About Ghana

Location

Ghana is located on the west coast of Africa about 750km north of the equator on the gulf of Ghana between latitudes 4.30 and 11.30 degrees north.
The capital,Accra,is on longitude zero degrees of the Greenwich Meridian with a total 238,533 sq km land area the country is bounded on the north by Burkina Faso on the west by Cote d’Ivoire on the east by Togo and on the south by the Gulf of guinea. The land area stretches 672km north-south and 536km east-west.

Land

Ghana’s coastal area consists of plains and lagoons near river estuaries. The land is relatively flat and the altitude below 500m, over half the country is below 200m.The Volta basin dominates the river system and includes the 8,500 sq.km Lake Volta (second largest man-made lake in the world) formed behind the Akosombo Hydro-electric Dam and is navigable over some 400km.In the north, vegetation is savanna and scrub, the south, an extensive rain forest. The major natural resources are Gold, Diamond, Bauxite, manganese, Timber and cocoa.

Population

Ghana’s population totals 20,757.032(July 2004 estimate).With about 79.3 persons per km density and annual growth of 2.7 percent. The country is divided into ten administrative regions. The greatest population is concentrated in the southern parts with the highest densities in the urban and cocoa producing area.

Climate

Ghana has a tropical climate with round moderate temperatures of around 21-32 C (70-90 F) and constant breeze and sunshine. There are two rainy seasons from March to July and September to October separated by a short cool dry season in August and a relatively long dry season in the south averages 2.030mm but varies through the country, with the heaviest in the Western Region and lowest in the North.

Language

There are over 100 Ghanaian languages. The major being Twi, Ewe, Fante, Dagaare, Ga, Dangbani, Dagaare, Kasem and Nzema.The official language of the country is English.Hausa is also widely spoken. Principal ethnic groups in Ghana are Akan (Twi and Fante), Guans, Ewes, Dagombas, Gas, Gonjas, Walas, and Frafras.