GHANA

GHANA GEOGRAPHY  Major Cities  Accra (the capital city) pop. Almost 2 million  Kumasi (KNUST University) pop. 1.5 million  Tamale pop. 360,000  Cape Coast #8 major city (had the slave castle)

ACCRA

KUMASI

CAPE COAST #8 LARGEST

MAJOR GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES  Four eco regions  Coast-low sandy shores  Plains and scrub with rivers and streams  In the North-high plains  Forested plateau region with Ashanti uplands  World’s largest artificial lake- Lake Volta  Akwapim-Togo Mt. range found along Ghana’s eastern border  Highest point Mt. Afadjato 885 meters  Climate is tropical-warm and has a long rainy season. Generally hot and humid all year round.  Some forests but does not have many of the typical animals you may think of when you think of Africa

GHANA HISTORY  Inhabited as early as BC  Ghana was known for their gold. They did lots of gold trading in N. Africa  In the 16 th century Europeans started taking notice and interest in their gold  In the 17 th c. the Ashanti people in Ghana led a series of successful military operations and they became a united empire. Kumasi was the capital.  Osei Tutu was the king of the Ashanti. Ashanti empire lasted until the 1800s  In 1471 the Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in Ghana (then known as the Gold Coast)  They established trading posts that still stand.  The had slave trade castles and were a major slave trade export country. They warred to acquire slaves to sell and trade.

GHANA HISTORY CONT.  Britain started gaining control of the Gold Coast in the 1700s  Early 1900s Ghana was progressing economically and educationally.  At the end of WWII Ghana was the richest and most educated territory in West Africa. With this nationalism spread.  In 1947 there was a United Gold Coast Convention to discuss a movement for self-government free from Britain.  Ghana gained its independence in 1956 the leader of their independence movement was Kwame Nkrumah. (he was also their first President)  From there were several coups and changes in power  1979 Jerry Rawlings: brought back civilian rule to Ghana  They created a new constitution in 1992 and have had a fairly stable government since.

CULTURE  Food  Lots of rice and potatoes  Fufu and Jolluf rice  Fan Ice (ice cream in a bag) BEST THING EVER!!!!  Community based  Work together and look after each other  Very hospitable, to them it is rude if you don’t take the time to talk to someone  Funerals  They have the funeral 3-6 months after the person has died.  They give the family time to grieve and then they have a celebration of their life which lasts multiple days and includes bright colors, music, and friends and family speaking of memories

CULTURE CONT.  Religion  Majority claimed to be Christian  Also a large amount of Muslims in the large cities and N. Ghana  Music  Very upbeat  Love to dance  In church they sing and dance for a good minutes  Walking businesses/street business  Large amounts of people just walk around town selling items.  They walk up to your car, house etc.

GOVERNMENT  Presidential Representative Democratic Republic  They have a President and Legislative branch (Parliament)  President has some say in legislation  Judicial branch is not connected at all with the Executive and Legislative branch  Constitution of Ghana  Modeled after the US  Checks and balances  Akan of Ghana (chief system)  Works along side of the democratic system  Been around for around a 1300 years  12 chiefs in Ghana  Give advice to the President but have no real power, more symbolic

CURRENT LEADERS  President is John Dramani Mahama  He took office in July 2012 after their current President died in office  Then he was officially elected in December of 2012  Elections  Legislative branch has elections every 4 years  President serves up to two 4 year terms

FAMOUS PEOPLE  Ozwald Boateng: fashion designer  Samia Nkrumah-first female to head a major political party  Abedi Ayew “Pele”-soccer player captain of the Ghanaian national team  Marcel Desailly –soccer player  Sarkodie: musical artist  an2tR_-g

CURRENT EVENTS-PROBLEMS  Sanitation:  Need clean drinking water  Need better garbage/sewage systems  Healthcare  Not easily available to a majority of Ghanaians  Few and crowed  HIV/AIDS  High percent of people in Ghana have HIV/AIDS  Education  Getting better but only 58% females can read.  Poverty  Mainly subsistence agriculture. If a bad season a lot of people suffer

POSITIVES  Economy: Ghana is one of the wealthier nations in Africa  Education: University in Ghana is in the top 25 best colleges in Africa  Tourism: It is one of West Africa’s most visited country. Known for its festivals, good beaches and historical sites (Cape Coast)  Modern: Accra is one of the more modern cities in Western Africa, very safe and easy to get around.