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| Ghana Africa |
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| Background: |
| 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. A
long series of coups resulted in the suspension of the constitution in
1981 and a ban on political parties. A new constitution, restoring
multiparty politics, was approved in 1992. Lt. Jerry RAWLINGS, head of
state since 1981, 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. |
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| People: |
| Population: 22,409,572 |
| 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 2006 est.) |
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| Age structure:
0-14 years: 38.8% (male 4,395,744/female
4,288,720) |
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15-64 years: 57.7%
(male 6,450,828/female 6,483,781) |
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65 years and over:
3.5% (male 371,428/female 419,071) (2006 est.) |
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| Median age: total: 19.9 years
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male: 19.7 years |
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female: 20.1 years
(2006 est.) |
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| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 3.1%
(2003 est.) |
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| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 350,000
(2003 est.) |
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| HIV/AIDS - deaths: 30,000 (2003 est.) |
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| Major infectious diseases: degree of
risk: very high |
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food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea,
hepatitis A, and typhoid fever |
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vectorborne diseases: malaria and yellow fever are high risks in
some locations |
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water contact disease: schistosomiasis |
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respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis (2007) |
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| Ethnic groups: African
98.5% (includes Akan 44%, Moshi-Dagomba 16%, Ewe 13%, Ga 8%, Gurma 3%,
Yoruba 1%), European and other 1.5% (1998) |
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| Religions: Christian 63%, Muslim 16%,
indigenous beliefs 21% |
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| Geography: |
| Location: Western Africa, bordering the
Gulf of Guinea, between Cote d'Ivoire and Togo |
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| Area: total:
239,460 sq km |
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land: 230,940 sq km |
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water: 8,520 sq km |
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| Area - Comparitive: slightly smaller
than Oregon |
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| Climate: tropical; warm and
comparatively dry along southeast coast; hot and humid in southwest; hot
and dry in north |
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| Natural Resources: gold, timber,
industrial diamonds, bauxite, manganese, fish, rubber, hydropower,
petroleum, silver, salt, limestone |
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| Land Use: Arable Land: 17.54% |
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permanent crops:
9.22% |
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other: 73.24% (2005) |
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| Irrigated land: 310
sq km (2003) |
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| Natural hazards: dry,
dusty, northeastern harmattan winds occur from January to March;
droughts |
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| Environment - current issues:
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 |
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Environment - international agreements:
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 |
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| Geography - note: Lake Volta is the
world's largest artificial lake |
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| Sources: |
| World Fact Book,
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/print/gh.html |
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