Keta is a coastal town in the Volta Region of Ghana. It is the capital of the

Keta Municipal District Keta Municipal District is one of the eighteen districts in Volta Region, Ghana. Originally created as an ordinary district assembly in 1988 when it was known as Keta District, which was created from the former Anlo District Council, until it was ...

.Touring Ghana - Volta Region
. touringghana.com. Keta is the sixty-first most populous

settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building *Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction *Settlement (fina ...

in Ghana in terms of population, with a population of 23,207. Parts of the town were devastated by sea erosion between the 1960s and 1980s. Keta is mentioned in

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, popular poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and ...

's ''

All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes ''All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes'', published in 1986, is the fifth book in African-American writer and poet Maya Angelou's seven-volume autobiography series. Set between 1962 and 1965, the book begins when Angelou is 33 years old, and ...

''.

History

The National Archives UK - CO 1069-34-127-2-001

Keta was settled by the Anlo Ewe, a sub-group of the Ewe people who, in the 17th century, migrated to the area from Ketu, in Benin via Adja Tado and Notsie in Togo.Amenumey, D. E. K. (1968) "The Extension of British Rule to Anlo (South-East Ghana)" ''The Journal of African History'' 9(1): pp. 997–117
JSTOR copy
/ref> Keta was an important trading post between the 14th and the late 20th centuries. The town attracted the interest of the

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

, because they felt they could establish a base here without interference from rival European nations. Their first initiative was to place a factory at Keta to sell alcohol. In 1792, a war between Anloga and Keta broke out. The original people then migrated across the lagoon to Klikor to establish the Somey State with Agbozume as its capital. Keta was then repopulated with people from other areas of the surrounding communities. Faced with the threat of war between Peki and an alliance of the Ashanti and the Akwamu, the North German Missionary Society (also known as the

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

Missionaries) moved the focus of their activities from Peki to Keta. Their missionaries, Dauble and Plessing, landed at nearby Dzelukofe on September 2, 1853. Historically Keta was also known as ''Quittah'' or Agudzeawo (Easterners in old Ewe) and was assigned B27 as a postal mark. From 1874 Hausa Constabulary were based at Keta, and soon there grew to be a community of Hausa traders in the town. The author, and then colonial Civil Servant, Dr.

R. Austin Freeman Dr. Richard Austin Freeman (11 April 1862 – 28 September 1943) was a British writer of detective stories, mostly featuring the medico-legal forensic investigator Dr. Thorndyke. He invented the inverted detective story (a crime fiction in wh ...

served as a medical officer (Assistant Surgeon) here in 1887 during which an epidemic of black water fever killed forty per cent of the European population. Etymology: Ewe language- Ke:ta - Head of the sand

Ecology

In 1784, Fort Prinzenstein, like most slave trade forts, was built by the sea's edge. However the sea had retreated by about 600 ft by 1907. Since then Keta has been subject to sustained erosion. The Bremen Factory and Coconut plantation, which were close to the high water mark in 1907, had been swept away by the sea by 1924. The erosion has now advanced as far as Queen Street and started to wear away the Fort. Close to Keta is the famous town of Woe, known for the notable

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

called Cape St. Paul Lighthouse on the beach that is believed to guide ships away from a mythical massive underwater mountain. This lighthouse is also thought to be the oldest in Ghana.

Keta Lagoon

Keta Lagoon is the largest lagoon in Ghana with a water area of 300 km². This is located in a larger wetlands protected area of 1200 km². It is a stopping point for a large number of migratory birds and provides a breeding ground for

sea turtles Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, ...

. The Keta Lagoon is known for its immense quantity of salt.

Festival

Keta Sometutuza Festival''hogbetsotso za'' Etymology Keta: (Ewe language ). Head/top of the sand. These words were uttered by Torgbui Wenya,the founder of Anlo State when he sighted the sand dunes at the sea shore. Wenya had separated from his kinsmen in nearby Wheta to establish his own settlement at Anloga. Historically, the people of Keta were also known as Agudzeawo - meaning Easterners because they are east of Anloga.

Oil

Oil has been found at the Keta Basin. However, experts are against the exploitation because it will be on land which lead to the destruction of land and lives, as well as some sources of livelihood.

Education

The city can boast of notably finest schools in the Volta Region. * Keta Senior High Technical School * Keta Business College

Attractions

Keta community has a few tourist attractions which one can enjoy whiles in the town. * Aborigines Beach Resort * Keta Lagoon Rest Stop * Keta Lagoon Resort * Fort Prinzenstein * Gobah Beach * Emancipation Beach Resort

References

(15) Felix Kuadugah- contributor. History of Agbozume and Keta. {{Authority control Populated places in the Volta Region Ramsar sites in Ghana