Population: Estimated at 17.2 million in mid-1994, up from about 6.7 million in 1960, approximately half under the age of fifteen. Growth rate more than 3 percent per year since 1980. In 1990 population density sixty-three persons per square kilometer; density highest in southwestern third of country, thinnest in center, higher in north. About 33 percent urban in 1992.

Roads: Most regions are accessible by road network of more than 32,000 kilometers; 12,000 classified as main roads. About 6,000 kilometers paved, remainder gravel or earth. Since 1985 major repairs under way on all main and some feeder roads.

Railroads: 953 kilometers of narrow gauge track; only thirty-two kilometers double-tracked. It serves only southern industrial/commercial centers, mainly connecting Accra, Sekondi-Takoradi and Kumasi.

Civil Aviation: Eleven airfields, including Kotoka International Airport at Accra and other domestic airports. In the early 1990’s the runways, lighting, and freight and terminal buildings were upgraded at Kotoka.

Telecommunications: Relatively limited telecommunications system. About 45,000 telephones in 1993, concentrated in Accra. Two domestic radio-relay systems, one east west serving coastal cities, one north south connecting Accra with Burkina Faso.

Ethnolinguistic Groups: Approximately 100 ethnolinguistic groups, all further subdivided into numerous cultural and linguistic units. Major ethnic groups are the Akan, Ewe, MoleDaghane, Guan, and Ga-Adangbe. Languages belong either to Kwa or to Gur subfamily of Niger-Congo language family. Kwa speakers found to south of Volta River and include the Grusi, Gurma, and Mole-Dagbane. English is the official language used in government, large-scale business, national media, and school beyond primary level. Akan, Ewe, Ga, Nzema, Dagbane, and Hausa (a trade language from Nigeria) also used in radio and television broadcasting.

The subdivisions of each group share a common cultural heritage, history, language and origin. These shared attributes were among the variables that contributed to state formation in the precolonial period. Competition to acquire land for cultivation, to control trade routes, or to form alliances for protection also promoted group solidarity and state formation.

Ethnic rivalries of the precolonial era, variance in the impact of colonialism upon different regions of the country, and the uneven distribution of social and economic amenities in post independence Ghana have all contributed to present-day ethnic tensions. For example, in February 1994, more than 1,00 persons were killed and 150,000 others displaced in the northeastern part of Ghana in fighting between Konkomba on one side and Nanumba, Dagomba, and Gonja on the other. The clashes resulted from longstanding grievances over land ownership and the prerogatives of chiefs. A military task force restored order, but a state of emergency in the region remained in force until mid-August.

Religion: According to a 1985 estimation, 62 percent Christian, 15 percent Muslim, 22 percent indigenous or nonbelievers. Christians composed of Protestants (25%, Methodists and Presbyterians especially numerous), Roman Catholics (15%), Protestant Pentecostals (8%), and independent African Churches (about 14 %). Muslims are mostly Sunni. Christianity predominates in center and south, Islam in the north.

Health And Welfare: In precolonial Ghana, as in the rest of the sub-Saharan Africa, traditional priests were important in providing treatment for the sick. The role of village priests in the medical sphere reflected the belief that unexplained illness, misfortune, and premature death was caused by supernatural agents. In the treatment of illness, therefore, the usual process was for the priest to use divination to determine the source of the malady and to suggest sacrifices to appease the casual agents before herbal medicine was prescribed for the patient. Since the introduction of Islam In Ghana in the fourteenth century, Muslim clerics have also been known to provide spiritual treatment and protection in the form of charms and amulets derived from the Quranic beliefs.

Christian missionaries first introduced Western medicine into the Gold Coast in the nineteenth century. Missionaries were almost the sole providers of medicine until after WWI.

There are a large number of infectious diseases endemic to the tropics, including cholera, typhoid, tuberculosis, anthrax, pertussis, yellow fever, hepatitis, trachoma, malaria, and venereal diseases. Malnutrition is also widespread. Average life expectancy is fifty-six years, in 1993. There is a severe shortage of hospital beds and doctors. Since late 1980s, government has emphasized immunization and primary health care programs. In March 1986, the first case of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) was reported in Ghana. Incidence of AIDS is the second highest in West Africa and rising.

Education: Education system consists of primary (Six years), Junior secondary (three years), senior secondary (three years) after reforms of the mid-1980s eliminated former middle schools, polytechnic institutions, and four universities. Universal education remains an unrealized goal, but most children have access to primary and junior secondary schools.

Position of Women: Women in premodern Ghanaian society were seen as bearers of children, retailers of fish, and farmers. Within the traditional sphere, the childbearing ability of women was explained as the means by which lineage ancestors were allowed to be reborn. Bareness was, therefore, considered the greatest misfortune. In precolonial times, polygamy was encouraged, especially for wealthy men. Dowry received form marrying off daughters was also a traditional means for fathers to accumulate additional wealth. Given the male dominance in traditional society, the female’s ability to reproduce was seen as the most important means by which women ensured social and economic security for themselves, especially if they bore male children.

The name of Ghana was first mentioned in written history in 770 A.D. by an Arab geographer named El- Fazari in his book, "El-Mashudi", Where he referred to it as land of gold. According to Arab writings, most particularly, "Tariskh as Sudan", Ghana was founded between 200 and 400 A.D. An Arab traveler El-Bakri, writing in 1067 A.D. said, "Ghana was the title given to the kings and it meant ‘war chief’". It was the Arabs and other people of Sudan who referred to the nation by the title of its kings; ergo it became the nation’s name.

The nation was founded by the tribe called, the Soninke and at about 770 A.D. the chief of Wagadu, Kaza Kaya Maghan strengthened the nation and expanded its territories. By 1000 A.D. the nation had extended its territories to the west to the River Niger, south to the Bambuk region, and north to Audaghast on the edge of the Sahara. The nation of Ghana lasted for almost a thousand years.

The Government of Ghana: The king was the head of the government of the nation. He was very powerful and his decisions were final. The king assisted in running his government by trained civil servants and ministers. In states conquered by Ghana, two types of provincial governments existed. In areas where there were no central native rulers, before its annexation and in areas where subjects constantly quarreled to regain their independence, the king appointed a Governor.

Many kings have ruled the nation of Ghana, but not much was written about them. There was Basi, who succeeded to the throne at the age of 85. He was a wise man and was very kind to his subjects and hospitable to visitors.

The Old Capital: Kumbi Saleh was the name of the capital city of Ghana. It consisted of two townships, about six kilometers apart. One was inhabited by Muslims and was very large with twelve mosques in which the Muslims prayed. The other township was inhabited by non-Muslims and was called, El-Ghaba, which means "the woods". It was given this name because there were woods nearby in which dead people were buried.

Trans-Saharan International Trade: Ghana’s wealth primarily came through its participation in the international trade with the Arabs. Arabs. Arab merchants would cross the hot and deadly sands of the Sahara desert in a two-month journey on camel to Ghana. On reaching Ghana they met their agents with whom they would resume the march again for twenty more days, after which time they would reach the river Senegal.

Upon reaching the riverbanks they would summon the local people by beating on large drums. They would place their goods on a cloth and depart. The people of Ghana would come with their own goods and place it beside the merchandise and leave. If the merchants were satisfied with what was left they took the goods left by the Negro traders and beat their drums, which would signify that the market was over and departed.

The goods they brought into Ghana was, cooper, salt, horses, brocade, vessels, cowries shells, books, glass beads, cloth, and dried figs and dates. The goods they received while in Ghana were Gold, slaves, honey, kolanuts, ivory, corm, gum, ostrich feathers, and cotton among other commodities.

There was an effective system of taxation in ancient Ghana. The government taxed 20 grams of gold per load of copper and 40 grams of gold per load of general merchandise. The revenue accured was used in paying the cost of running the government and paying for the upkeep of the king, ministers, provincial Governors, and Civil servants.

The Army: The strength of Ghana did not come as a result of effective administration alone, but also because of its possession of a strong and highly organized army. The army was effective in the maintenance of peace, suppressing internal revolts, and the acquisition of new territories by conquest.

The gigantic army was made up of contributions of soldiers from provinces whenever the need arose. In other words ancient Ghana never had a standing army, but could summon one and place it in the field on a moments notice. The army had advantage over its enemies because it fought with iron weapons such as, spears, iron-tipped arrows, and swords, which were not used by their enemies.

Today the military branches that exist are the army, navy, air force, national police force, palace guard, and civil defense. The military manpower that they have that are fit for military service are 2,434,732 (1998). These are males ranging between 18-49 years of age. The military expenditures are about 30 million a year.

The fall of Ancient Ghana: The strength and territorial expansion of ancient Ghana greatly threatened its neighbors of their independence and they felt they had to put a halt to it. The wealth of ancient Ghana also attracted to it envy from its neighbors and distant nations, which conspired to take control of its gold mines and the Trans-Saharan international trade.

The final and total collapse of the ancient nation of Ghana came in 1240 AD when it was annexed by King Sundiata of the emerging nation of Mali. Sundiata reduced the famous nation of Ghana, which lasted for almost a thousand years, to a mere city, the city of Kumbi Saleh. Ibn Khaldun narrated; "Ghana’s power declined and the authority of the rulers of Ghana dwindled away and the neighboring people of Susu conquered and enslaved them and annexed their territory. Next the people of Mali, increasing in population, gained the ascendancy over the Negro people of the region. They conquered the Susu and look over all they possessed, both their original territories and that of Ghana as far as the sea to the west". That was how the end of ancient Ghana, as the strongest nation in Sudan came about.

The Gold Coast was renamed Ghana upon independence in 1957 because of indications that present-day inhabitants descended from migrants who moved south from the ancient kingdom of Ghana.

Some of Ghana’s Political Leaders since Independence:

Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Flight-Lieutenant Jerry John Kwasi Rawlings, & Dr. Hilla Limann.

Dr. Kwame Nkrumah formed the convention people’s party (CPP) in 1947. Then in 1949 he declared positive action to demand independence. In 1951 while in prison as a result of riots, he won the election with a vote of 22,780 from 23,122 ballots. He was released from prison in the same month to from a new government. He won all elections leading to independence. Then in 1957 he declared Ghana’s independence. In 1960 he declared Ghana a Republic.

Flight-Lieutenant Jerry John Kwasi Rawlings in 1969 he was promoted Flight Lieutenant. In 1979 he failed in a coup attempt and was placed in jail. He was sprung from jail in 1979 by by major Boake-Djan. They made Rawlings their spokesman in the coup that outsted the SMC. The coup makers formed the Armed Forces revolutionary Council (AFRC) which undertook a three months house-cleaning exercise’ during which three military heads of state were shot at the stakes together with other senior military officials.

Dr Hilla Limann In 1979 he was sworn in as president of Ghana’s third Republic. One of his first acts was to replenish food stock, which had been depleted by the AFRC"s three-month rule. His government also launched the Gold Endowment Fund as a means of getting investors to Ghana. In 1981 Lieutenant Rawlings overthrew him.

The first contact between Europe and the Gold Coats dates from 1470, when a party of Portuguese landed. In 1482, the Portuguese built Elmina Castle as a permanent-trading base. The first recorded English trading voyage to the coast was made by Thomas Windham in 1553. During the next three centuries, the English, Danes, Dutch, Germans, and Portuguese controlled various parts of the coastal areas.

In 1821, the British Government took control of the British trading forts on the Gold Coast. In 1844, Fanti chiefs in the area signed an agreement with the British that became the legal steppingstone to colonial status for the coastal area.

From 1826 to 1900, the British fought a series of campaigns against the Ashantis, whose Kingdom was located inland. In 1902, they succeeded in establishing firm control over the Ashanti region and making the northern territories a protectorate. British Togoland, the fourth territorial element eventually to form the nation, was part of a former German colony administered by the United Kingdom from Accra as a League of Nations mandate after 1922. In December 1946, British Togoland became a UN trust Territory, and in 1957, following a 1956 plebiscite, the United Nations agreed that the territory would become part of Ghana when the Gold Coast achieved independence.

The four territorial divisions were administered separately until 1946, when the British Government ruled them as a single unit. In 1951, a constitution was promulgated that called for a greatly enlarged legislature composed principally of members elected by popular vote directly or indirectly. An executive council was responsible for formulating policy, with most African members drawn from the legislature and including three ex officio members appointed by the governor. A new constitution, approved on April 29, 1954, established a cabinet comprising African ministers drawn from an all-African legislature chosen by direct election. In the elections that followed, the Convention People’s Party, led by Kwame Nkrumah, won the majority of seats in the new Legislature Assembly. In May 1956, Prime Minister Nkrumah’s Gold Coast government issued a white paper containing proposals for Gold Coast independence. The British Government stated it would agree to a firm date for independence if a reasonable majority for such a step were obtained in the Gold Coast Legislative Assembly after a general election. This election, held in 1956, returned the CPP to power with 71 of the 104 seats in the Legislative Assembly. Ghana became an independent state on March 6, 1957, when the United Kingdom Relinquished its control over the Colony of the Gold Coast and Ashanti, the Northern Territories Protectorate, and British Togoland.

Ghana is the first African Country south of the Sahara to achieve independence.

With the passage of time and ideological currents, Ghana has successfully confronted innumerable challenges to its ongoing stability and immense potential as a developing nation. At present, the nation is well on the way to becoming one of Africa’s major powers. Even if present-day Ghana appears to foreign observers as the modern West African state that Kwame Nkrumah had dreamed of, this transformation is due to the ten full years of analysis and hard work accomplished by the team led by flight-Lieutenant Rawlings. And once again, almost as if predestined, gold the symbol of the traditional chiefs both past and present, upon whose prestige the state continues to draw much of its authority, had regained its ancestral position in the country’s economy. Far from having disappeared, the precious metal is once again becoming Ghana’s lading source of mineral wealth, thanks to dynamic policies of prospection and extraction.

Sources:

Bourret, F.M. Ghana-The Road to Independence 1919-1957. London: Standford University Press, 1960.

Kimble, David. A Political History of Ghana. Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1963.

Kimble, David. The Rise of Gold Coast Nationalism. Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1963.

Online Sources:

http://www.ibsa-inc.org/ghana.html

http://icweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+gh0020)

http://www.ghana.com/republic/geninfo/history.html

http://www.worldrover.com/history/ghana_history.html