970 African Cup of Champions Clubs, 1970, 1983 African Cup of Champions Clubs, 1983 and five-time CAF Champions League runners up. Accra Hearts of Oak SC has been crowned 2000 CAF Champions League winner and two-time CAF Champions League runners up, 2001 CAF Super Cup champions and 2004 CAF Confederation Cup champions. The International Federation of Football History & Statistics, International Federation of Football History and Statistics crowned Asante Kotoko SC as the International Federation of Football History & Statistics#Continental Clubs of the 20th century, African club of the 20th century. There are several club football teams that play in the Ghana Premier League and Ghana Football Leagues, Division One League, both administered by the Ghana Football Association.
Ghana competed in the Winter Olympics in 2010 for the first time. Ghana qualified for the 2010 Winter Olympics, scoring 137.5 International Ski Federation points, within the qualifying range of 120–140 points. Skier Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong became the first Ghanaian to take part in the Winter Olympics, taking part in the slalom skiing. Ghana finished 47th out of 102 participating nations, of whom 54 finished in the Alpine skiing at the 2010 Winter Olympics – Men's slalom, Alpine skiing slalom. Ghana's last medal at the Summer Olympic Games, Summer Olympics dates back to 1992. Ghanaian athletes have won a total of four medals in thirteen appearances at the Summer Olympics, three in boxing, and a bronze medal in association football, and thus became the first country on the Africa continent to win a medal at association football.
Ghana competes in the Commonwealth Games, sending athletes in every edition since 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, 1954 (except for the 1986 Commonwealth Games, 1986 games). Ghana has won 57 medals at the Commonwealth Games, including 15 gold, with all but one of their medals coming in athletics and boxing. The country has also produced a number of world class boxers, including Azumah Nelson a three-time world champion and considered as Africa's greatest boxer, Nana Konadu, Nana Yaw Konadu also a three-time world champion, Ike Quartey, and Joshua Clottey.
Ghana's women's football team won bronze at the Women's Africa Cup of Nations, Africa Women Cup of Nations 2016 edition in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The team beat South Africa 1–0. Ghana featured a men's national team in beach volleyball that competed at the 2018–2020 CAVB Beach Volleyball Continental Cup. Ghana is to host the 2023 African Games in Accra.
Cultural heritage and architecture
There are two types of Ghanaian traditional construction: the series of adjacent buildings in an enclosure around a common, and the traditional round huts with grass roof. The round huts with grass roof architecture are situated in the northern regions, while the series of adjacent buildings are in the southern regions. Ghanaian postmodern architecture and high-tech architecture buildings are predominant in the southern regions, while heritage sites are most evident by the more than thirty forts and castles in the country, such as Fort William, Ghana, Fort William and Fort Amsterdam, Ghana, Fort Amsterdam. Ghana has museums that are situated inside castles, and two are situated inside a fort. The Armed Forces Museum (Ghana), Military Museum and the National Museum of Ghana, National Museum organise temporary exhibitions.
Ghana has museums that show a in-depth look at specific regions, there are a number of museums that provide insight into the traditions and history of the geographical areas. The Cape Coast Castle Museum and St. Georges Castle (Elmina Castle
Elmina Castle was erected by the Portugal, Portuguese in 1482 as Castelo de São Jorge da Mina (''St. George of the Mine Castle''), also known as ''Castelo da Mina'' or simply ''Mina'' (or ''Factory (trading post), Feitoria da Mina''), in presen ...
) Museum offer guided tours. The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Museum of Science and Technology provides its visitors with a look into the domain of Ghanaian scientific development, through exhibits of objects of scientific and technological interest.
National symbols
The Coat of arms of Ghana, coat of arms depicts two animals: the tawny eagle and the lion; a ceremonial sword; a heraldic castle on a heraldic sea; a Theobroma cacao, cocoa tree and a mine shaft representing the industrial mineral wealth of Ghana; and a five-pointed black star rimmed with gold, representing the mineral gold wealth of Ghana and the lodestar of the Ghanaian people. It also has the legend ''Freedom and Justice''.
The flag of Ghana
The national flag of Ghana consists of a horizontal triband of Red, Gold, and Green. It was designed in replacement of the British Gold Coast's Blue Ensign.
The flag was adopted upon the independence of the Dominion of Ghana on March 6, 1957. I ...
consists of three horizontal bands (strips) of red (top), gold (middle) and green (bottom); the three bands are the same height and width; the middle band bears a five-pointed black star in the centre of the gold band, the colour red band stands for the blood spilled to achieve the nation's independence: gold stands for Ghana's industrial mineral wealth, and the colour green symbolises the rich tropical rainforests and natural resources of Ghana.
See also
* Index of Ghana-related articles
* Outline of Ghana
References
Further reading
* Arhin, Kwame, ''The Life and Work of Kwame Nkrumah'' (Africa Research & Publications, 1995)
* Babatope, Ebenezer, ''The Ghana Revolution: From Nkrumah to Jerry Rawlings'' (Fourth Dimension Publishing, 1982)
* Birmingham, David, ''Kwame Nkrumah: Father Of African Nationalism'' (Ohio University Press, 1998)
* Boafo-Arthur, Kwame, ''Ghana: One Decade of the Liberal State'' (Zed Books, 2007)
* Briggs, Philip, ''Ghana (Bradt Travel Guide)'' (Bradt Travel Guides, 2010)
* Clark, Gracia, ''African Market Women: Seven Life Stories from Ghana'' (Indiana University Press, 2010)
* Basil Davidson, Davidson, Basil, ''Black Star: A View of the Life and Times of Kwame Nkrumah'' (James Currey, 2007)
* Toyin Falola, Falola, Toyin, and Salm, Stephen J, ''Culture and Customs of Ghana'' (Greenwood, 2002)
* Grant, Richard, ''Globalizing City: The Urban and Economic Transformation of Accra, Ghana'' (Syracuse University Press, 2008)
* Hadjor, Kofi Buenor, ''Nkrumah and Ghana'' (Africa Research & Publications, 2003)
* Hasty, Jennifer, ''The Press and Political Culture in Ghana'' (Indiana University Press, 2005)
* C. L. R. James, James, C.L.R., ''Kwame Nkrumah and the Ghana Revolution'' (Allison & Busby, 1977)
* Kuada, John, and Chachah Yao, ''Ghana. Understanding the People and their Culture'' (Woeli Publishing Services, 1999)
* Miescher, Stephan F, ''Making Men in Ghana'' (Indiana University Press, 2005)
* Milne, June, ''Kwame Nkrumah, A Biography'' (Panaf Books, 2006)
* Nkrumah, Kwame, ''Ghana: The Autobiography of Kwame Nkrumah'' (International Publishers, 1971)
* Utley, Ian, ''Ghana – Culture Smart!: the essential guide to customs & culture'' (Kuperard, 2009)
* Various, ''Ghana: An African Portrait Revisited'' (Peter E. Randall Publisher, 2007)
* Younge, Paschal Yao, ''Music and Dance Traditions of Ghana: History, Performance and Teaching'' (Mcfarland & Co Inc., 2011)
*
External links
Government
Ghana
official website
The Parliament of Ghana
official site
National Commission on Culture
official site
General information
Country Profile
from BBC News
Ghana
from ''Encyclopædia Britannica''
Ghana
from UCB Libraries GovPubs
Ghana
''The World Factbook''. Central Intelligence Agency.
Ghana
profile from Africa.com
*
*
* Th
African Activist Archive Project
website has photographs of the All Africa People's Conference held in Accra, Ghana, 5–13 December 1958 includin
Kwame Nkrumah, Prime Minister of Ghana
addressing the conference, th
American Committee on Africa delegation
meeting with Nkrumah, and o
Patrick Duncan and Alfred Hutchinson
of South Africa at the conference.
Key Development Forecasts for Ghana
from International Futures
Trade
Ghana 2012 Summary Trade Statistics
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Ghana,
Republics in the Commonwealth of Nations
Economic Community of West African States
English-speaking countries and territories
Member states of the African Union
Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations
Member states of the United Nations
States and territories established in 1957
West African countries
Articles containing video clips
1957 establishments in Ghana
Countries in Africa