Ghana

Ghana, republic in western Africa, bordered on the north and north-west by Burkina Faso, on the east by Togo, on the south by the Gulf of Guinea, and on the west by Côte d’Ivoire. Formerly a British colony known as the Gold Coast, Ghana was the first majority-ruled nation in sub-Saharan Africa to achieve independence, in 1957. The country is named after the ancient inland empire of Ghana, from which the ancestors of the inhabitants of the present country are thought to have migrated. The total area of Ghana is 238,500 sq km (92,090 sq mi). The capital is Accra.

LAND & RESOURCE

Ghana is a lowland country, except for a range of hills on the eastern border. The sandy coastline is backed by a coastal plain that is crossed by several rivers and streams, generally navigable only by canoe. In the west the terrain is broken by heavily forested hills and many streams and rivers. Ghana’s highest point, in the eastern hills, is about 884 m (2,900 ft) above sea level. To the north lies an undulating savannah.

RIVERS & LAKES

The northern savannah is drained by the Black Volta and White Volta rivers, that join to form the Volta, which then flows south to the sea through a narrow gap in the hills. Lake Volta, in the east, is one of the largest artificial lakes in the world. No natural harbours exist.

CLIMATES

The climate of Ghana is tropical, but temperatures and rainfall vary with distance from the coast and elevation. Except in the north, two distinct rainy seasons occur, from April to June and from September to November. In the north the rainy season begins in March and lasts until September. Annual rainfall ranges from about 1,015 mm (40 in) in the north to about 2,030 mm (80 in) in the south-east. The harmattan, a dry desert wind, blows from the north-east from December to March, lowering the humidity and creating hot days and cool nights in the north. In the south the effects of the harmattan are felt in January. In most areas the highest temperatures occur in March, the lowest in August. The average annual temperature is about 26.1° C (79° F).

NATURAL RESOURCES

The chief mineral resources of Ghana include gold, silver, iron, manganese ore, bauxite, and diamonds. Forest resources are significant, and the offshore waters are rich in fish. Minor resources include oil, natural gas, beryl, tantalite-columbite, and chromite.

PLANTS & ANIMALS

Much of the natural vegetation of Ghana has been destroyed by land clearing for agriculture, but such trees as the giant silk cotton, African mahogany, and cedar are still prevalent in the tropical forest zone of the south. The northern two-thirds of the country is covered by savannah—a grassland with scattered trees. Animal life has also been depleted, especially in the south, but it remains relatively diverse and includes leopard, hyena, lemur, buffalo, elephant, wild hog, antelope, and monkey. Many species of reptiles are found, including the cobra, python, puff adder, and horned adder.

POPULATION & CHARACTERISTICS

The population of Ghana is divided into around 100 ethnic groups. The majority of the people depend on agriculture and live on farms or in small villages.

Ghana has a population of 20,757,032 (2004 estimate), giving the country an average population density of about 90 people per sq km (234 per sq mi). The most densely populated parts of the country are the coastal areas, the Ashanti region in the south central part of the country, and the two principal cities, Accra and Kumasi. Seventy per cent of the total population lives in the southern half of the country. Life expectancy in 2004 was 55 years for men and 57 years for women.

The most numerous of the peoples belong to the Akan family: the Fanti, who live on the coast, and the Asante, who live in central Ghana. The Nzema and the Ahanta live in the south-west. The Accra plains are inhabited by the Ga. Most of the inhabitants in the northern region belong to the Moshi-Dagomba group of Volta peoples or to the Gonja group.

POLITICAL DIVISIONS

Ghana is divided into ten local government administrative regions with their respective capital cities in bracket:

• Greater Accra (Accra, also Capital city of Ghana)
• Eastern (Koforidua)
• Western (Sekondi-Takoradi)
• Central (Cape-Coast)
• Volta (Ho) Ashanti (Kumasi)
• Brong-Ahafo (Sunyani)
• Northern (Tamale)
• Upper East (Bolgatanga)
• Upper West (Wa)

PRINCIPAL CITIES

Accra, the largest city and commercial centre, as well as the capital, has a population of 1,904,000 (1999 estimate). Kumasi, population 399,300 (1990 estimate), Sekondi, 116,500 (1990 estimate), has an artificial harbour; it is the first modern port built in Ghana. Other major cities include Tamale, 151,100 (1988 estimate), Tema, 180,600 (1990 estimate), and Cape Coast, 57,224 (1984).

RELIGION

Traditional religions are adhered to by 38 per cent of the population. The Muslim population (about 30 per cent of the total) is located chiefly in the northern part of the country. The Christian community, which accounts for about 24 per cent of the total population and includes Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Methodists, and Presbyterians, is concentrated in the coastal region.

LANGUAGE

English is the official language of Ghana and is universally used in schools although it is not a mother tongue. In 1962 the government selected nine Ghanaian languages, in addition to English and French, for use in educational institutions: Akuapim-Twi, Asante-Twi, Dagaari, Dagbani, Ewe, Fante, Ga-Adangme, Kasem, and Nzema. A further five languages were selected for use in non-formal education circles and in radio broadcasting: Buli, Frafra, Gonja, Kusaal, and Sisaala. In total, 79 languages are spoken in Ghana, mainly African languages.

EDUCATION

Six years of primary education and three years of secondary education are free and compulsory in Ghana. Higher education is provided by teacher & nursing training colleges, the nine (9) Polytechnics in the country, the University of Ghana (1948), in Accra; the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (1951), in Kumasi; the University of Cape Coast (1962); the University for Development Studies (1992) in Tamale; and the University College of Education of Winneba (1992). Now, there are different private and affiliated Universities all over the country since the year 2000. An educational reform has being approval by parliament and is due to take effect in 2008 for the senior high schools from 3 years to four years of intensive learning.

ECONOMY

The economy of Ghana, a country rich in natural resources, is based on the production of a few primary agricultural and mineral products. Following near economic collapse and hyperinflation in the early 1980s, drastic economic reforms, including successive devaluations, privatization programmes, increases in agricultural produce prices, and cuts in government spending led to sustained economic growth after the mid-1980s. Overall growth continued at a rate of approximately 5 per cent in 1995, due largely to increased gold, timber, and cocoa production, all major sources of foreign exchange. The economy, however, continues to revolve around subsistence agriculture. While Ghana has twice the per capita output of the poorer countries in West Africa, it remains dependent on international aid.

In 2002 Ghana’s GNP was US$5,505 million (World Bank estimate), yielding a per capita income of about US$270. The estimated national budget in 1993 showed revenues of about US$1,013 million and expenditures of about US$1,253 million.

ENERGY

Almost all of Ghana’s power is generated in hydroelectric facilities, such as the Volta River hydroelectric project, and the hydroelectric dam at Kpong. Total production of electricity in Ghana in 2001 was approximately 8.8 billion kWh. Significant amounts of electricity are exported.

CURRENCY & BANKING

The Bank of Ghana (established 1957) is the country’s central bank and issues the national currency. Since 1967 the monetary unit has been the cedi (¢) of 100 pesewas (p). Since July 2007, the country has redenominated its cedi currency from old cedi to new cedi & pesewa. But the value is the same. From January 2008, the new cedi would have the sign to GH¢ & Gp. GH¢1 = ¢10,000.00, from ¢9,000.00 (90Gp) will all be in coins i.e. (90p-1Gp) precede

COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

Radio, television, telegraph, and telephone services are owned and operated by the government of Ghana. Domestic radio programmes are broadcast in English and African languages. Programmes in English, Hausa, and French are broadcast to other parts of Africa as part of an international radio service.

Ghana currently has four operators of mobile phone networks including Ghana Telecommunications, operators of One Touch mobile network using the code (020), MTN Mobile network (024), Tigo network (027) and Kasapa network (028). All comes after the country’s code number (00233).

POLITICAL SUMMARY

When economic conditions worsened, Limann was deposed in a second coup led by Rawlings on December 31, 1981. Ruling as Chief of the Provisional National Defence Council, Rawlings imposed an austerity plan that helped control inflation and attract financial aid from the West, including support from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

The Ghanaian currency was devalued many times in the early 1980s. Agricultural production increased, and Rawlings successfully rescheduled Ghana’s most pressing loans. Despite his popularity with the masses, however, Rawlings’s regime had to suppress many coup attempts during the decade. A referendum in April 1992 re-established constitutional government, and Rawlings, running as a civilian, won the presidency in multi-party elections in November of that year.

Legislative elections the following month gave his National Democratic Congress an overwhelming majority—largely because the poll was boycotted by the four main opposition parties. In 1994 land disputes in the north escalated into ethnic violence in June, involving seven ethnic groups. A state of emergency was temporarily imposed and a peace agreement negotiated between the participants. However, there was renewed ethnic violence in March 1995.

In the 1996 presidential election held in December, Rawlings won 57.2 per cent of the vote. Earlier that year the two main opposition parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the People’s Convention Party, had agreed to contest legislative elections on a united platform. Rawlings was sworn in for his second term in January 1997, the same month that Ghanaian diplomat Kofi Annan was sworn in as secretary-general of the United Nations.

The Ashanti king Opoku Ware II, who represented about 39 per cent of the population, died in March 1999 and was succeeded, in April, by Barima Kweku Duah, who was named as King Osei Tutu II.

In December 2000, President Rawlings’ two terms in office came to an end. NPP leader John Kufuor won the presidential elections, defeating Vice-President John Atta Mills after two rounds of voting; he was inaugurated on January 7, 2001.

At least 130 people died as the result of a stampede at a football match at the Accra Sports Stadium during a game between Ghana’s two leading teams, Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko, in May 2001. The match ended 2-1 in favor of Hearts of Oak.

The National Reconciliation Commission was created in May 2002 to investigate human rights abuses that took place during the military rule of Rawlings. The commission first sat in January 2003 and had already been petitioned by nearly 3,000 people claiming tortures and killings. In October 2003 the government approved a merger between two major gold-mining companies, Ghana’s Ashanti Goldfield and South Africa’s AngloGold, thus bringing to an end an international bidding war. In February 2004 former president Rawlings testified before the National Reconciliation Commission.