What are the Key Facts of Ghana?

Official Name	Republic of Ghana
Continent	Africa
Capital	Accra
Largest City	Accra
Coordinates	8.000000, -2.000000
Area	92,098 sq. mi (238,533 sq. km)
Land Boundaries	1,504 mi (2,420 km)
Coastline	335 mi (539 km)
Currency	Ghanaian cedi (GHS)
Neighboring Countries	Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo
Population	30,417,000 (World Bank, 2019)
Official Languages	English
Major Religion	Christianity
National Day	6 March (Independence Day)
National Anthem	“God Bless Our Homeland Ghana”
Form of Government	Presidential republic
President	Nana Akufo-Addo
Vice-President	Mahamudu Bawumia
GDP per capita (PPP)	$ 5,637.0 (World Bank, 2019)
GDP per capita (nominal)	$ 2,202.1 (World Bank, 2019)
HDI	0.596 (2019), Rank: 142
Literacy Rate (%)	79.04 % (UNESCO, 2018)
Space Agency	NA
Military Expenditure Ranking	108 (SIPRI, 2019)
No. of Olympic Medals	4 (as of 2018)
Driving Side	right
Calling Code	233
Time Zone	UTC (GMT)
Internet TLD	.gh

Where is Ghana?

Ghana (whose official name is the Republic of Ghana) is a West African country that borders the Gulf of Guinea between Togo and Cote d’Ivoire.

What is the Geography of Ghana?

Ghana is spread across a total area of 238,533 sq. km (92,098 sq. mi). Out of the total area, 227,533 sq. km (87,851 sq. mi) is land, and 11,000 sq. km (4,247 sq. mi) is water.

The Republic of Ghana’s total land boundary is 2,420 km (1503.7 mi) long. It shares its border with Togo (1098 km or 682.3 mi) in the east, Cote d’Ivoire (also known as Ivory Coast) (720 km or 447.4 mi) in the west, and Burkina Faso (602 km or 374.1 mi) in the north. The Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean is situated in the south of Ghana. It has a coastline of 539 km (334.9 mi) long.

The mean elevation of Ghana is 190 m (118.1 ft). While the highest point is Mount Afadjato at 885 m (2903.5 ft), the lowest point is the Atlantic Ocean at 0 m (0 ft).

Ghana’s terrain mostly consists of low plains, where the dissected plateau is located mainly in the south-central area.

Through Tema (an industrial port town), the Prime Meridian passes through. Ghana is closer to the geographical coordinates of the Earth’s center. The notional center of the Earth (0°, 0°) is situated in the Atlantic Ocean, around 614 km (382 mi) off Ghana’s south-east coast on the Gulf of Guinea.

Ghana is dominated by grasslands mixed with south coastal shrublands and forests. The forest area starts from the country’s south-west coast on the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean and extends towards:

• North for around 320 km (200 mi)
• East for around 270 km (170 mi) maximum with the Kingdom of Ashanti, and
• South (which is also the main location for timber as well as industrial mineral mining

Ghana’s geography includes everything from the plains to low hills, islands (Bobowasi Island and Dodi Island are located on Ghana’s south Atlantic Ocean coast), rivers, waterfalls, and lakes. While Pulmakong is the northernmost part, Cape Three Points is the southernmost part of Ghana.

The highest mountains in Ghana are Afadja, Edouka, Atiwiredu, and many more. The major rivers in Ghana are Volta, Black Volta, White Volta, Oti (Pendjari), Tano, etc. The largest artificial lake in Ghana (and also in the world) is Lake Volta.

What is the Climate of Ghana?

The Republic of Ghana has a tropical climate, which is characterized by a rainy season in summer (thanks to the African monsoon) and a dry season in winter. The occurrence of rainy season varies from one part of the country to the other:

1. In northern Ghana, the rainy season remains during May-September.
2. In central Ghana, it lasts from April to October.
3. In southern Ghana, it starts in April and continues till November.

Along the east coast, the rainy season is shorter. It starts in April and continues till June. It again recovers during September-October.

Southern Ghana is the rainiest region, with the yearly precipitation above 1,500 mm (60 inches) per year. However, in the west coast area, the annual rainfall amount remains around 2,000 mm (80 inches).

Northern Ghana is the driest region with a yearly rainfall remaining around 1,000 mm (40 inches). The rainfall on the eastern coast (including Accra) remains below 800 mm (31.5 inches). While north Ghana has only one rainy season (reaching a peak in summer), the coastal areas have two rainy seasons.

Average daily temperature in Ghana during daytime and nighttime are 30 °C (86 °F) and 24 °C (75 °F) respectively. Relative humidity in the country ranges from 77% to 85%.

During March-April, northern Ghana gets squalls (which are a sudden and sharp increase in the wind speed that lasts for minutes), which are followed by occasional rainfall until August-September. Yearly rainfall amount ranges within 780-2160 mm (30.7-85 inches).

What is the Economy of Ghana?

The economy of Ghana is a market-based one. In comparison to other economies in the region, Ghana has few trade-and-investment-related policy-barriers.

Thanks to huge natural resources, Ghana has a relatively strong economy, relatively sound economic management for almost a quarter-century, sustained reductions in levels of poverty, and a competitive business environment. However, the economy is more recently suffering from depreciating currency, high budget and current account deficits, and loose fiscal policy.

In 2019, the nominal GDP of Ghana increased by 6.5% to US$66.984 billion. Major exports are Gold, Crude Petroleum, Cocoa Beans, Cocoa Paste, and Coconuts, Brazil Nuts, and Cashews. Major imports are Refined Petroleum, Cars, Rice, Non-fillet Frozen Fish, and Delivery Trucks.

The unemployment rate (modeled a per ILO estimate) in Ghana was dropped sharply from 10.36% in 2000 to 4.635% in 2006 but then slowed down to 4.331% in 2019. As per the World Bank, the poverty rate (Poverty headcount ratio at $1.90 a day) increased from 12% in 2012 to 13.3% in 2016.

What is the Transportation System of Ghana?

Ghana has ten airports, out of which seven have paved runways, and 3 have unpaved runways. Kotoka International Airport (Accra), Kumasi International Airport (Kumasi), Tamale Airport (Tamale), Takoradi Airport (Sekondi-Takoradi), etc.

The total roadways in Ghana are 109,515 km (68049.5 mi) long, out of which 13,787 km (8566.8 mi) is paved, and 95,728 km (59482.6 mi) is unpaved. 947 km (588.4 mi) long railway facility is available across Ghana, and all of them are narrow gauge (1.067-m gauge) railway tracks.

Ghana has an extensive waterways system. While most of them (1,125 km or 699 mi) are arterial and feeder waterways on Lake Volta, a section of the waterway (168 km or 104.4 mi) on Volta, Ankobra, and Tano Rivers are mainly for launches and lighters. There are two major seaports, and they are Takoradi and Tema. There are 48 merchant marine vessels in the country, out of which 6 are general cargo, 3 are oil tankers, and 39 are other vessels.

What International Organizations is Ghana Part of?

WTO, IMF, UN, WHO, UNESCO, ILO, NAM, ACP, AfDB, AU, C, ECOWAS, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, MIGA, MINURSO, MINUSMA, MONUSCO, OIF, OPCW, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNISFA, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WIPO, WMO, EITI (compliant country), ICC (national committees), ITUC (NGOs), OAS (observer), WFTU (NGOs)