The Upper East Region is located in north

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 ...

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 regional capital is

Bolgatanga Bolgatanga ( Frafra: '), colloquially known as ''Bolga'', is a town and the capital of the Bolgatanga Municipal District and Upper East Region of Ghana, adjacent to the border with Burkina Faso. Bolgatanga has over 2012 settlement and a populat ...

, sometimes referred to as Bolga. Other major towns in the region include

Navrongo Navrongo is a town and the capital of Kassena-Nankana District in the Upper East Region of northern Ghana, adjacent to the border with Burkina Faso. Navrongo is the capital of Kassena-Nankana District – which is within the Upper East Region of ...

Paga Paga is a town in Upper East Region of Ghana, lying north of Bolgatanga. Paga is the capital of Kassena Nankana West District, a district in the Upper East Region in the northern part of Ghana. The town is located on the border of Burkina Faso a ...

Bawku Bawku is a town and is the capital of the Bawku Municipal District, district in the Upper East region of north Ghana, adjacent to the border with Burkina Faso. Bawku has a 2012 settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community ...

and

Zebilla Zebilla is a town and is the capital of Bawku West district, a district in the Upper East Region of north Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea an ...

Geography

Location and size

The Upper East Region is located in the

north-eastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

corner of Ghana and bordered by

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 ...

to 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 ...

to the east. It lies between longitude 0° and 1° West, and latitudes 10° 30′N and 11°N. The region shares boundaries with

to the north,

to the east,

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 ...

to the west, and the Northern Region to the south. The Upper East Region is divided into 15 districts, each headed by a district chief executive.

Tourism

Parks

Paga Crocodile Pond Paga Crocodile Pond is a sacred pond in Paga in the Upper East Region of Ghana, which is inhabited by West African crocodiles. Due to the friendliness of the reptiles, it has become popular among tourists and the pond is now reliant on tourism to e ...

*Sombo Bat Sanctuary *Jafiiri Sacred Royal Python Sanctuary

Recreation areas

*Tongo rocks *

Bongo Rock "Bongo Rock" is a rock and roll instrumental written and recorded by Preston Epps. Released as a single in 1959, it charted #14 Pop in the United States and #4 in Canada. In 1973 the Incredible Bongo Band recorded a cover version of "Bongo Rock" ...

s *

Tono Dam Tono Dam is one of the largest agricultural dams in western Africa, located in Kassena-Nankana District of Upper East Region, northern Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It ...

Historic sites

*Naa Gbewaa's shrine *Navrongo's mud-built church *

Pikworo Slave camp The Pikworo Slave camp was founded in 1704 and was active until 1845. It is located in ''Paga nania'', about 3 kilometers west of Paga in the Upper East Region of Ghana. It was originally developed as a slave transit center where slaves were aucti ...

Festivals

The region plays host to many festivals throughout the year, most of which are either to bring a good planting season or celebrate the harvest. *

Samanpiid festival The Samanpiid Festival is an annual festival celebrated by the Kusasis in the Kusaug Traditional Area in the Upper East Region of Ghana. The festival is one that is used to thank God for a bumper harvest during the farming season. The festival wa ...

Damba Festival The Damba festival is celebrated by the chiefs and peoples of the Northern, Savanna, North East and Upper West Regions of Ghana. The name Damba in Dagbani, Damma in Mampruli and Jingbenti in Waali. The festival is celebrated in the Dagomb ...

( Mamprusi) *

Gologo Festival The Gologo festival, also known as the Golib festival, is celebrated in the month of March at the end of the dry season before the sewing of the early millet (Ansah, 1997; Allman & Parker, 2005). The Gologo Festival is among the major festiva ...

Fao Festival The Fao festival is celebrated by the chiefs and peoples of Navrongo in the Upper East Region 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 Atlant ...

* Paragbiele Festival *

Willa Festival Willa Festival is an annual festival celebrated by the chiefs and people of Takpo in the Nadowli district in the Upper West Region of Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It ab ...

* Zumbenti Festival *Feok festival builsa * Zekula festival, By Bissa people * Boaram Festival * Bolgatanga International Craft and Arts Festival Organized by TradeAID Integrated* * Tengana festival, By the people of Balungu, Winkongo and Pwalugu * Ndaakoya festival, by the Frafra, Talensi and Nabdam speaking Communities.

Other tourist attractions

* Upper East Regional Museum * Sirigu Pottery and Arts Center * Bolga market - a market for farmers and livestock, held twice weekly. *Bolgatanga Craft Village

Demographics

Population

The

center of population In demographics, the center of population (or population center) of a region is a geographical point that describes a centerpoint of the region's population. There are several ways of defining such a "center point", leading to different geogr ...

of the Upper East Region is located in its capital of

. The population is primarily rural (79%) and scattered in dispersed settlements. The

rural population In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and city, cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agriculture, Agricultural areas and areas with forestry ty ...

was 87.1 percent in 1984 and 84.3% in 2000. There was, thus, a 2.8 percentage point reduction in the rural share of the population between 1984 and 2000 and a further 5.3 percent reduction between 2000 and 2010. With only 21 per cent of the population living in urban areas, the region is the least urbanized in Ghana. In fact, together with Upper West, they are the two regions with a less than 20 per cent

urban population An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, ...

. Ghanaian

citizen Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

by birth, childhood or parenthood constitute 92.5 percent of the population of the Upper East region. Naturalized Ghanaian

constitute 5.3 percent. Upper East Region has a total population of 1,301,221 in the 2021 Population and Housing Census.

Transportation

Three

national highways National Highways, formerly the Highways Agency and later Highways England, is a State-owned enterprise, government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving Roads in England, motorways and major A roads in England. It al ...

– N2, N10, and N11 – and a few Regional highways such as the R113, R114, R116 and R181, serve the region. The N10 originates from Yemoransa in the Central Region and connects through

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 ...

in the

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 ...

and terminates at Paga in the Upper East Region. The national capital of

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, , ...

is also connected to the region by the N2 which terminates in Kulungugu in the Upper East Region. Both these national routes are connected by the N11 which links the regional capital of

to Bimpiela, also in the region.

Administrative divisions

The political administration of the region is through the local government system. Under this administration system, the region is divided into 15 MMDA's (made up of 0 Metropolitan, 4

Municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

and 11 Ordinary Assemblies). Each District, Municipal or Metropolitan Assembly, is administered by a Chief Executive, representing the central government but deriving authority from an Assembly headed by a presiding member elected from among the members themselves. The current list is as follows:

Education

Senior high schools

*Awe Senior High/Tech *Bolga Girls Senior High School *Awe Senior High/Tech School *Bawku Senior High/Tech School * Bolgatanga Senior High School *Bongo Senior High School * Chiana Senior High School *

Fumbisi Senior High School Fumbisi Senior High/Agric School is a second cycle institution in Fumbisi in the Builsa South District in the Upper East Region of Ghana. History The school was established in 1991. In the 2018/19 academic year, the number of third-year ...

*Gowrie Senior High Tech School *Gambigo Day Community SHS *Garu Day Community SHS *Kongo Senior High School *Kusanaba Senior High School *

Navrongo Senior High School History Navrongo Senior High School is a school in Navrongo which was established in September 1960 by Ghana's first president Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. It was named President's College. The president indicated his dream that this school will ...

*Nabango Senior High *Notre Dame Sem/ Senior High School *Mirigu Community Day SHS * O. L. L. Girls Senior High School *Paga Senior High School *Queen Of Peace Senior High School *Sandema Senior High/Tech School *Sandema Senior High School *Sirigu Senior High School *St John's Integrated Senior High/Tech *Tempane Senior High School *Zamse Senior High/Tech School *Zebilla Senior High/Tech School *Zorkor Senior High School *St John's Integrated SHTS * Zuarungu Senior High School * Bawku Senior High School * Bawku Technical School Tertiary Institutions 1).

Bolgatanga Technical University The Bolgatanga Technical University BTU, (formally Bolgatanga Polytechnic) is a small public tertiary institution in the Upper East Region of Ghana, West Africa. It is gradually increasing its courses and facilities following the achievement of un ...

2). St. John Bosco's College of Education 3). Gbewaa College of Education, Pusiga 4). UDS (University for Applied Science & Technology),

Notable native citizens

References

https://www.modernghana.com/author/AbongoMashoodAjene

Sources

*
GhanaDistricts.com

{{Authority control Regions of Ghana French-speaking countries and territories