Ghana has a total land area of about 238,53 squared kilometers (about 11,000sq.km covered by water) with about 539km of coastline. Just about 20.7% of Ghana's total land area remains arable (land good for farming)despite the rapid growth of realty business in the country.
Ghana has an "estimated" population of 29 million people (as of 2017) with the population growth rate around 2.2%. About 55% of Ghana's population lives in urban areas in major cities and towns such as Accra the capital (Accra, the capital of Ghana, contains about 2.3 million people) and Kumasi the capital of the Ashanti region of Ghana (Kumasi contains about 1.8 million people). Other major towns and cities such as Tamale (the capital of the Northern region of Ghana), Sunyani (the capital of the Brong Ahafo region), Wa (the capital of the Upper West region), Bolgatanga (the capital of the Upper East region), Sekondi Takoradi (the capital of the Western region) and Koforidua (the capital of the Eastern region of Ghana) also contain significant portions of the population.
Ghana was the first Sub-Saharan African country to gain independence (from colonial rule). Ghana gained independence in 1957 from the United Kingdom. Ghana became a republic on July 1, 1960. Lake Volta, the largest artificial lake in the world, is found in Ghana.
Ghana formerly known as" GOLD COAST" just like its neighboring countries, is blessed with abundance of natural resources such as gold, silver, manganese, bauxite, timber, petroleum, fish, rubber, salt, limestone, industrial diamonds, etc. However, despite the abundance of natural resources, Ghana just like its neighboring countries, is crippled by several economic and social problems. In fact, a significant fraction of Ghana's population continues to wallow in extreme poverty and hunger despite Ghana's recent lower middle income status. Just like in most other African countries today, there is rampant corruption all across the country. Illiteracy levels (especially within the female population) remain very high in some corners of the country. Poor infrastructure and lack of educational facilities remain a huge problem especially in the rural and sub-urban areas.
The two decades of political stability in Ghana has helped the country a lot in almost all sectors of its economy. However, despite the significant improvement in agriculture and other sectors of the economy, Ghana like most African countries today continue to face so many developmental challenges. About 60 percent of the Ghanaian population is into Agriculture. Most farmers in Ghana like in most other African countries today, are subsistence farmers who grow crops and rear animals just to feed themselves and their families. However, lack of farming subsidies, poor farming practices, poor climatic conditions, etc. continue to keep millions of people in poverty and despair.
Ghana is the second leading producer of
cocoa beans in the world (Ivory Coast is the current world's leading
producer of cocoa beans). However, this major cash crop sometimes meet
lower prices at the international market leaving most cocoa farmers in
the rural areas with nothing but poverty and despair especially in times
of crop failure.
Most villages and towns in Ghana
today lack good drinking water, hospitals, basic sanitation ( lack of
basic sanitation remains a major problem even in Accra the capital),
quality education, etc.
The northern parts of Ghana unlike the
rest of the country get very unpredictable levels of rainfall in a year
which leaves the upper East, the upper west, and the Northern regions of
Ghana mostly dry and dusty during much of the year which doesn't favor
agriculture at all in most parts. Rainfall in the northern parts of
Ghana is often unpredictable sometimes causing unpredictable flooding in
some areas.
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