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The Republic of Ghana is a country in West Africa bordering Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. The word "Ghana" means "Warrior King."
Ghana was inhabited in pre-colonial times by a number of ancient kingdoms, including the Ga Adangbes on the eastern coast, the Empire of Ashanti inland and various Fante states along the coast and inland. Trade with European states flourished after contact with the Portuguese in the 15th century and the British established a crown colony, The Gold Coast, in 1874.
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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 extended throughout much of west of Africa.
Ghana is a beautiful country located on the Gulf of Guinea, only a few degrees north of the Equator.The Greenwich Meridian passes through Ghana, specifically through the industrial city of Ghana-Tema;so it is said that Ghana is closest to the center of the world geographically than any other country in the world.
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.
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Climate
The climate is tropical. The eastern coastal belt is warm and comparatively dry.The southwest corner is 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 5 million.
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Economy
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, cocoa, diamond and manganese exports are major sources of foreign exchange. In June 2007, it was announced that a huge oilfield worth at least 600 million barrels of light oil was discovered off the coast.
The domestic economy continues to revolve around subsistence agriculture, which accounts for 50% of GDP and employs 85% of the work force mainly small landholders.
Ghana made mixed progress under a three-year structural adjustment programme in cooperation with the IMF. On the negative 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 all of Africa.
The country has since July, 2007, embarked on a currency redenomination exercise, from Cedi (¢) to the new currency, the Ghana Cedi (GH¢). The transfer rate is 1 Ghana Cedi for every 10,000 Cedis. The Bank of Ghana has embarked upon an aggressive media campaign to educate the public about what re-denomination entails. The new Ghana is now exchanging at a rate of $1 USD =Gh¢ 0.93.
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History
The Republic of Ghana is named after the medieval Ghana Empire of West Africa. The actual name of the Empire was Wagadugu. Ghana was the title of the kings who ruled the kingdom. 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 the Kingdom of Ghana.
Ghana was controlled by Sundiata in 1240 AD, and absorbed into the larger Mali Empire which reached its peak under Mansa Musa around 1307. Geographically, the old Ghana was 500 miles north of the present Ghana, and occupied the area between Rivers Senegal and Niger.
After its fall at the beginning of the 13th century, Akan migrants moved southward founding several nation-states including the first great Akan empire of the Bono which is now known as the Ibal Brong Ahafo region in Ghana.
Later Akan groups like the Ashanti federation and Fante states are thought to have had roots in the original Bono settlement at Bono manso. Much of the area was united under the Empire of Ashanti by the 16th century. The Ashanti government operated first as a loose network and eventually as a centralized kingdom with an advanced, highly-specialized bureaucracy centered in Kumasi. The Empire of Ashanti was the most advanced black state in sub-Sahara Africa. It is said that at its peak, the King of Ashanti could field 500,000 troops.
In 1482, the Portuguese built a castle in Elmina. Their aim was to trade in gold, ivory and slaves. In 1598 the Dutch joined them, and built forts at Komenda and Kormantsi. In 1637 they captured the castle from the Portuguese and that of Axim in 1642 (Fort St Anthony). Other European traders, English, Danes and Swedes moved in by the mid 17th century. The coastline became dotted with forts built by the Dutch, British and Danish merchants. By the latter part of 19th century the Dutch and the British were the only traders left and, when the Dutch withdrew in 1874, Britain made the Gold Coast a crown colony.
These nation-states had maintained varying alliances with the colonial powers and with each other, which resulted in the 1806 Ashanti-Fante War, as well as an ongoing struggle by the Empire of 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, The Empire of Ashanti and the British Togoland trust territory by a UN sponsored plebiscite, Ghana became the first democratic sub-Sahara country in colonial Africa to gain its independence in 1957.
Kwame Nkrumah, founder and first president of the modern Ghanaian state, was not only an African anti-colonial leader but also one with a dream of a united Africa which would not drift into neo-colonialism. He was the first African head of state to espouse Pan-Africanism, an idea he came into contact with during his studies at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania (United States), at the time when Marcus Garvey was becoming famous for his "Back to Africa Movement." He merged the dreams of both Marcus Garvey and the celebrated African-American scholar W.E.B. Du Bois into the formation of the modern day Ghana.
Ghana's principles of freedom and justice, equity and free education for all, irrespective of ethnic background, religion or creed borrows from Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah's implementation of Pan-Africanism.
Nkrumah was overthrown by a supported CIA-backed coup. A series of subsequent coups ended with the ascension of Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings in 1981. These changes resulted in the suspension of the constitution in 1981 and the banning of political parties.
A new constitution, restoring multi-party politics, was promulgated in 1992, and Rawlings was elected as president in free and fair elections. He again won elections in 1996 to serve a second term. The constitution prohibited him from running for a third term.
The current president, John Kufuor, is serving his second term which ends in 2008 where another election will be held..
The year 2007 marks Ghana's Golden Jubilee celebration its 50 year anniversary, which was on March 6th 1957.
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