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Location: Home > Battlefield > Battlefield LIVE > Ghana - General Information
GHANA - GENERAL INFORMATION
Original name: Republic of Ghana
National flag:
Briefly:
| Official language |
Asante 14.8%, Ewe 12.7%, Fante 9.9%, Boron (Brong) 4.6%, Dagomba 4.3%, Dangme 4.3%, Dagarte (Dagaba) 3.7%, Akyem 3.4%, Ga 3.4%, Akuapem 2.9%, other 36.1% (includes English (official)) |
| Capital |
Accra |
| President |
John Kufuor |
Area
-Total
-Land
-Water
|
239,460 sq km
230,940 sq km
8,520 sq km |
Population
-Total (2007 est.)
|
22,931,299 |
| GDP |
$60.0 billion |
Independence
-Declared
-Recognised |
From UK
March 6, 1957
1957 |
| Currency |
Cedi |
| Time zone |
GMT |
Geography
 The African nation of Ghana is located in West Africa, sandwiched between the Ivory Coast to the west and Togo to the east. Burkina Faso is its neighbor to the north, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. It’s coastline is cluttered with low lying sandy shorelines that lead into shrub filled plains. Ghana also is home to a tropical rain forest belt that runs north from the coast, typical of many nations that lay close to the equator. Lake Volta, the world’s largest artificial lake rests in eastern Ghana.
Demographics
Ghana contains an estimated 23 million people, making it the 45th most populous nation in the world, and the 103rd most dense. Its largest ethnic groups are the Akan 49%, Moshi-Dagomba 16%, Ewe 13%, Ga 8%. Those of European and other dissents make up less than one half of one percent of the population. Most Ghanaians are Christian (63%), but 21% still hold indigenous beliefs. The remaining 16% are Muslim. Its official language is English, but individual ethnicities still speak their indigenous African languages.
 Population: 22,931,299 (July 2007 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 38.2% (male 4,438,308/female 4,329,293)
15-64 years: 58.2% (male 6,661,512/female 6,687,738)
65 years and over: 3.6% (male 380,495/female 433,953)
(2007 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.972% (2007 est.)
Total fertility rate: 3.89 children born/woman (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 3.1% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 350,000 (2003 est.)
Economy
Ghana is one of the most economically sound countries in Africa. Gold, timber, cocoa and diamonds among various other natural resources have fueled the Ghanaian economy.
Such natural resource wealth has kept Ghana far wealthier than many of its West African neighbors. In June 2007, an offshore oilfield was discovered containing at least 600 million barrels of light oil. Regardless, Ghana remains highly reliant on international financial and technical assistance.
Ghana’s 2006 GDP was measured at around $60 billion, making it the 75th largest economy in the world. Per capita however, its GDP ranks 136th internationally at only $2,700 per person. In addition, Ghana’s Human Development Index of .532 keeps the nation at a familiar 136th worldwide.
Subsistence agriculture still accounts for 50% of the country’s GDP employing 85% of the work force. A recently completed three-year structural adjustment program in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund showed positive effects. However, regional peacekeeping commitments combined with rising public sector wages have fueled inflationary deficit financing and the depreciation of the Cedi, its currency.
History
Today, Ghana is a republic and member of the Commonwealth of Nations. President John Agyekum Kufor is the nation’s ninth leader since independence in 1957. Ghana’s parliament is a unicameral body, currently dominated by two major political parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress. The NPP, the party of President Kufor, currently holds 128 seats, while the opposition party, NDC, holds 94. The Grand Coalition, consisting of three minor parties, the non-partisans, and the Convention People’s Party, holds the remaining seats.
Ghana gained its independence from the British empire in 1957 as a conglomerate of the Gold Coast, the Empire of Ashanti, and the British Togoland. In doing so, it became the first democratic sub-Sahara country in colonial Africa to gain such independence.
Ghana’s first President Kwame Nkrumah preached his dream of a united Africa that could avoid the transition into neo-colonialism. A student of the American university system, Nkrumah had studied significantly the writings of Marcus Garvey and W.E.B.
Du Bois who both spoke of Pan-Africanism. President Nkrumah preached many of Ghana’s principles of freedom, justice and equity that form the backbone of its modern political culture in its early days. Nkrumah was eventually overthrown by a military coup supported by the United States Central Intelligence Administration.
John Kufuor
 The rise to power of Jerry Rawling in 1981 led to the abolishment of political parties until a new constitution in 1992.
Rawlings served as President until 2000 (elected fairly twice) when he was term-limited under Ghana’s new constitution.
Current President John Kufuor is serving his second term, which is due to end in 2008.
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