The Dagbamba or Dagomba are an ethnic group of Ghana, and Togo. They number more than 3.1 million people. The term Dagbamba is originally extended to refer to other related peoples who were unified by Naa Gbewaa including the Mamprusi and Nanumba. The Dagomba country is called Dagbon and they speak Dagbanli language. Dagbanli is the most spoken language of northern Ghana and is a widely spoken local language of Ghana. Dagbanli belongs to the Mabia (Mole-Dagbani) subgroup of the Gur languages, a large group of related languages in West Africa. The Dagomba practises both patrilineal and matrilineal systems of inheritance.
The modern Mfantsefo or Fante confederacy is a combination of Akan people and aboriginal Guan people. The Fante people are mainly located in the Central and Western regions of Ghana, occupying the forest and coastal areas. Their land stretches from the eastern part of western region in the west to Gomoa in the east. The Fante can be broadly categorized into two groups - the Borbor/Boka Fante(Akan ancestry) and the Etsii Fante(Guan ancestry). Over the last half century, Fante communities have been established as far as Gambia, Liberia, and even Angola due to fishing expeditions. Major Fante cities and towns in modern Ghana include Cape Coast, Saltpond, Elmina, Sekondi-Takoradi, Agona Swedru, Mankessim,Winneba,Shama,Apam, Komenda, Kasoa and Anomabo.
The Fante Confederacy commonly refers to the modern Confederation formed in 1868, but can also refer to its predecessor, the Mankessim Kingdom. The modern Confederation is seen as one of the first and most prominent self-rule movements in Ghana and the entirety of Africa. Its mission was to shake off colonialism and establish a modern free democratic state.
Winneba is a town and the capital of Effutu Municipal District in Central Region of South Ghana. Winneba has a population of 60,331. Winneba, traditionally known as Simpa, is a historic fishing port in south Ghana, lying on the south coast, 140 kilometres (90 mi) east of Cape Coast. The current member of parliament is Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin.
The Akan people are a Kwa group living primarily in present-day Ghana and in parts of Ivory Coast and Togo in West Africa. The Akan speak languages within the Central Tano branch of the Potou–Tano subfamily of the Niger–Congo family. Subgroups of the Akan people include: the Agona, Akuapem, Akwamu, Akyem, Anyi, Ashanti, Baoulé, Bono, Chakosi, Fante, Kwahu, Sefwi, Wassa, Ahanta, Denkyira and Nzema, among others. The Akan subgroups all have cultural attributes in common; most notably the tracing of royal matrilineal descent in the inheritance of property, and for succession to high political office. All Akans are considered royals in status, but not all are in royal succession or hold titles.
The Efutu are a part of the Guang people who are historically known to be the aboriginal inhabitants of present-day Ghana. They founded the coastal area about 1390 C.E. The Efutu are found in Awutu, Adina, Senya-Beraku and Winneba and their main occupation is fishing. Their mighty Guan culture have had influence on neighbouring Akan cultures.Akans,especially the borbor Mfantsefo had adopted their names and some cultural elements and fused it with theirs through integration to produce modern cultures which is shared by both the Guan people of Winneba and their Akan neighbours.However,Efutu just like other Guans states have a patrilineal system of succession. The Simpa Kingdom was formed about 1400 AD.
Kwahu or Kwawu is an area and group of people that live in Ghana and are part of the Twi-speaking Akan group. The region has been dubbed Asaase Aban, or the Natural Fortress, given its position as the highest habitable elevation in the country. Kwahu lies in the Eastern Region of Ghana, on the west shore of Lake Volta. The Kwahus share the Eastern Region with the Akyem and Akuapem, as well as the Adangbe-Krobos. Among Kwahu lands, a significant migrant population works as traders, farm-hands, fisherfolk, and caretakers in the fertile waterfront 'melting pot' of Afram plains. These migrants are mostly from the Northern and Volta Regions, as well as, some indigenous Guans from the bordering Oti and Brong-Ahafo regions live in the Afram Plains area. Kwahus are traditionally known to be wealthy traders, owning a significant number of businesses and industries in Ghana.
Fante, also known as Fanti, Fantse, or Mfantse, is one of the three literary dialects of the Akan language, along with Asante and Akuapem, with which it is mutually intelligible. It is principally spoken in the central and southern regions of Ghana as well as in settlements in other regions in western Ghana, Ivory Coast, as well as in Liberia, Gambia and Angola.
The Mankessim Kingdom was a pre-colonial African state in modern-day Ghana. It is regarded as the heartland of the Fante people, and operated as capital of the Fante Confederacy in the 19th century. The town of Mankessim still exists, and is located in the Central Region of Ghana, about an hour and a half drive west of Accra. The Mankessim Kingdom's influence was quite vast; it extended to the whole of the Fante people, and at times the entire coast of modern-day Ghana.
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The Methodist Church Ghana is one of the largest and oldest mainline Protestant denominations in Ghana. It traces its roots back to the landing of the Rev. Joseph Dunwell on 1 January 1835 in Cape Coast, in the Gold Coast. The Rev. T. B. Freeman, another missionary, took the Christian message beyond Cape Coast to the Ashanti Empire, to Nigeria, and to other parts of the region to become the father of Methodism in West Africa.
The Akyem are an Akan people. The term Akyem is used to describe a group of four states: Asante Akyem, Akyem Abuakwa, Akyem Kotoku, and Akyem Bosome. These nations are located primarily in the eastern region in south Ghana. The term is also used to describe the general area where the Akyem ethnic group clusters. The Akyem ethnic group make up between 3-4 percent of Ghana's population depending on how one defines the group and are very prominent in all aspects of Ghanaian life. The Akyem are a matrilineal people. The history of this ethnic group is that of brave warriors who managed to create a thriving often influential and relatively independent state within modern-day Ghana. When one talks of Ghanaian history, there is often mention of The Big Six. These were six individuals who played a big role in the independence of Ghana. Of the big six, people of Akyem descent made up the majority.
Akwamu was a state set up by the Akwamu people in present-day Ghana. After migrating from Bono state, the Akan founders of Akwamu settled in Twifo-Heman. The Akwamu led an expansionist empire in the 17th and 18th centuries. At the peak of their empire, Akwamu extended 400 kilometres (250 mi) along the coast from Ouidah, Benin in the East to Winneba, Ghana, in the West.
Anomabu, also spelled Anomabo and formerly as Annamaboe, is a town on the coast of the Mfantsiman Municipal District of the Central Region of South Ghana. Anomabu has a settlement population of 14,389 people.
Thomas Birch Freeman was an Anglo-African Wesleyan minister, missionary, botanist and colonial official in West Africa. He is widely regarded as a pioneer of the Methodist Church in colonial West Africa, where he also established multiple schools. Some scholars view him as the "Founder of Ghana Methodism". Freeman's missionary activities took him to Dahomey, now Benin, as well as to Western Nigeria.
The Ahanta/Ayinda are Guan people who live to the north and east of the Nzema. The Ahanta land has been historically known as one of the richest areas on the coast of what is now Ghana.
The Kundum festival is celebrated by the Ahanta and Nzema people of the Western region of Ghana. It is celebrated to thank God for the abundance of food at the time of the harvest period of the area.
The Bakatue Festival is celebrated by the chiefs and peoples of Elmina in the Central Region of Ghana. The festival, established at least as far back as 1847.It is celebrated on the first Tuesday in the month of July every year.
The Fetu Afahye is a festival celebrated by the chiefs and people of Cape Coast in the Central region of Ghana. The festival is celebrated on the first Saturday in the month of September every year. The Oguaa people of Cape Coast celebrate the Fetu Afahye every year because there was once a disease outbreak among the populace that resulted in a large number of fatalities. The people prayed to the gods to help them get rid of the disease. Thus the festival is celebrated to keep the town clean and to prevent another epidemic befalling the people.
The Asafo flags are regimental flags of the Fante people, an ethnic group that mainly resides in Ghana's central coastal region. The flags are influenced by a combination of Akan proverbs, visual imagery, and European heraldic tradition.
