The Western North Region is one of the six new

regions of Ghana The Regions of Ghana constitute the first level of subnational government administration within the Republic of Ghana. As of 2020, there are currently sixteen regions, which are further divided for administrative purposes into 260 local metro ...

created in 2019. The region is bounded by the

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 ...

(

Comoé District Comoé District (french: District du Comoé) is one of fourteen administrative districts of Ivory Coast. The district is located in the southeast corner of the country, bordering Ghana to the east, Zanzan District to the north, Lacs District and L ...

) on the west, the Central region in the southeast, and the Ashanti,

Ahafo Ahafo are Akan people who live 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 ...

, Bono East and

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Born and raised in Dublin, he attended M ...

regions in the north. The Western North Region has the highest rainfall in Ghana, lush green hills, and fertile soils. There are numerous small and large-scale

gold mine Gold Mine may refer to: *Gold Mine (board game) *Gold Mine (Long Beach), an arena *"Gold Mine", a song by Joyner Lucas from the 2020 album '' ADHD'' See also * ''Gold'' (1974 film), based on the novel ''Gold Mine'' by Wilbur Smith *Gold mining ...

s companies in the region. The ethnic culture of the region is dominated by the Sefwis. The main languages spoken are Sefwi,

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 ...

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

History

The Western North Region of Ghana is a new region carved out of the existing Western Region of Ghana. This creation of this new region was in fulfillment of a promise made by 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 ...

prior to the 2016 Ghana general election. Upon winning the elections, the President,

Nana Akuffo 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 ...

created the Ministry of Regional Reorganization to oversee policy formulation and implementation. In all, six new regions were created from the existing ten regions of Ghana. The other new regions are Bono East,

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

North East 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 sepa ...

, and Oti regions. The execution of plans for the creation of the regions was ceded to the newly created Ministry of Regional Reorganization and Development which is under the leadership of Hon. Dan Botwe. In March 2017, the ministry sent the blueprint for the creation of the region along with others to the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

. The council met over 36 times from the time of submission to August 2017. The final stage for the creation of the region was decided through a

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 ...

by the people within the area of the new region on 27 December 2018.

Tourism

The region has several forest reserves which serve as tourist attractions.

Education

The Western North region has many post-secondary schools, including teachers' and nursing colleges.

Health

In August 2021, the region recorded an outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza.

Administrative divisions

The political administration of the region is through the local government system. Under this administration system, the region is divided into nine MMDA's (made up of 0 Metropolitan, 3 Municipal and 6 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:

References

{{Authority control Regions of Ghana 2018 in Ghana States and territories established in 2019