The Pra River is a river in
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
, the easternmost and the largest of the three principal rivers that drain the area south of the
Volta divide. Rising in the
Kwahu Plateau
The Kwahu Plateau is a long plateau in southern Ghana. It consists of the uplifted southern edge of the Volta River Basin. It forms the main watershed of Ghana, separating rivers in the Volta River system from rivers in the western half of Ghana ...
near
Mpraeso
Mpraeso is a town and the capital of Kwahu South district, a district in the Eastern Region of south Ghana, located at an altitude of 367 m on the Kwahu Plateau, which forms the south-west boundary of Lake Volta. Mpraeso has a 2013 settlem ...
and flowing southward for 240 km through rich cocoa and farming areas and valuable forests in 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 ...
lowlands, the Pra enters 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 ...
east of
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 indu ...
. In the 19th century, the Pra served as the border between the
Ashanti Confederacy and the
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 ...
.
The Pra has many cataracts, notably the Bosomasi Rapids at Anyinabrim, and for most of its length is not navigable even by canoe. However, in the early part of the twentieth century the Pra was used extensively to float timber to the coast for export. This trade is now carried by road and rail transportation. The main tributaries are the
Ofin, Anum and
Birim rivers. The northern part of the Pra is still worked for artisan gold with metallic mercury, which has caused some contamination.
The Birim river valley is a major source of diamonds.
Akim Oda
Akim Oda is a town in the Eastern Region of south Ghana and is the capital of the Birim Central Municipal District and the traditional capital of Akyem Kotoku. In 2013, Akim Oda had a settlement population of 60,604 people.
Geography and clim ...
is the commercial centre of the northern Pra basin.
References
External links
*
Rivers of Ghana
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