Formed from the merger of the British colony of the Gold Coast and the Togoland trust territory, Ghana in 1957 became the first sub-Saharan country in colonial Africa to gain its independence. Ghana endured a long series of coups before Lt. Jerry RAWLINGS took power in 1981 and banned political parties. After approving a new constitution and restoring multiparty politics in 1992, RAWLINGS won presidential elections in 1992 and 1996, but was constitutionally prevented from running for a third term in 2000. John KUFUOR, who defeated former Vice President John ATTA-MILLS in a free and fair election, succeeded him.

Western Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between Cote d'Ivoire and Togo
8 00 N, 2 00 W
Africa
total: 239,460 sq km ; land: 230,940 sq km ; water: 8,520 sq km
slightly smaller than Oregon
total: 2,094 km ; border countries: Burkina Faso 549 km, Cote d'Ivoire 668 km, Togo 877 km
539 km
territorial sea: 12 nm ; contiguous zone: 24 nm ; exclusive economic zone: 200 nm ; continental shelf: 200 nm
tropical; warm and comparatively dry along southeast coast; hot and humid in southwest; hot and dry in north
mostly low plains with dissected plateau in south-central area
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m ; highest point: Mount Afadjato 880 m
gold, timber, industrial diamonds, bauxite, manganese, fish, rubber, hydropower, petroleum, silver, salt, limestone
arable land: 17.54% ; permanent crops: 9.22% ; other: 73.24% (2005)
310 sq km (2003)
53.2 cu km (2001)
Total: 0.98 cu km/yr (24%/10%/66%) ; Per capita: 44 cu m/yr (2000)
dry, dusty, northeastern harmattan winds occur from January to March; droughts
recurrent drought in north severely affects agricultural activities; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; poaching and habitat destruction threatens wildlife populations; water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands ; signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation
Lake Volta is the world's largest artificial lake
22,931,299 ; note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2007 est.)
0-14 years: 38.2% (male 4,438,308/female 4,329,293) ; 15-64 years: 58.2% (male 6,661,512/female 6,687,738) ; 65 years and over: 3.6% (male 380,495/female 433,953) (2007 est.)
total: 20.2 years ; male: 19.9 years ; female: 20.4 years (2007 est.)
1.972% (2007 est.)
29.85 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
9.55 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
-0.58 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female ; under 15 years: 1.025 male(s)/female ; 15-64 years: 0.996 male(s)/female ; 65 years and over: 0.877 male(s)/female ; total population: 1.003 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
total: 53.56 deaths/1,000 live births ; male: 58 deaths/1,000 live births ; female: 48.99 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
total population: 59.12 years ; male: 58.31 years ; female: 59.95 years (2007 est.)
3.89 children born/woman (2007 est.)
3.1% (2003 est.)
350,000 (2003 est.)
30,000 (2003 est.)
noun: Ghanaian(s) ; adjective: Ghanaian
Akan 45.3%, Mole-Dagbon 15.2%, Ewe 11.7%, Ga-Dangme 7.3%, Guan 4%, Gurma 3.6%, Grusi 2.6%, Mande-Busanga 1%, other tribes 1.4%, other 7.8% (2000 census)
Christian 68.8% (Pentecostal/Charismatic 24.1%, Protestant 18.6%, Catholic 15.1%, other 11%), Muslim 15.9%, traditional 8.5%, other 0.7%, none 6.1% (2000 census)
Asante 14.8%, Ewe 12.7%, Fante 9.9%, Boron (Brong) 4.6%, Dagomba 4.3%, Dangme 4.3%, Dagarte (Dagaba) 3.7%, Akyem 3.4%, Ga 3.4%, Akuapem 2.9%, other 36.1% (includes English (official)) (2000 census)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write ; total population: 57.9% ; male: 66.4% ; female: 49.8% (2000 census)
degree of risk: very high ; food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever ; vectorborne diseases: malaria and yellow fever are high risks in some locations ; water contact disease: schistosomiasis ; respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis (2007)

conventional long form: Republic of Ghana ; conventional short form: Ghana ; former: Gold Coast
constitutional democracy
name: Accra ; geographic coordinates: 5 33 N, 0 13 W ; time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
10 regions; Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo, Central, Eastern, Greater Accra, Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Volta, Western

6 March 1957 (from UK)
Independence Day, 6 March (1957)
approved 28 April 1992
based on English common law and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
18 years of age; universal
chief of state: President John Agyekum KUFUOR (since 7 January 2001); Vice President Alhaji Aliu MAHAMA (since 7 January 2001); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government ; head of government: President John Agyekum KUFUOR (since 7 January 2001); Vice President Alhaji Aliu MAHAMA (since 7 January 2001) ; cabinet: Council of Ministers; president nominates members subject to approval by Parliament ; elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms (eligible for a second term); election last held 7 December 2004 (next to be held in December 2008) ; election results: John Agyekum KUFUOR reelected president in election; percent of vote - John KUFUOR 53.4%, John ATTA-MILLS 43.7%
unicameral Parliament (230 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve four-year terms) ; elections: last held 7 December 2004 (next to be held December in 2008) ; election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NPP 128, NDC 94, PNC 4, CPP 3, independent 1
Supreme Court
Convention People's Party or CPP [Dr. Edmund DELLE]; Democratic Freedom Party or DFP [Alhaji Abudu Rahman ISSAKAH]; Every Ghanaian Living Everywhere or EGLE; Great Consolidated Popular Party or GCPP [Dan LARTEY]; National Democratic Congress or NDC [Dr. Kwabena ADJEI]; New Patriotic Party or NPP [Peter MAC-MANU]; People's National Convention or PNC [Alhaji Amed RAMADAN]; Reform Party [Kyeretwie OPUKU]; United Renaissance Party or URP [Charles WAYO]
NA
ACP, AfDB, AU, C, ECOWAS, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM, OAS (observer), OIF, ONUB, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
three equal horizontal bands of red (top), yellow, and green with a large black five-pointed star centered in the yellow band; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia; similar to the flag of Bolivia, which has a coat of arms centered in the yellow band
chief of mission: Ambassador Dr. Kwame BAWUAH-EDUSEI ; chancery: 1156 15th St. NW #905, Washington, DC 20005 ; telephone: [1] (202) 785-1379 ; FAX: [1] (202) 785-1430 ; consulate(s) general: New York
chief of mission: Ambassador Pamela E. BRIDGEWATER ; embassy: Ring Road East, Osu, Accra ; mailing address: P. O. Box 194, Accra ; telephone: [233] (21) 775-347, 775-348 ; FAX: [233] (21) 776-008





Well endowed with natural resources, Ghana has roughly twice the per capita output of the poorest countries in West Africa. Even so, Ghana remains heavily dependent on international financial and technical assistance. Gold, timber, and cocoa production are major sources of foreign exchange. The domestic economy continues to revolve around subsistence agriculture, which accounts for 37% of GDP and employs 60% of the work force, mainly small landholders. Ghana opted for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) program in 2002, but was included in a G-8 debt relief program decided upon at the Gleneagles Summit in July 2005. Priorities under its current $38 million Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) include tighter monetary and fiscal policies, accelerated privatization, and improvement of social services. Receipts from the gold sector helped sustain GDP growth in 2006 along with record high prices for Ghana's largest cocoa crop to date. Ghana received a Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant in 2006, which aims to assist in transforming Ghana's agricultural export sector.
$31.23 billion (2007 est.)
$11.06 billion (2007 est.)
5.8% (2007 est.)
$1,400 (2007 est.)
agriculture: 37.3% ; industry: 25.3% ; services: 37.5% (2006 est.)
11.29 million (2007 est.)
agriculture: 60% ; industry: 15% ; services: 25% (1999 est.)
20% (1997 est.)
31.4% (1992 est.)
lowest 10%: 2.2% ; highest 10%: 30.1% (1999)
40.8 (1998)
10% (2007 est.)
31.3% of GDP (2007 est.)
revenues: $4.347 billion ; expenditures: $5.197 billion (2007 est.)
59.6% of GDP (2007 est.)
cocoa, rice, coffee, cassava (tapioca), peanuts, corn, shea nuts, bananas; timber
mining, lumbering, light manufacturing, aluminum smelting, food processing, cement, small commercial ship building
5.1% (2007 est.)
6.648 billion kWh (2005)
fossil fuel: 5% ; hydro: 95% ; nuclear: 0% ; other: 0% (2001)
5.849 billion kWh (2005)
639 million kWh (2005)
815 million kWh (2005)
7,571 bbl/day (2005 est.)
47,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)
8,041 bbl/day (2004)
45,010 bbl/day (2004)
16.5 million bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005)
22.81 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.)
-$1.47 billion (2007 est.)
$4.179 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
gold, cocoa, timber, tuna, bauxite, aluminum, manganese ore, diamonds
Netherlands 11.3%, UK 8.7%, US 6.7%, Spain 5.7%, Belgium 5.2%, France 4.4% (2006)
$7.539 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Nigeria 16.7%, China 13%, UK 5.7%, Belgium 4.7%, US 4.7%, South Africa 4.1%, France 4.1% (2006)

$2.329 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
$4.668 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
$NA
$NA
$1.729 billion (2006)
cedi (GHC)
GHC
cedis per US dollar - 0.9 (2007), 9,174.8 (2006), 9,072.5 (2005), 9,004.6 (2004), 8,677.4 (2003)
calendar year
$1.12 billion (2005)
356,400 (2006)
5.207 million (2006)
general assessment: fixed-line infrastructure outdated and unreliable; competition among multiple mobile-cellular providers has spurred growth with subscribership approaching 25 per 100 persons ; domestic: primarily microwave radio relay; wireless local loop has been installed ; international: country code - 233; landing point for the SAT-3/WASC fiber-optic submarine cable that provides connectivity to Europe and Asia; satellite earth stations - 4 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); microwave radio relay link to Panaftel system connects Ghana to its neighbors
AM 0, FM 49, shortwave 3 (2001)
12.5 million (2001)
10 (2001)
1.9 million (2001)
.gh
2,899 (2007)
12 (2000)
609,800 (2006)

12 (2007)
total: 7 ; over 3,047 m: 1 ; 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 ; 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2007)
total: 5 ; 914 to 1,523 m: 3 ; under 914 m: 2 (2007)

oil 13 km; refined products 316 km (2006)
total: 953 km ; narrow gauge: 953 km 1.067-m gauge (2006)
total: 42,623 km ; paved: 3,267 km ; unpaved: 39,356 km (2004)
1,293 km ; note: 168 km for launches and lighters on Volta, Ankobra, and Tano rivers; 1,125 km of arterial and feeder waterways on Lake Volta (2007)
total: 3 ships (1000 GRT or over) 5,032 GRT/7,282 DWT ; by type: petroleum tanker 1, refrigerated cargo 2 ; foreign-owned: 1 (Brazil 1) (2007)
Tema

Ghanaian Army, Ghanaian Navy, Ghanaian Air Force (2007)
18 years of age for compulsory and volunteer military service (2001)
males age 18-49: 4,808,451 ; females age 18-49: 4,762,459 (2005 est.)
males age 18-49: 3,011,081 ; females age 18-49: 2,991,551 (2005 est.)
males age 18-49: 251,056 ; females age 18-49: 247,777 (2005 est.)
0.8% (2006 est.)

Ghana struggles to accommodate returning nationals who worked in the cocoa plantations and escaped fighting in Cote d'Ivoire
refugees (country of origin): 38,684 (Liberia), 14,136 (Togo) (2006)
illicit producer of cannabis for the international drug trade; major transit hub for Southwest and Southeast Asian heroin and, to a lesser extent, South American cocaine destined for Europe and the US; widespread crime and money laundering problem, but the lack of a well developed financial infrastructure limits the country's utility as a money laundering center; significant domestic cocaine and cannabis use

