A HISTORICAL OUTLINE OF GHANA

Ghana derived its name from the ancient Ghana Empire in the Western Sudan, which fell in the eleventh century. Formally known as Gold Coast, Ghana was the first black colony in sub-Saharan Africa to gain independence from the British on March 6, 1957 and became a republic in 1960. The ruins of about 30 castles dotted around the coast of Ghana are evidence of four centuries of the presence of Europeans who traded in ivory, gold, and slaves. The population of Ghana is 18,800,000. Accra is its capital with a population of 1,605,400 inhabitants. The major ethnic groups are the Akan (49 percent), Mole-Dagomba (16.5 percent), Ewe (12.7 percent), and Ga-Adangbe (8 percent) (Ghana Statistical Service, 2000).

ECOLOGICAL FEATURES

Ghana is located in West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea. It is bordered on the west by Côte d'Ivoire, on the north by Burkina Faso and by Togo on the east. Ghana has an area of 238,533 km2. Ghana is primarily a lowland country. The northern part of the country is grassland showing a dry transitional expanse between the Sahara desert to the north and the southern tropical region. The weather varies by region, but in general it has a tropical climate with annual average temperature between 26 °C and 29 °C. Annual rainfall varies from more than 2,100 mm in the southwest to 1,000 mm in the north.