The name Ghana originates from an African empire, which was located around River Niger between 400 and 1240AD. That empire, which was famous because of its rich gold mines, was called "Wagudugu" and "Ghana" was the title of its ruler. Later on, Wagudugu became a part of Mali Empire that spread in the end in many tribal kingdoms in the 14th century. But its name and reputation endured. Flag of Gold Coast In 1957 when the leaders of the former British colony of the Gold Coast sought an appropriate name for their newly independent state, the first black African nation to gain its independence from colonial rule they named their new country after ancient Ghana. The choice was more than merely symbolic because modern Ghana, like its namesake, was equally famed for its wealth and trade in gold.
The period between the 15th and 19th Centuries witnessed a power struggle for the country amongst European nations for fortunes in gold and ivory, following the advent of the Portuguese who discovered gold in 1471 and built Elmina Castle in 1482. The other Europeans were the Dutch, Swedes, Danes, Prussians and the British. The battle for control and supremacy over the land culminated in the building of many forts and castles, which were used not only as trading posts but also as dungeons for the infamous slave trade. After the Abolition of Slavery the Europeans tried to conquer the land of them former trading partners. But the Africans could not accept them hegemonial policy, started fighting and resisting. It is significant to note that out of the about forty-three (43) forts and castles in West Africa, thirty-three (33) are in Ghana alone. Out of these about twenty five (25) are in good condition, including Elmina and Cape Coast Castles and Fort St. Jago, all three of which are recognised by UNESCO as World Heritage Monuments.
While the Swedes and Prussians stayed only for a few years, the Danes remained till 1850. 1874 the Dutch withdraw them Gold Coast colony in favour of the British, who later step by step conquered the whole country (till 1901/1902), even they could not keep it under control and break the resistance of the freedom loving people. At least 1922 the British embedded the western Part of the former German Togoland into them Gold Coast colony, which they administrated after World War 1. as a legue of Nations mandate since 1919. 1935 the Asante are allowed to have restricted "autonomy" through the Ashanti Confederacy Council and later (1952) as a Member of Commonwealth. Ghana became independent from British colonial rule on March 6, 1957. It was the first black African colony to achieve independence, led by the charismatic Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
On the one hand he forced many social progresses, on the other hand the country's economy deteriorated rapidly after independence: a lot of money was spent on prestige projects and on advancing the cause of pan-Africanism and the non-aligned movement. But the great man suffered an equally great fall when he became increasingly repressive and was overthrown by his countrymen. Following Nkrumah's departure, a series of coups led to the rise and fall of several corrupt and authoritarian regimes.
The struggles culminated in the suspension of the constitution in 1981 and the banning of political parties. A new constitution, restoring multiparty politics, was approved in 1992. Lt. Jerry Rawlings, who came into the policy by a coup in 1979 as a soldier, clean patriot and social reformer but was initially not successful. Later on he was head of state since 1981, won presidential elections in 1992 and 1996, but was constitutionally prevented from running for a third term in 2000. He was succeeded by John Kufour, who defeated former Vice President Atta Mills in a free and fair election.
The political situation is the most stable in entire Western Africa.
 | Gold Coast (British colony) |
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the British colony in west Africa, 1821-1957. ( Gold Coast )
Map from 1896 of the British Gold Coast Colony.Gold Coast was the name of a British colony on the Gulf of Guinea in west Africa that became the independent nation of Ghana in 1957.
 The first Europeans to arrive at the coast were the Portuguese, in 1471. On their arrival, they found a group of kingdoms of different tribes, and lots of gold in the soil. In 1482, the Portuguese built the first castle in the Gold Coast. They used it to trade gold, in exchange for cloth, knives, beads, mirrors, rum and guns. News spread quickly, and eventually, English, Dane, German and Swedish traders arrived too. These European traders built several forts along the coastlines. The Gold Coast was formed in 1821 when the British government took over privately held lands along the coast. Gold Coast had long been a name for the region used by Europeans, due to the large gold resources to be found in the area, although slave trade was the main trade for a number of years. In 1872, the Dutch lost interest in the coast and gave up their forts to the British.
Britain steadily expanded the colony through wars with local kingdoms, the Ashanti Confederacy and other European countries which had colonies in the region. The British's main problem was the Asanti people who controlled much of Ghana before the Europeans arrived and are still today the most powerful tribe in Ghana. During the First Anglo-Ashanti war (1863-1864) the two groups fought because of a disagreement over an Asanti chief and slavery. Tensions increased in 1874 during the Second Asanti War (1873-1874) when the British sacked the Asanti capital of Kumasi. The third Asanti War(1893-1894) occurred because the new Asanti asantehene, ruler of the Asanti, wanted to exercise his new title. From 1895-1896 the British and Asanti fought in the fourth and final Asanti War, where the Asanti fought for and lost their independence. In 1900 the Asanti Uprising occurred and resulted in the Asanti capture and, shortly after, loss of Kumasi. This was due to an attempt to steal the Golden Stool, the asentehene's throne. At the end of this last of the Asanti Wars the Asanti people became a protectorate on 1 January 1902.
Kumasi |
Geography:
Location: Ghana has a total land area of 238,537 sq km2 (92,100 sq. miles) stretching 672 km north to south and 357 km east to west. Its physical size makes it about the same size as Great Britain. Ghana is located on the west coast of Africa, about 750 km north of the equator between the latitudes of 4 and 11.5o north and longitude 3.11° West and 1.11° East. It is bounded on the north by Burkina Faso, on the west by La Cote D'lvoire, on the east by Togo and on the south by the Gulf of Guinea (Atlantic Ocean). Tema, the industrial city, which is adjunct to Accra, the capital city of Ghana, is on the Greenwich Meridian (zero line of longitude), making Ghana the closest landmark to the centre of the world. 
Landscape:
Ghana is not a mountainous country, but has some highlands and some steep escarpments in the middle portions and isolated places in the northern parts. The land is relatively flat and the altitude is generally below 500m, with more than half of the country below 200m. The Volta River basin dominates the country's river system and includes the 8,480sqkm Lake Volta (the largest artificial lake in the world), formed behind the Akosombo hydroelectric dam. The coastal area consists of plains and numerous lagoons near the estuaries of rivers. Climate: Ghana has a tropical climate with two rainy and two dry seasons. The north, also with tropical climate, is dry and falls partly within the Sahelian zone. Annual rainfall in the south averages 2,030 mm, but varies greatly throughout the country, with the heaviest rainfall in the south-western part.
Oda, GHA
Updated 09 February 2010 09:00
Cloudy | 28°C | High: 34°C
Low: 25°C
Wind: 2 kph
Humidity: 86%
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Thursday
33° / 25° |
Friday
31° / 25° | 
Saturday
33° / 24° |
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Vegetation: In terms of vegetation, the north is predominantly savannah and the middle section (extending to the south-western part) is typical rainforest, while the coastal section has thicket interspersed with savannah.  Bongo , North Ghana (Bolgatanga)
 AXIM ,WESTERN REGION By 1901, all of the Gold Coast was a British colony. Its kingdoms and tribes were forced to make a single unit. The British shipped various natural resources — such as gold, metal ores, diamonds, ivory, pepper, timber, corn and cocoa — from the Gold Coast. They paid the local people very little for these valuable materials. They built railways to transport them to the coast. They built some roads, schools and hospitals too, but the people had pay for these through taxes. By 1945, the people had had enough. In 1946, British Togoland, the Ashanti protectorate, and the Fante protectorate were merged with the Gold Coast to create one colony, usually referred to as the Gold Coast. In 1957 the colony gained independence under the name of Ghana.
From Wikipedia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Anglo-Ashanti Wars were a series of four wars between the British and the Ashanti Confederacy in 1826, 1873, 1893-1894 and 1895-1896.[1] The Ashanti, a major ethnic group in what is now Ghana, was one of the few African nations to offer substantial resistance to British imperial ambitions in Africa. Britain annexed the territories of the Ashanti and the neighbouring Fanti in 1896, after the fourth war. The Ashanti were finally overcome by the British in 1900 with the suppression of the Ashanti Uprising led by Yaa Asantewaa, Queen Mother of Ejisu.
The First Anglo-Ashanti War began in 1823 after the Ashanti defeated a small British force commanded by Sir Charles McCarthy. An Ashanti army was defeated near the coast in 1826, but did not move inland. There was further conflict between the Ashanti and the British protectorate of the Fanti in 1863, which led to casualties on both sides.
The Second Anglo-Ashanti War began in 1873, after Britain took control of Dutch trading posts on the coast. The Ashanti invaded the new British protectorate. General Wolseley defeated the Ashanti, and occupied Kumasi briefly. The Ashantehene (the king of the Ashanti) signed a British treaty of protection in July 1874 to end the war.
The British started the Third Anglo-Ashanti War in 1894 on the pretext of acts of cruelty committed by the new Ashantehene, Prempeh I. The British also wished to secure the territory of the Ashanti (and its gold) from the advances of the French colonial forces in west Africa. Britain annexed the territories of the Ashanti and the Fanti in 1896, and Ashanti leaders were sent into exile in the Seychelles. Robert Baden-Powell led the British in this campaign.
In 1900, the British governor Sir Frederick Hodgson demanded the right to sit on the Golden Stool, a sacred gold-plated stool which stood at the heart of the entire Ashanti religious and feudal power structure and which only the Asantehene is permitted to touch. The offence triggered the discontended Ashanti to revolt. The British defeated the Ashanti Uprising in 1900, and occupied Kumasi.
The Crown Colony of Gold Coast was created on 26 September 1901. |