Law and Human Rights - GHANA Country Facts

Ghana

Population: 22 million (UN, 2005) Capital: Accra Major languages: English, African languages including Akan, Twi, Ewe Major religions: Christianity, Islam Life expectancy: 56 Monetary unit: New Cedi Main exports: Gold, cocoa, timber, tuna, bauxite, aluminium, manganese ore, diamonds International dialling code: +233

Geography

Ghana is roughly the size of the UK. It is situated in West Africa, bordering Togo to the East, Cote d'Ivoire to the West and Burkina Faso to the North. Ghana's southern edge consists of 539km of coastline bordering the Gulf of Guinea. The land is made up predominantly of low plains, with the highest point measuring only 880m. Ghana has a tropical climate, in some areas dry and in some humid, but invariably hot. Ghana has an abundance of natural resources including gold, timber and industrial diamonds. It also has the world's largest artificial lake.

People

Ghana has a predominantly black African population, which is divided into many tribes, the major ones being Ewe and Ga. Ghana has a total of 79 languages; English is the official language while nine indigenous languages have the status of government-sponsored languages. 63% of the population practice Christianity. Ghana has a rich culture and is famous for its colourful and symbolic Kente cloth. Music is an important part of Ghanaian life, be it traditional drumming or the modern style dance music called hiplife. Despite wide access to free education, Ghana's literacy rate remains low at 64%.

Brief History

When Europeans first discovered West Africa in the 15th Century, the region now named Ghana was inhabited by several advanced civilizations, the most important of which were the Ashanti people and the Fanti people. However, the Europeans were more interested in the land's gold reserves than its people. Portuguese traders were the first to discover the land and its abundance of gold in 1470 and named it Gold Coast. They maintained their control of the gold trade for the next 150 years and built several coastal forts, the main one being Elmina Castle. Over the course of the following four centuries the English, Dutch and Swedes also sailed to the Gold Coast to set up trading posts and exploit the gold reserves. In 1806, a war broke out between the Ashanti and the Fante people. In a series of wars, the British overcame Ashanti resistance and began their rule over the Gold Coast. They took over all of the Dutch trading forts, and the town of Cape Coast which became the first capital. In 1957 Ghana became an independent state. Kwame Nkrumah became Ghana's first prime minister, and maintained his position until 1966 when he was overthrown in a military coup. Several more coups followed until in 2000 John Kufuor was elected as president which marked the first real transfer of power through elections in Ghana. Ghana has become known as a model for African democracy.

Economy

Ghana has a per capita income of about US$1,310. Poverty is pervasive and economic development is still elusive. Nevertheless, Ghana's potential cannot be denied. It is relatively rich in primary resources such as gold, bauxite, cocoa, diamonds and other minerals. Indeed, renewed development in the goldfields of the south have successfully raised Ghana to Africa's second largest exporter of gold, only behind South Africa. Due to Ghana's stability, tourism has also increased dramatically over the last decade and is now Ghana's third largest earner of foreign revenue. Little by little, political stability is helping to generate inward investment and economic growth.