The Regions of

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 ...

constitute the first level of subnational government administration within the

Republic of 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 ...

. As of 2020, there are currently sixteen regions, which are further divided for administrative purposes into 260 local metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (or MMDA's).

Current regions

The former ten regional boundaries were officially established in 1987, when the

Upper West Region 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 se ...

was inaugurated as the state's newest administrative region. Although the official inauguration was in 1987, the Upper West Region had already functioned as an administrative unit since the break-up of the Upper Region in December 1982, prior to the 1984 national census. The

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

on the creation of six new regions was held on 27 December 2018 – all proposed new regions were approved.

Previous regional configurations

Independence - 6 March 1957

At Independence in March 1957, the Northern Territories, Trans-Volta Togoland and the Gold Coast came together to form Ghana. There were initially five regions. The Trans-Volta Togoland was combined with part of the Eastern Region and Northern Territories to form the Volta Region.

Post-independence and First republic

On 4 April 1959, the Ashanti Region was officially split into the Ashanti and Brong-Ahafo Regions. This followed the Brong Ahafo Region Act No. 18 of 1959. This was in line with what the Brong Kyempem movement had been campaigning for, which is the recognition of the

Bono people The Bono, also called the Brong and the Abron, are an Akan people of West Africa. Bonos are normally tagged Akan piesie or Akandifo of which Akan is a derivative name. Bono is the genesis and cradle of Akans. Bono is one of the largest ethnic gr ...

as a separate ethnic group from the Ashantis with their own region. On the day Ghana became a republic, 1 July 1960, the Northern Region got split into the Northern and Upper regions raising the number of regions to seven.

Second Republic

During the second republic, the Western Region was split into the Western and Central Regions, making eight regions in total. This was done ahead of the 1970 population census. In 1971, Sekondi and Takoradi were merged to form

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 indu ...

, the new capital of the Western Region.

PNDC era

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 co ...

which was the military government in power between 31 December 1981 and January 1993 promulgated the Greater Accra Law (PNDCL 26) of 23 July 1982 which created the

Greater Accra Region The Greater Accra Region has the smallest area of Ghana's 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of 3,245 square kilometres. This is 1.4 per cent of the total land area of Ghana. It is the second most populated region, befor ...

. This made the Accra Capital District, where the national capital,

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, , ...

was and the Ada Local Council, both areas within the Eastern Region parts of the new

. In the following year 1983, the Upper Region was divided into the

Upper East Region The Upper East Region is located in north Ghana and is the third smallest of the 16 administrative regions in Ghana. It occupies a total land surface of 8,842 square kilometers or 2.7 per cent of the total land area of Ghana. The Upper East regi ...

and

s, bringing the total number of regions to ten.

References

{{Articles on first-level administrative divisions of African countries Subdivisions of Ghana Ghana 1 Regions, Ghana

Ghana, Regions Ghana geography-related lists