The Republic of Ghana is a country located in West Africa, bordered by C�te dIvoire (Ivory Coast) to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. The word Ghana means "Warrior King" and derives from the Ghana Empire.
Ghana was inhabited in pre-colonial times by a number of ancient predominantly Akan (Akan people) Kingdoms, including the Akwamu on the eastern coast, the inland Ashanti Empire and various Fante and non-Akan states, like the Ga (Ga people) and Ewe (Ewe people), along the coast and inland. Trade with European states flourished after contact with the Portuguese (Portuguese Empire) in the 15th century, and the British established a Crown colony, Gold Coast (Gold Coast (British colony)), in 1874.
The Gold Coast achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1957, becoming the first sub-Saharan African nation to do so and the name Ghana was chosen for the new nation to reflect the ancient Empire of Ghana, which once extended throughout much of west Africa. Ghana is a member of many international organizations including the Commonwealth of Nations, the Economic Community of West African States, the African Union, La Francophonie (Associate Member) and the United Nations. Ghana is the second largest producer of cocoa (Cocoa bean) in the world and is also home to Lake Volta, the largest artificial lake in the world.
Conventional Long Name: Republic of Ghana
Common Name: Ghana
Image Flag: Flag of Ghana.svg
Image Coat: Heraldic achievement of Ghana from 1957 by Alexander Liptak.png
Image Map: ghana in au.png
Map Caption: map captionlocation_color=dark greenregion=African Unionregion_color=light green
National Motto: "Freedom and Justice"
National Anthem: ''God Bless Our Homeland Ghana''
Official Languages: English (English language)
Capital: Accra
Latd: 5 latm=33 latNS=N longd=0 longm=15 longEW=W
Largest City: capital
Demonym: Ghanaian
Leader Title1: President (President of Ghana)
Leader Name1: John Atta Mills
Leader Title2: Vice-President (Vice-President of Ghana)
Leader Name2: John Dramani Mahama
Leader Title3: Speaker of Parliament
Leader Name3: Joyce Bamford-Addo
Leader Title4: Chief Justice
Leader Name4: Georgina Theodora Wood
Area Rank: 81st
Area Magnitude: 1 E11
Area Km2: 238,535
Area Sq Mi: 92,098
Percent Water: 3.5
Population Estimate: 23,837,000
Population Estimate Rank: 48th
Population Density Km2: 99.9
Population Density Sq Mi: 258.8
Population Density Rank: 103rd
Gdp Ppp: $35 billion
Gdp Ppp Per Capita: $1,550
Gdp Nominal: $15 billion
Gdp Nominal Per Capita: $671
Established Event1: Declared
Established Date1: 6 March 1957
Established Event2: Republic
Established Date2: 1 July 1960
Established Event3: Current Constitution
Established Date3: 28 April 1992
Hdi: increase 0.553
Hdi Rank: 136th
Hdi Category: medium
Currency: Ghanaian cedi
Currency Code: GHS
Time Zone: GMT
Utc Offset: 0
Time Zone Dst: GMT
Utc Offset Dst: 0
Drives On: right
Cctld: .gh
Calling Code: 233