Cape Coast

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Cape Coast
City of Cape Coast
—  City  —
Arch bridge and harbour view from Elmina Castle in Cape Coast

Cape Metropolitan Assembly logo
Cape Coast is located in Ghana
Cape Coast
Location of Cape Coast in Central Region, Ghana.
Coordinates: 05°06′00″N 01°15′00″W / 5.10000°N 1.25000°W / 5.10000; -1.25000
Admin. Region Central Region
District Cape Coast Metropolitan
Population (2012)
 • Total 169,894[1]
 • Demonym Cape Coaster
Time zone GMT
 • Summer (DST) GMT (UTC)

Cape Coast, or Cabo Corso, is a city and fishing port, and the capital of Cape Coast Metropolitan District and Central Region of south Ghana. Cape Coast is situated on its south to the Gulf of Guinea. Cape Coast had a settlement population of 169,894 people (2010 census).[1] From the 16th century the city and fishing port has changed hands between the British, the Portuguese, the Swedish, the Danish and the Dutch.

Contents

History[edit]

Cape Coast City Hall in 2011

Founded by the Portuguese in the 15th century, Cape Coast grew around Cape Coast Castle, now a World Heritage Site. It was converted to a castle by the Dutch in 1650, then expanded by the Swedes in 1652 and captured by the British in 1664. The British based their Gold Coast operations in the town until they were expelled because of severe opposition to the "window tax" in 1877. Accra became their state. Cape Coast was also where most of the slaves were held before their journey on the Middle Passage.

Geography[edit]

Topography[edit]

The area is dominated by batholith rock and is generally undulating with steep slopes. There are valleys of various streams between the hills, with Kakum being the largest stream.

The minor streams end in wetlands, the largest of which drains into the Fosu Lagoon at Bakano. In the northern part of the district, however, the landscape is suitable for the cultivation of various crops.[2]

Climate[edit]

Temperature

Cape Coast is a humid area with mean monthly relative humidity varying between 85% and 99%. The sea breeze has a moderating effect on the local climate.[2]

Attractions[edit]

The crab is the city's mascot and a statue of one lies in the city centre. Fort William, built in 1820, was an active lighthouse from 1835 to the 1970s, while Fort Victoria was built in 1702.

Other attractions include a series of Asafo Shrines, Cape Coast Centre for National Culture, the Oguaa Fetu Afahye harvest festival, and since 1992, the biennial Panafest theatre festival. The town is located 30 km south of Kakum National Park, one of the most diverse and best preserved national parks in West Africa. Cape Coast also boast of being the first location where soccer was played in Ghana and Ebusua Dwarfs FC is the darling club of Cape Coasters.

It is believed that Michelle Obama, U.S. First Lady, considers Cape Coast as her ancestral home,[3] and on 11 July 2009, she took the rest of the first family to tour Cape Coast Castle as part of her husband's trip to Cape Coast.

View of Cape Coast fishing fleet from the Cape c Coast
Center of the Cape Coast Castle
Main street of the University of Cape Coast

Education[edit]

Cape Coast is the seat of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Ghana's leading university in teaching and research. Cape Vars, as it is popularly called, lies on a hill overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. It also has one of the best Polytechnics in Cape Coast Polytechnic (C-POLY). The city also boasts some of Ghana's finest secondary and technical schools:

Notable Cape Coasters[edit]

  • J. E. Casely Hayford 1866-1930; author, lawyer, politician and educator.
  • Rev. Dr. Philip Quarcoo: 1741-1816; first African clergy of the Church of England.
  • Dr. Samuel George Duker: 1905-1994; LRCP Edin LRCS Edin LRFPS Glasg; pioneering physician
  • Hon. Robert Hutchison: 1828-1863; statesman, soldier, philanthropist.
  • Jacob Wilson-Sey alias Kwaa Bonyin: 1832-1902; millionaire, philanthropist, founding member of the Aborigines' Rights Protection Society.
  • Hon. John Sarbah: 1834-1892; educationist, merchant, industrialist.
  • Rev. Mark Christian Hayford: 1863-1935; author, founder of Gold Coast Baptist Church and the Christian Army of the Gold Coast.
  • Rev. Samuel Richard Brew Attoh-Ahuma: 1863-1921; clergyman, nationalist, pioneering Pan-Africanist.
  • John Mensah-Sarbah 1864-1910; barrister, author, published Fanti Customary Laws.
  • Charles Emmanuel Graves: 1884-1929; musicologist, composer.
  • Sir James Henley Coussey, KBE: 1895-1958; High Court judge, chairman of the Coussey Commission, president of the West Africa Court of Appeal.
  • Kofi Bentsi-Enchill: 1895-1948; textiles tycoon, philanthropist.
  • Dr. Henry Mercer-Ricketts: 1895-1980; MB ChB Edin; pioneering physician.
  • King John Aggery Essien: 1809-1899; King of Cape Coast, pioneer Pan-Africanist.
  • Chief James Robert Thompson: 1810-18-86; pioneering educationist.
  • Hon. Francis Chapman Grant: 1823-1889; founding member of the Fanti Confederation; cousin of Ulysses Grant.
  • Thomas Frederic Edward Jones: 1850-1927; petitioned Queen Victoria about Lands Bill.
  • Hon. James Cheetham: 1834-1902; merchant, member of the Legislative Council of the Gold Coast.
  • Thomas Frederic Edward Jones: 1850-1927; petitioned Queen Victoria about Lands Bill.
  • Rev. Andrew William Parker: 1840-1912; conscientious nationalist, fought in the Ashanti Expedition.
  • Joseph Peter Brown: 1843-1932; patriot, statesman.
  • Prince James Hutton Brew: 1844-1915; solicitor.
  • Henry Van Hein: 1858-1928; President of the Aboriginal Rights Protection Society.
  • Hon. William Ward-Brew, OBE: 1878-1943; lawyer, VP of Aborigines' Rights Protection Society.
  • George Edward Moore: 1879-1950; recipient of the Ashanti Medal, executive member of the Aborigines' Rights Protection Society.
  • John Coleman de-Graft Johnson: 1884-1956; secretary of Native Affairs, anthropologist.
  • Prophet Jemisimiham Jehu-Appiah: 1892-1948; founder of Musama Disco Christo Church in Africa.
  • William Esuman Gwira Kobina Sekyi: 1892-1956; lawyer, politician, author.
  • Peter Turkson: 1948-; Cardinal-Archbishop of Cape Coast.
  • Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur:1951-;current Vice President of the Republic of Ghana.

Sister cities[edit]

List of sister cities of Cape Coast, designated by Sister Cities International:

Country City County / District / Region / State Date
Germany Germany Flagge der kreisfreien Stadt Bonn.svg Bonn Flag of North Rhine-Westphalia.svg North Rhine-Westphalia 2012
United States United States Flag of Buffalo, New York.svg Buffalo, NY Flag of New York.svg New York

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "2010 Population and Housing Census". Ghana Statistical Service. 
  2. ^ a b "Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly". centralregion.gov.gh. 
  3. ^ "Obamas confront history inside Ghana's slave dungeon". businesstimesafrica.net. Retrieved 16 March 2012. 
  • Charles Tetty, "Medical Practitioners of African Descent in Colonial Ghana", International Journal of African Historical Studies, Vol. 18, No. 1 (1985), pp. 139–44, Boston University African Studies Center.
  • Gallery of Gold Coast Celebrities 1632-1958, Vol 1 2 & 3; I.S. Ephson, Ghana Publishing Corporation, 1970.
  • Kofi Baku, "Kobina Sekyi of Ghana: An Annotated Bibliography of His Writings", International Journal of African Historical Studies, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1991), pp. 369–81, Boston University African Studies Center.

External links[edit]

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Cape Coast.

Coordinates: 5°06′N 1°15′W / 5.100°N 1.250°W / 5.100; -1.250

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