Ghana, Africa

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Geography

• Area: 148,218 square miles; slightly smaller than Oregon
• Capital: Accra
• Climate: Ghana is very close to the equator and most of the country is at sea  level in elevation. The highest point is 2,900 feet. The climate is tropical and annual rainfall on the coast is about 33 inches. The Southeast coast is warm and comparatively dry with hot and humid temperatures in the Southwest and hot and dry climate in the North.
• Features: The largest manmade lake in the world, Volta Lake, is in Ghana.

Current Environmental Issues

Ghana has recurrent droughts in the north that severely affect agricultural activities. Other problems such as deforestation, overgrazing, soil erosion, poaching and habitat destruction threaten wildlife populations. There is also water pollution and inadequate supplies of potable water.

People

• Nationality: Ghanaian(s)                                                
• Population: 24,791,073 (July 2011 est.)
• Urbanization: 51% of total population (2010)
• Primary ethnic groups: Akan, Mole-Dagbon, Ewe, Ga-Dangme, Guan, Gurma, Grusi, Mande-Busanga
• Religions: Christian 68.8%; Muslim 15.9%; traditional and indigenous beliefs 8.5%
• Languages: Over 10 indigenous languages are predominant, but English is the official language and it is taught in all schools.
• Literacy rate (age 15 and over): 57.9%
• School Life Expectancy: 10 years
• Infant mortality rate: 49/1,000 live births
• Life expectancy: 60 years for men; 62 years for women.
• HIV/AIDS: 260,000 people living with HIV/AIDS; ranking 24^th in the world, approximately 1% of the total Ghanaian population. (U.S.A is #10 with 1.2 million) (2009 est.)

Government & Economy

• Independence: March 6^th, 1957 (from the UK)
• Number of registered political parties: 9
• Flag Description: Red symbolizes the blood shed for independence, yellow represents the country’s mineral wealth, while green stands for its forests and natural wealth; the black star is said to be the lodestar of African freedom.
• Natural resources: Gold, timber, bauxite, aluminum, manganese ore, diamonds. Agricultural products: cocoa, coconuts, coffee, tuna, tea, cork and wood manufactures, pineapples, cashews, spices, other food crops, rubber
• Average annual income per person: $2,500 (2010 est.)
• Unemployment Rate: 11%
• Population Below Poverty Line: 28.5% (2007 est.)

Transnational Issues

Ghana struggles to accommodate returning nationals who worked in the cocoa plantations and escaped fighting in Cote d’Ivoire.

• Refugees (Country of Origin): 35,653 (Liberia); 8,517 (Togo) (2007 est.)

Culture

Food: Some traditional Ghanaian dishes are:

Cooked rice

Waakye- rice and beans

Fufu- pounded cassava and plantain or pounded yam and plantain, or pounded cocyam made into a dough

Banku/Akple- cooked fermented corn dough and cassava dough

Konkonte- from dried cassava chips

Gari-made from cassava

Most Ghanaian dishes are served with a stew (often based on tomato with other protein cooked in it) or soup. The most popular soups are groundnut soup, and palmnut soup. Okra soup and stew are also popular. Usually rice and kenkey are served with soup or stew, while banku, fufu, akple and konkonte are served with soup. (www.ghananation.com)

Music: see youtube.com and ghanaweb.com