Ghana

Ghana

General Information
Geography
Government
Economy
Population
Health
Communications and media
Chronology


GENERAL INFORMATION

National name Republic of Ghana Area 238,540 sq km/92,100 sq mi Capital Accra Language English (official), Ga, other African languages Religion Christian 40%, animist 32%, Muslim 16% Time difference GMT +/-0 Major holidays 1 January, 6 March, 1 May, 4 June, 1 July, 25–26, 31 December; variable: Good Friday, Easter Monday, Holy Saturday


GEOGRAPHY

Major towns/cities Kumasi, Tamale, Tema, Sekondi-Takoradi, Cape Coast, Koforidua, Bolgatanga, Obuasi Major ports Sekondi, Tema Physical features mostly tropical lowland plains; bisected by River Volta Airports one main international airport and four domestic airports; total passengers carried: 241,000 (2003 est) Railways total length: 977 km/607 mi; total passenger journeys: 600,000 (2001) Roads total road network: 47,787 km/29,693 mi, of which 17.9% paved (2003 est); passenger cars: 5 per 1,000 people (2000 est)


GOVERNMENT

Head of state and government John Agyekum Kufuor from 2001 Political system emergent democracy Political executive limited presidency Administrative divisions ten regions Political parties National Democratic Congress (NDC), centrist, progovernment; New Patriotic Party (NPP), left of centre Death penalty retains the death penalty for ordinary crimes but can be considered abolitionist in practice Armed forces 7,000 (2006 est) Conscription military service is voluntary Defence spend (% GDP) 0.7 (2005 est) Education spend (% GDP) 4.2 (2001 est) Health spend (% GDP) 0.7 (2005 est)


ECONOMY

Currency cedi GDP (US$) 10.7 billion (2005 est) Real GDP growth (% change on previous year) 6 (2006 est) GNI (US$) 10 billion (2005 est) GNI per capita (PPP) (US$) 2,370 (2005 est) Consumer price inflation 8.8% (2006 est) Unemployment 20% (1997 est) Labour force 58% agriculture, 17% industry, 25% services (2003 est) Foreign debt (US$) 7.3 billion (2005 est) Major trading partners the Netherlands, Nigeria, UK, USA, Germany, France, Belgium Resources diamonds, gold, manganese, bauxite Industries food processing, textiles, clothes and leather goods, vehicles, aluminium, cement, paper, chemicals, petroleum products, tourism Exports gold, cocoa and related products, timber, manganese (one of the world's largest exporters). Principal market: the Netherlands 12% (2005) Imports raw materials, petroleum, machinery and transport equipment, food, basic manufactures. Principal source: Nigeria 12.7% (2005) Arable land 17.5% (2006 est) Agricultural products cocoa (world's third-largest producer), coffee, bananas, oil palm, maize, rice, cassava, plantain, yams, coconuts, kola nuts, limes, shea nuts; forestry (timber production)


POPULATION

Population 22,555,800 (2006 est) Population growth rate 1.9% (2005–10) Population density (per sq km) 95 (2006 est) Urban population (% of total) 46 (2005 est) Age distribution (% of total population) 0–14 39%, 15–59 55%, 60+ 6% (2005 est) Ethnic groups over 75 ethnic groups; most significant are the Akan in the south and west (44%), the Mole-Dagbani in the north (16%), the Ewe in the south (13%), the Ga in the region of the capital city (8%), and the Fanti in the coastal area Life expectancy 58 (men); 59 (women) (2005–10) Child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 112 (2004) Education (compulsory years) 9 Literacy rate 82% (men); 66% (women) (2004 est)


HEALTH

Physicians (per 10,000 people) 0.9 (2004 est) Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) 1.5 (2002 est) HIV infection (% of population aged 15–49) 2.3 (2005 est) AIDS deaths 29,000 (2005 est) Access to drinking-water source (% of total population) 93 (urban); 68 (rural) (2002)


COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Landline telephones (per 100 people) 1.5 (2005 est) Mobile phone subscribers (per 100 people) 12.9 (2005 est) Radios (per 1,000 people) 710 (2001 est) TV sets (per 1,000 people) 52 (2004 est) Personal computer users (per 100 people) 0.5 (2005 est) Internet users (per 100 people) 1.8 (2005 est)


CHRONOLOGY

5th–12th century Ghana Empire (from which present-day country's name derives) flourished, with its centre 500 mi/800 km to the northwest, in Mali. 13th century In coastal and forest areas Akan peoples founded the first states. 15th century Gold-seeking Mande traders entered northern Ghana from the northeast, founding Dagomba and Mamprussi states; Portuguese navigators visited coastal region, naming it the ‘Gold Coast’, building a fort at Elmina, and slave trading began. 17th century Gonja kingdom founded in north by Mande speakers; Ga and Ewe states founded in southeast by immigrants from Nigeria; in central Ghana, controlling gold reserves around Kumasi, the Ashanti, a branch of the Akans, founded what became the most powerful state in precolonial Ghana. 1618 British trading settlement established on Gold Coast. 18th–19th centuries Centralized Ashanti kingdom at its height, dominating between Komoe River in the west and Togo Mountains in the east and active in slave trade; Fante state powerful along coast in the south. 1874 Britain, after ousting the Danes and Dutch and defeating the Ashanti, made the Gold Coast (the southern provinces) a crown colony. 1898–1901 After three further military campaigns, Britain finally subdued and established protectorates over Ashanti and the northern territories. early 20th century Colony developed into major cocoa-exporting region. 1917 West Togoland, formerly German-ruled, administered with the Gold Coast as British Togoland. 1949 Campaign for independence launched by Kwame Nkrumah, who formed Convention People's Party (CPP) and became prime minister in 1952. 1957 Independence achieved, within the Commonwealth, as Ghana, which included British Togoland; Nkrumah became prime minister. Policy of ‘African socialism’ and nonalignment pursued. 1960 Became a republic, with Nkrumah as president. 1964 Ghana became one-party state, dominated by CCP, and developed links with communist bloc. 1972 Coup placed Col Ignatius Acheampong at head of military government as economy deteriorated. 1978 Acheampong deposed by Flight-Lt Jerry Rawlings, a populist soldier who launched drive against corruption. 1979 Return to civilian rule. 1981 Rawlings seized power again; political parties banned. 1992 Pluralist constitution approved in referendum, lifting ban on political parties; Rawlings won presidential elections. 1993 Fourth republic of Ghana formally inaugurated. 1994 Ethnic clashes in the north left more than 6,000 people dead. 1996 New Democratic Congress (NDC) won assembly majority. 2001 John Kufuor, leader of liberal New Patriotic Party, elected president. 2002 State of emergency declared following tribal conflict in the north; Kufuor set up reconciliation commission to investigate human rights violations during Rawlings' rule. 2004 Kufuor won second presidential term. 2007 Discovery of first major oil reserves announced.


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