Cape Coast is a city, fishing port, and the capital of Cape Coast Metropolitan District and Central Region of Ghana. It is one of the country's most historic cities, a World Heritage Site, home to the Cape Coast Castle, with the Gulf of Guinea situated to its south. According to the 2021 census, Cape Coast had a settlement population of 189,925 people. The language of the people of Cape Coast is Fante.
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 Fante and the Etsii Fante who are also aboriginal Guan people. 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 in modern Ghana include Oguaa, Edina (Elmina),Agona Swedru, Mankessim, Saltpond, Komenda and Anomabo.
The Fante Confederacy refers either to the alliance of the Fante states in existence at least since the sixteenth century, or it can also refer to the modern Confederation formed in 1868. The 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.
Elmina Castle was erected by the Portuguese in 1482 as Castelo de São Jorge da Mina, also known as Castelo da Mina or simply Mina, in present-day Elmina, Ghana, formerly the Gold Coast. It was the first trading post built on the Gulf of Guinea, and the oldest European building in existence south of the Sahara.
Elmina, also known as Edina by the local Fante, is a town and the capital of the Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem District on the south coast of Ghana in the Central Region, situated on a bay on the Atlantic Ocean, 12 kilometres west of Cape Coast. Elmina was the first European settlement in West Africa and it has a population of 33,576 people.
The Efutu are a Guang people that are the original 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 Fantes 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.
Adinkra are symbols from Ghana that represent concepts or aphorisms. Adinkra are used extensively in fabrics, logos and pottery. They are incorporated into walls and other architectural features. Adinkra symbols appear on some traditional Akan goldweights. The symbols are also carved on stools for domestic and ritual use. Tourism has led to new departures in the use of symbols in items such as T-shirts and jewellery.
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.
The Ahanta/Ayinda are Akan 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.
Robert Patrick Baffour,, was a Ghanaian engineer, politician and university administrator who served as the first Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). He was also a pioneer in engineering education in Ghana.
The Aboakyer festival is a deer hunting festival celebrated by the people of Winneba in the Central Region of Ghana.
The Fetu Afahye is a festival celebrated by the chiefs and peoples 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 Fetu Afahye is celebrated annually by the Oguaa people of Cape Coast because in the past there was an outbreak of disease among the people that killed many. The people prayed to the gods to help them to get rid of the disease. Thus the festival is celebrated to keep the town clean and to prevent another epidemic befalling the people.
Asafo are traditional warrior groups in Akan culture, based on lineal descent. The word derives from sa, meaning war, and fo, meaning people. The traditional role of the Asafo companies was defence of the state. As the result of contact with European colonial powers on the Gold Coast, the Fante, who inhabit the coastal region, developed an especially complex version of the concept in terms of its social and political organization based on martial principles, and with elaborate traditions of visual art, including flag banners with figurative scenes, and designs alluding to historical events or proverbs.
Dawu is a town in the Okere District Eastern Region of Ghana. It shares border with Abiriw and Awukugua
The Kpledjoo Festival is an annual harvest festival celebrated by the chiefs and peoples of Tema in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. It is usually celebrated in late March or first week in April.
The Edina Bronya Festival is an annual harvest festival celebrated by the chiefs and peoples of Elmina in the Central Region of Ghana. The festival is a novel Christmas during the Dutch era of the colonial period. It is usually celebrated in the first Thursday of January every year.
Dzawuwu Festival is an annual traditional and thanksgiving festival celebrated by the chiefs and people of Agave Traditional Area in Dabala in the Volta Region of Ghana. It is usually celebrated in the month of February.
Jintigi (Fire) Festival is an annual festival celebrated by the chiefs and people of Gonja Traditional Area in the Savannah Region, formally the Northern region of Ghana. Damongo which is the capital of Gonjaland serves as the epicenter of the festival. It is usually celebrated in the month of April.
The documented history of Elmina begins in 1482 with an agreement between the Portuguese navigator Diogo de Azambuja and the ruler of Elmina, called Caramansa by the Portuguese. In it, the Portuguese were allowed to build the first European fortress in sub-Saharan Africa. For the next 150 years until the conquest by the Dutch in 1637, Elmina was the capital of the Portuguese bases on the Gold Coast, then for about 250 years the capital of the Dutch Empire in West Africa. Since the capture of the lease for the two fortresses of Elmina by the Ashanti in 1701, the city was also important to the Ashanti Empire. Until the 19th century, Elmina was one of the most populous cities in the Gold Coast, surpassing Accra and Kumasi. The trade in gold, slaves and palm oil brought the city into direct contact with Europe, North America, Brazil and, through the recruitment of soldiers, also with Southeast Asia. It was not until the takeover and destruction of the city by the British in 1873 that Elmina lost its prominent position in the Gold Coast.
