The Upper East Region is located in the northern part of

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

and it 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% of the total land area of Ghana. The regional capital is

Bolgatanga Bolgatanga (Frafra language, Frafra: ''Bɔlegataŋa''), colloquially known as ''Bolga'', is a town and also the capital of the Bolgatanga Municipal District, Bolgatanga Municipal and the Upper East Region of Ghana. It shares a Burkina Faso–Gh ...

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

Navrongo Navrongo is a town and the capital of Kassena-Nankana Municipal District in the Upper East Region of northern Ghana, adjacent to the border with Burkina Faso. Navrongo is an important market town, known for its cathedral and its grotto. It hou ...

, Paga,

Sandema Sandema is the capital town of Builsa North District, a district in the Upper East Region of Ghana. Education The town of Sandema has several educational institutions ranging from Day Care facilities to second cycle institutions. There are thre ...

Bawku Bawku is a town and is the capital of the Bawku Municipal District, district in the Upper East Region, Upper East region of north Ghana, adjacent to the Burkina Faso–Ghana border, border with Burkina Faso. It is located approximately between ...

Zebilla Zebilla is a town and is the capital of Bawku West district, a district in the Upper East Region of north Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlant ...

, Tempane, Pusiga,

Garu Garu may refer to: People * Moses Garu (born 1969), Solomon Islands politician Places * Akhurian River, also known as Garu, a river in the South Caucasus * Garu, Ghana, town in northeastern Ghana * Garu, Iran (disambiguation), various places in ...

, Pwalugu, and Widana.

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—eac ...

corner of Ghana and is bordered by

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

to the north and

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

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 (Ghana), Northern Region to the south, and Burkina Faso to the west and north. The Upper West regional ...

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

Recreation areas

*Tongo rocks *

Bongo Rock "Bongo Rock" is a rock and roll instrumental recorded by Preston Epps, written by Epps and Arthur Egnoian. Released as a Single (music), single in 1959, it charted #14 Billboard Hot 100, Pop in the United States, and #4 in CHUM Chart, Canada. It ...

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, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the G ...

Historic sites

*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 ...

* Naa Gbewa Shrine in PUSIGA

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 Harvesting is the process of collec ...

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 * Kuure Festival, Zaare *Feok festival builsa *Zekula festival, By Bissa people * Boaram Festival * 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 * Paga crocodile pond

Demographics

Population

The

center of population In Demography, 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 dif ...

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 cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically describ ...

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 is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

. Ghanaian

citizens Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationality; ...

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 (PHC) conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service indicate that the Upper East Region representing 4.2 percent of Ghana’s population. The region has a total of 631,963 males and 669,963 representing 48.5 and 51.5 percentages of the population respectively

Transportation

Three national highways— 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 is a city and the capital of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is the second largest city in the country, with a population of 443,981 as of the 2021 census. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region ...

in the

Ashanti Region The Ashanti Region is located in the southern part of Ghana and is the third largest of Regions of Ghana, 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of and making up 10.2 percent of the total land area of Ghana. It is the List of ...

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

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) 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, , had a population of ...

is also connected to the region by the N2 which terminates in

Kulungugu Kulungugu is a small town in the Upper East Region of Ghana and a minor entry point at the border of Burkina Faso and the Pusiga District of Ghana. Kulungugu takes its name from the Bissa Language. The founder of Kulungungu was a Bissa man who ...

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 gov ...

and 15 Ordinary Assemblies). Each District, Municipal or Metropolitan Assembly, is administered by a Chief Executive, who represents 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

*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 *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 *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

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

* St. John Bosco's College of Education *

Gbewaa College of Education Gbewaa College of Education is a teacher education college in Pusiga-Bawku (Pusiga District / Bawku Municipal District, Upper East Region region, Ghana). Pusiga District / Bawku Municipal District, Upper East Region, Ghana).Björn Haßler, Jacob ...

, Pusiga * C.K. Tedam University of Technology & Applied Sciences

Notable native citizens

References

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

Sources

*
GhanaDistricts.com

{{Authority control Regions of Ghana