Location of Ghana. Source: Vardion/Wikipedia

Source: CIA World Factbook

Ghana is a nation in western-Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between Cote d'Ivoire] to the west and Togoto the east.

Ghana's major environmental issues include: recurrent drought in north severely affects agricultural activities; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; poaching and habitat destruction threatens wildlife populations; water pollution; and, inadequate supplies of potable water. It is susceptible to dry, dusty, northeastern harmattan winds which occur from January to March; and to droughts.

Ghana was 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 succeeded him and was reelected in 2004. Kufuor is constitutionally barred from running for a third term in upcoming Presidential elections, which are scheduled for December 2008.

Geography

Location: Western Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between Cote d'Ivoire] and Togo

Geographic Coordinates: 8 00 N, 2 00 W

Area: 239,460 km² (230,940 km² land and 8,520 km²water)

arable land: 17.54%
permanent crops: 9.22%
other: 73.24% (2005) 

Land Boundaries: 2,094 km. Border countries: Burkina Faso 549 km, Cote d'Ivoire 668 km, Togo 877 km

Coastline: 539 km

Maritime Claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm

Natural Hazard: dry, dusty, northeastern harmattan winds occur from January to March; droughts

Terrain: Mostly low plains with dissected plateau in south-central area. Is lowest point is the Atlantic Ocean (0 metres) and its highest point is Mount Afadjato (880 metres).

Climate: Tropical; warm and comparatively dry along southeast coast; hot and humid in southwest; hot and dry in north

Government

Government Type: constitutional democracy

Capital: Accra

Independence Date: 6 March 1957 (from UK)

Legal System: based on English common law and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

International Environmental Agreements

Ghana is party to international agreements on: 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, and Wetlands. It has signed, but not ratified and international agreement on Marine Life Conservation.

People and Society

Population: 23,382,848

Age Structure:

0-14 years: 37.8% (male 4,470,382/female 4,360,359)
15-64 years: 58.7% (male 6,852,363/female 6,866,470)
65 years and over: 3.6% (male 386,150/female 447,124) (2008 est.)

Population Growth Rate: 1.928% (2008 est.)

Birth Rate: 29.22 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death Rate: 9.39 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net Migration Rate: -0.55 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Life Expectancy at Birth: 59.49 years (2008 est.)

Total Fertility Rate: 3.78 children born/woman (2008 est.)

Languages: 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)

Literacy(2000 census): 57.9% (male: 66.4% - female: 49.8%)

Water

Total Renewable Water Resources: 53.2 cu km (2001)

Freshwater Withdrawal: Total: 0.98 cu km/yr (24% domestic, 10% industrial, 66% agricultural). Per capita: 44 cu m/yr (2000)

Agriculture

Agricultural Products: cocoa, rice, cassava (tapioca), peanuts, corn, shea nuts, bananas; timber

Irrigated Land: 310 sq km (2003)

Resources

Natural Resources: gold, timber, industrial diamonds, bauxite, manganese, fish, rubber, hydropower, petroleum, silver, salt, limestone.

Energy

Health

Prevalence Rate of HIV/AIDS in Adults: 3.1% (2003 est.)

Major Infectious Diseases: degree of risk: very high

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and yellow fever
water contact disease: schistosomiasis
respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis

Conflict

International Disputes: Ghana struggles to accommodate returning nationals who worked in the cocoa plantations and escaped fighting in Cote d'Ivoire

Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons: refugees (country of origin): 35,653 (Liberia); 8,517 (Togo) (2007)

Economy

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 and cocoa production, and individual remittances, are major sources of foreign exchange. The domestic economy continues to revolve around agriculture, which accounts for about 35% of GDP and employs about 55% of the work force, mainly small landholders. Ghana opted for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) program in 2002, and is also benefiting from the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative that took effect in 2006. Thematic priorities under its current Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy, which also provides the framework for development partner assistance, are: macroeconomic stability; private sector competitiveness; human resource development; and good governance and civic responsibility. Sound macro-economic management along with high prices for gold and cocoa helped sustain GDP growth in 2007. Ghana signed a Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact in 2006, which aims to assist in transforming Ghana's agricultural sector.

GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): $31.33 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (Official Exchange Rate): $14.86 billion (2007 est.)

GDP- real growth rate: 6.4% (2007 est.)

GDP- per capita (PPP): $1,400 (2007 est.)

GDP- composition by sector:

agriculture: 37.3%
industry: 25.3%
services: 37.5% (2006 est.)

Population Below Poverty Line: 28.5% (2007 est.)

Industries: mining, lumbering, light manufacturing, aluminum smelting, food processing, cement, small commercial ship building

Exports: gold, cocoa, timber, tuna, bauxite, aluminum, manganese ore, diamonds, horticulture

Export Partners: Netherlands 11.1%, UK 8%, France 6.3%, US 6%, Germany4.6%, Belgium 4.4% (2006)

Imports: $8.073 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Import Partners: Nigeria 15.3%, China 14.9%, UK 5.5%, US 5.1% (2006)

Economic Aid Recipient: $1.316 billion in loans and grants (2007)

Currency: Ghana cedi (GHC)

Ports and Terminals: Tema

Further Reading

1. CIA World Factbook