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For other uses, see Ghana (disambiguation).
Republic of Ghana
Motto: "Freedom and Justice"
Anthem: God Bless Our Homeland Ghana
Location of Ghana
Capital
and largest city
Accra
Official languagesEnglish Twi
GovernmentConstitutional republic
• President
John Kufuor
Aliu Mahama
Independence 
from the United Kingdom
• Declared
6 March 1957
• Republic
1 July 1960
• Constitution
28 April 1992
• Water (%)
3.5
Population
• 2005 estimate
22,113,0001 (49th)
GDP (PPP)2005 estimate
• Total
$55.2 billion (72nd)
• Per capita
$2,643 (127th)
HDI (2004)0.532
low (136th)
CurrencyGhanaian cedi (GHC)
Time zoneGMT
• Summer (DST)
not observed
Calling code233
ISO 3166 codeGH
Internet TLD.gh
  1. Estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2005 estimate)

Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in Africa. It borders Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. Accra is the capital and largest city. The country's population in 2005 was 21,029,000.

It was inhabited in pre-colonial times by a number of ancient kingdoms, including the Ga Adangbes on the eastern coast, inland Ashanti kingdom and various Fante states along the coast and in land. Trade with European states flourished after contact with the Portuguese in the fifteenth century, and the British established a crown colony, Gold Coast, in 1874.

It was the first Sub-Saharan country to obtain independence from colonial rule. Upon achieving independence from the United Kingdom in 1957, the name Ghana was chosen for the new nation to reflect the ancient Empire of Ghana that once roamed the west of Africa.

On March 6, 2007, Ghana celebrated the 50th anniversary of its independence.

History

Main article: History of Ghana

For most of central sub-Saharan Africa, agricultural expansion marked the period before 500. Farming began earliest on the southern tips of the Sahara, eventually giving rise to village settlements. Toward the end of the classical era, larger regional kingdoms were formed in West Africa, one of which was the Kingdom of Ghana, north of what is today the nation of Ghana. After its fall at the beginning of the thirteenth century, Akan migrants moved southward then founded several tribal empires including the first great Akan empire of the Bono in now what is known as the Brong Ahafo region in Ghana. Later Akan groups such as the Ashanti federation and Fante states are thought to possibly have roots in the original Bono settlement at Bono manso. Much of the area was united under the Ashanti confederation by the sixteenth century. The Ashanti government operated first as a loose network and eventually as a centralized kingdom with a highly-specialized bureaucracy centered in Kumasi.

The first contact between tribal peoples—the Fantes on the Coastal area—and Europeans occurred in 1482. The Portuguese first landed at Elmina, a coastal city inhabited by the Fanti tribe in 1482. During the next few centuries pieces of the area were controlled by British, Portuguese, and Scandinavian powers, with the British ultimately prevailing. The tribal kingdoms maintained varying alliances with the colonial powers and each other, which resulted in the 1806 Ashanti-Fante war, as well as an ongoing struggle by the Ashanti against the British. Moves toward regional de-colonialization began in 1946, and the area's first constitution was promulgated in 1951.

Formed from the merger of the British colony Gold Coast and the British Togoland trust territory by a UN sponsored plebiscite, Ghana became the first sub-Saharan country in colonial Africa to gain its independence in 1957. Kwame Nkrumah was an African anti-colonial leader, founder and first president of the modern Ghanaian state. He was the first African head of state to espouse the Pan-Africanism, an idea he came into contact with during his studies at Lincoln University in the United States, at the time when Marcus Garvey was becoming famous for his "Back to Africa Movement."

Nkrumah was overthrown by a CIA-backed coup[1][2]. A series of subsequent coups ended with the ascension to power of Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings in 1981. His changes resulted in the suspension of the constitution in 1981 and the banning of political parties. A new constitution, restoring multiparty politics, was approved in 1992, and Rawlings was elected in free elections of that year and also in 1996. The constitution prohibited him from running for a third term. John Kufuor, the current president, is now in his second term. 2007 will mark Ghana's Golden Jubilee celebration of fifty years of declaration of independence.

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Economy

Main article: Economy of Ghana

Well endowed with natural resources, Ghana has twice the per capita output of the poorer countries in West Africa. Even so, Ghana remains heavily dependent on international financial and technical assistance. Gold, timber, and cocoa production are major sources of foreign exchange.

The domestic economy continues to revolve around subsistence agriculture, which accounts for 34% of GDP and employs 60% of the work force,[3] mainly small landholders. In 1995-97, Ghana made mixed progress under a three-year structural adjustment program in cooperation with the IMF. On the minus side, public sector wage increases and regional peacekeeping commitments have led to continued inflationary deficit financing, depreciation of the cedi, and rising public discontent with Ghana's austerity measures. Even so, Ghana remains one of the more economically sound countries in the west of Africa.

Regions and districts

Main articles: Regions of Ghana and Districts of Ghana
Regions of Ghana

Ghana is a divided into 10 regions, subdivided into a total of 138 districts. The regions are: {{columns


Geography

Map of Ghana
Satellite image of Ghana
Main article: Geography of Ghana

Ghana is located on the Gulf of Guinea, only a few degrees north of the Equator. It is roughly the size of the state of Oregon. The coastline is mostly a low, sandy shore backed by plains and scrub and intersected by several rivers and streams. A tropical rain forest belt, broken by heavily forested hills and many streams and rivers, extends northward from the shore. North of this belt, the land is covered by low bush, park-like savanna, and grassy plains.

The climate is tropical. The eastern coastal belt is warm and comparatively dry (see Dahomey Gap); the southwest corner, hot and humid; and the north, hot and dry. Lake Volta, the world's largest artificial lake, extends through large portions of eastern Ghana.

The capital, Accra, has a population of about 2 million.

Main cities

See also: Category:Cities in Ghana

Navrongo · Asamankese · Sunyani · Bolgatanga · Koforidua · Cape Coast (home to Cape Coast Castle and the University of Cape Coast) · Elmina (home to Elmina Castle) · Ho · Kumasi (rail junction) · Nsawam (rail junction) · Takoradi (port and railhead) · Tamale · Tarkwa (rail junction) · Techiman · Techiman · Abetifi · Tema (port and railhead) · Wa · Obuasi (major gold mining center) · Odumase-Krobo · Somanya · Nkawkaw · Kpong (site of hydroelectric dam) · Akosombo {site of hydroelectric dam) · Akim-Manso · Nsoatre · Kyebi · Adenta · Madina · Anum · Teteman · Kwahu-Asakrakah

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Ghana

Major tribes: Akan 49%, Moshi-Dagomba 16%, Ewe 13%, Ga 8%. European and other: 0.2%

Religions: Christian 63%, Indigenous beliefs 21%, Muslim 16%[4]

Languages: English (official), African languages (including Akan, Moshi-Dagomba, Ewe, and Ga)

Languages

Main article: Languages of Ghana

Ethnologue lists a total of seventy-nine languages in Ghana (language map).

As many former African colonies, the official language of Ghana is the colonial language, in this case English. Nine languages have the status of government-sponsored languages: Akan, Dagaare/Wale, Dagbane, Dangme, Ewe, Ga, Gonja, Kasem, and Nzema. Though not an official language, Hausa is the lingua-franca spoken among the countries of minorities.

Education

Main article: Education in Ghana

Ghana has 550,000 primary schools, 400,005 junior secondary schools, 50,000 senior secondary schools, twenty-one training colleges, eighteen technical institutions, 10 polytechnics,20 diploma-awarding institutions and six public and ten private universities serving a population of over 20 million; this means that most Ghanaians have relatively easy access to good education. In contrast, at the time of independence in 1957, Ghana had only one university and a handful of secondary and primary schools. In the past decade, Ghana's spending on education has been between 5 percent and 10 percent of its annual budget.

Primary and middle schools teach African history, science, agricultural, English and the pupil's mother tongue and citizenship. Primary education is free and mandatory for all children of school going age. Pupils are enrolled in kindergarten prior to their six-year primary education at age three. Under educational reforms implemented in 1987, they pass into a new junior secondary school system for three years of academic training combined with technical and vocational training, where they pass a Basic Education Certificate Examination.

Those wishing to continue with their education move into the three-year senior secondary school program. Entrance to universities is by examination following completion of senior secondary school. School enrollment totals almost five million: 2.3 million primary; 107,600 middle; 48,900 secondary; 21,280 technician; 11,300 teacher training; and 20,600 university.

There is currently an on-going educational reform in Ghana, and teaching is mainly in English.

International rankings

Organization Survey Ranking
Heritage Foundation/The Wall Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom 91 out of 157[5]
Reporters Without Borders Worldwide Press Freedom Index 34 out of 168[6]
Transparency International Corruption Perception Index 70 out of 163[7]
United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index 136 out of 177[8]
World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report not ranked[9]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Interview with John Stockwell in Pandora's Box: Black Power (Adam Curtis, BBC Two, 22 June 1992)
  2. ^ http://www.state.gov/www/about_state/history/vol_xxiv/s.html, http://www.state.gov/www/about_state/history/vol_xxiv/s.html, http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/history/cia_nkrumah.php, http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/artikel.php?ID=75990, On Nkrumah assassination by CIA: Gaines, Kevin (2006) American Africans in Ghana, Balck expatriates and the Civil Rights Era, The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill.
  3. ^ The World Factbook
  4. ^ Facts on People of Ghana, accessed July 13, 2006
  5. ^ "Heritage Foundation - 2007 Index of Economic Freedom". Official Website for the Index. The Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 2007-02-24. The highest form of economic freedom provides an absolute right of property ownership, fully realized freedoms of movement for labor, capital, and goods, and an absolute absence of coercion or constraint of economic liberty beyond the extent necessary for citizens to protect and maintain liberty itself. In other words, individuals are free to work, produce, consume, and invest in any way they please, and that freedom is both protected by the state and unconstrained by the state.
  6. ^ "Reporters Without Borders - Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2006". Annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index. Reporters sans frontières. Retrieved 2007-02-24.
  7. ^ "Corruption Percpetion Index 2006". Official Website. Transparency International e.V. Retrieved 2007-02-24.
  8. ^ "Human Development Report 2006" (pdf). Annual Report. United Nations Development Programme. Retrieved 2007-02-24.
  9. ^ "Table 1: Global Competitiveness Index rankings and 2005 comparisons" (pdf). World Economic Forum - Global Competitiveness Report 2006 - 2007. World Economic Forum. Retrieved 2007-02-24.

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