The Ghanaian people are a nation originating in the Ghanaian Gold Coast.[28] Ghanaians predominantly inhabit the Republic of Ghana and are the predominant cultural group and residents of Ghana, numbering 34 million people as of 2024, making up 85% of the population.[27][29] The word "Ghana" means "warrior king".[30] An estimated diaspora population of 4 million people worldwide are of Ghanaian descent.[31] The term ethnic Ghanaian may also be used in some contexts to refer to a group of related ethnic groups native to the Gold Coast.[32]
The ethnogenesis of Ghanaians is traced back to nomadic migration from Nubia along the Sahara desert then south to the Gold Coast, and the Ghanaian ethnogenesis taking place on the Ghanaian Gold Coast region from the 10th to 16th century AD.[33] Early Ghanaians were involved in a lucrative trade with gold bars and other natural minerals to the Portuguese in 1471; these Ghanaian states were among the wealthiest on the African continent from the 17th century onwards, following successful further expansion of lucrative Ghanaian gold bars trading to the Dutch, Prussian and Scandinavians from the 16th century through to the 20th century.[34]
Early Ghanaians established a number of powerful kingdoms and empires from the 10th to 17th century, some of which became great powers in the west African region.[34] By 1902, the kingdoms had been annexed by the United Kingdom to the Gold Coast colony following a series of Anglo-Ghanaian conflicts in the 19th century.[34] Ghanaians gained their independence from British colonial rule in 1957, and renamed their sovereign state "Ghana (Warrior King)" because the various Ghanaian kingdoms were a warrior-based society according to contemporary and historical historiography.[35] The Republic of Ghana was the first African country to gain independence from European colonial rule.[36][37]
More than 90% of the Ghanaian citizens in Ghana live in urban areas—a figure higher than the world average. The rate of Ghana's population growth is at the world average.[25] Most Ghanaians move to urban areas seeking well-paid jobs. Ghanaians have high level of education in science, technology, mathematics and vocational studies. However, the rural areas have large productivity in agricultural produce.
The inhabitants of Ghana possessing Ghanaian passports are 20 million persons, including an additional 3‒4 million persons abroad. Ghana has a diverse population that reflects its colorful history and the peoples who have populated the region from ancient times to the present, with the historic amalgam of the main groups forming the basis of Ghana's current demographics. Native West Africans make up 98% of the population.[39][40][41] There is also a new population of Asians, Middle Easterners, Europeans and other recent immigrants.[citation needed]
During the colonial era, a number of Europeans intermarried with Africans and had offspring, who include such notable Gold Coasters as Carel Hendrik Bartels and James Bannerman. Most European settlers left the Gold Coast after it won independence. Currently, the most significant immigrant populations in Ghana are Africans from other countries on the continent, Asians (Indians and Chinese), some of them Europeans (Britons, Portuguese, Dutch, French, Italians, Latin Americans, Poles, Scandinavians, and Germans), and Middle Easterners, particularly Lebanese and Syrians.
Nationalism, independence and transformation to republic
The Ghanaian nationalism was suspended by the Ghanaian government during the time of World War II, but was resumed in 1945.[45] The Ghanaians allied with the Allies in World War II.[45] The Fifth Pan-African Congress held in October 1945, served to form the support for the liberalization of Ghanaian colonial domination on 4 August 1947.[45][46] On 12 June 1949, Kwame Nkrumah, formed the first governing party in the history of the Gold Coast, which refused to cooperate with the colonial authorities and which led to the achievement of Ghanaian independence and the opposition to the 1951 Constitution, in which Nkrumah was incarcerated together with his collaborators.[46]
On 8 February 1951, the first elections in the history of the Gold Coast were held; Nkrumah's win was confirmed on 12 February 1951.[46] Ghanaian nationalism was initiated in organisation with the Ghanaian nationlist movement, the Big Six and through the Gold Coast Aborigines' Rights Protection Society; then strikes and mass riots were formed on the streets of the Gold Coast by its natives for Gold Coast independence, the colonial governor at the time, the Earl of Listowel, proclaimed Gold Coast's independence on 6 March 1957.[47] Nkrumah became the first prime minister.[48] On 1 July 1960, Nkrumah drew up the first Constitution of Ghana; the British monarch ceased to be head of state, and Ghana became a republic.[48]
Approximately 5% of Ghanaian citizens live in rural areas and 95% in urban areas. The rate of urbanization estimated for the period 2010–2015 is 4% per annum,[49] one of the highest among developing countries.
Ghanaian Arabs are Ghanaians and citizens of Arab origin or descent. Ghanaian Arabs are mainly from Lebanon, Syria and Arab Maghreb. Ghana has the largest Arab population in western Africa.
Ghanaian Indians are Ghanaians and citizens of Indian origin or descent. Many Ghanaian Indians are descendants of those who migrated from India following India's partition in 1947.[51]
Ghanaian Australians are dual citizens with Australia and residents of Ghanaian origin and descent. More than 50% of all Ghanaian-born Australians live in Sydney, New South Wales.[52]
Ndyuka (also spelled "Djuka") or Aukan or Okanisi sama, are a Ghanaian Akan subgroup who live in Eastern Suriname and west of French Guiana and speak the Ndyuka language, a sub-language of the Akan language. They were shipped as imported labourers slaves from the Gold Coast (modern-day Ghana) to Suriname about 300 years ago to work on Dutch-owned plantations. Ndyukas or Aukans are subdivided into the Opu, who live upstream of the Tapanahony River of southeastern Suriname, and the Bilo, who live downstream of that river. They further subdivide themselves into 14 matrilinear kinship groups called lo.
Ghana's cultural diversity is most evident in cuisine, arts, literature, heritage, music, dance, clothing, and sports.[53][54]
Kente is a Ghanaian ceremonial cloth traditionally used as the national costume. Kente is hand-woven on a horizontal treadle loom in strips measuring about 4inches wide, which are sewn together into larger pieces of cloth. Cloths come in various colours, sizes and designs, which have different meanings, and are worn on important social occasions.[53] During the 13th century, Ghanaians developed their unique art of adinkra printing.
Ghanaian music incorporates several distinct types of instruments, including talking drums, the atenteben and koloko lute, the atumpan, and log xylophones used in asonko music. The most well-known genre to come from Ghana is highlife.[55] Highlife originated in the late 19th century and early 20th century. In the 1990s, a new genre of music, hiplife, was created through the combination of highlife, Afro-reggae, dancehall and hip hop.[56] Hiplife is the most popular Ghanaian music,[57] followed by the other genre of Ghanaian music, highlife.[58] Ghanaian dance is globally well known and performed worldwide.[56] The dances are varied and may involve complex and co-ordinated movement of the arms, torso, hips, feet and head, performed to different Ghanaian music forms for entertainment, celebrating at festivals, and other occasions. Some popular dances include Adowa and Azonto.[59] Other traditional dances from Ghana are Kpanlogo, Klama and Bamaya.[59]
Sports in Ghana is dominated by association football represented by the Ghana Premier League and the Ghana national football team.[60] The rich culture in Ghana led to the annual festival held at the capital region, Greater Accra at the James Town township which is celebrated along with the Homowo festival. This new festival called Chale Wote[61] has caught the eyes of many who seek to experience the true Ghanaian culture and festival for themselves.
In Ghanaian society polygyny – marriages in which men are permitted to have more than one wife at the same time[62] – has been traditionally practised, especially among well-to-do Ghanaian men.[62] Among matrilineal groups, such as the Akan, married women continued to reside at their maternal homes.[62] Meals prepared by the wife would be carried to the husband at his maternal house.[62] In polygynous situations, visitation schedules would be arranged.[62] The separate living patterns reinforced the idea that each spouse is subject to the authority of a different household head, and because spouses are always members of different lineages, each is ultimately subject to the authority of the senior men of his or her lineage.[62] The wife, as an outsider in the husband's family, would not inherit any of his property, other than that granted to her by her husband as gifts in token appreciation of years of devotion.[62] The children from this matrilineal marriage would be expected to inherit from their mother's family.[62] Today, the percentage of women in polygynous marriages in Ghana's rural areas (23.9%) is almost double that of women in Ghana's urban areas (12.4%).[63] The age group with the most women in polygynous marriages is 45–49, followed by the 15–19 age group and the 40–44 group.[63] Rates of polygynous marriages decrease as education level and wealth level increase.[63]
During 2008–2012, the national literacy rate for women aged 15–24 was 83.2%, only slightly lower than that for males of the same age group (88.3%).[64] However, literacy rates fluctuate across Ghana country and socioeconomic statuses.[63][64] By regions of Ghana, literacy rates for females range from 44% to 81%.[63] Women living at the highest socioeconomic status exhibit the highest literacy rates at 85%, while only 31% of women living at the lowest socioeconomic status are literate.[63] Over the timespan of 2008–12, there were 4% more females enrolled in preschool than males.[64] Net enrolment and attendance ratios for primary school were both about the same for males and females, net enrollment standing at about 84% and net attendance at about 73%.[64] Enrolment in secondary school for females was slightly lower than for males (44.4% vs. 48.1%), but female attendance was higher by about the same difference (39.7% vs. 43.6%).[64]
As of 2011, women made up 66.9% of economically active population in Ghana.[65] Within the informal sector, women usually work in personal services.[65] There are distinct differences in artisan apprenticeships offered to women and men, as well.[65] Men are offered a much wider range of apprenticeships, such as carpenters, masons, blacksmiths, mechanics, painters, repairers of electrical and electronic appliances, upholsters, metal workers, car sprayers, etc.[65] In contrast, most female artisans are involved in either hairdressing or dressmaking.[65] Women generally experience a disparity in earnings, receiving a daily average of 6,280 cedis compared to 8,560 cedis received by men, according to the Ghana Living Standards Survey.[65] Women are flourishing in teaching professions.[62]
Early 1990s' data showed that about 19% of the instructional staff at the nation's three universities in 1990 was female.[62] Of the teaching staff in specialized and diploma-granting institutions, 20% was female; elsewhere, corresponding figures were 21% at secondary-school level; 23% at middle-school level, and as high as 42% at primary-school level.[62] Women also dominated the secretarial and nursing professions in Ghana.[62] When women were employed in the same line of work as men, they were paid equal wages, and they were granted maternity leave with pay.[62] However, women in research professions report experiencing more difficulties than men in the same field, which can be linked to restricted professional networks for women because of lingering traditional familial roles.[66]
Feminist organizing has increased in Ghana as women seek to obtain a stronger role in the nation's democratic government.[67] In 2004, a coalition of women created the Women's Manifesto for Ghana, a document that demands economic and political equality as well as reproductive health care and other rights.[67] The National Council for Women and Development (NCWD) is fervent in its stance that the social and economic well-being of women, who compose slightly more than half of the nation's population, cannot be taken for granted.[62] The Council sponsored a number of studies on women's work, education, and training, and on family issues that are relevant in the design and execution of policies for the improvement of the condition of women.[62] Among these considerations the NCWD stressed family planning, child care, and female education as paramount.[62][68]
↑ The Consul-General of Ghana in Lagos, Mr. Maxwell Awiaya, on Wednesday, disclosed that there are about 500,000 Ghanaians currently living in different Nigerian cities and communities.
↑ "Welcome". Government of Ghana. 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2014. The Ghanaian Government states that English is the official language. It is being widely used in business, law, and government documents, as well being taught throughout schools as a medium of instruction. For the official percentage of English-language speakers in Ghana see List of countries by English-speaking population
1 2 "Man Ray, African art, and the modernist lens", Wendy Grossman, Martha Ann Bari, Letty Bonnell, International Arts & Artists, 2009 – Photography, 183 pp.
↑ A Treasury of African Folklore: the oral literature, traditions, myths, legends, epics, tales, recollections, wisdom, sayings, and humor of Africa, Crown Publishers, 1975, 617 pp.
↑ Campion, P. (2004). "Gender and science in development: women scientists in Ghana, Kenya, and India". Science, Technology, & Human Values. 29 (4): 459–485. doi:10.1177/0162243904265895. S2CID145251806.
↑ Hojlund Madsen, Diana (2012). "Mainstreaming from Beijing to Ghana - the role of the women's movement in Ghana". Gender & Development. 3. 20 (3): 573–584. doi:10.1080/13552074.2012.731746. S2CID72866758.
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It lies adjacent to the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing a border with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Togo in the east. Ghana covers an area of 239,567 km2 (92,497 sq mi), spanning diverse ecologies, from coastal savannas to tropical rainforests. With nearly 35 million inhabitants, Ghana is the second-most populous country in West Africa. The capital and largest city is Accra; other significant cities include Kumasi, Tamale, and Sekondi-Takoradi. In 1957 Ghana became the first colony in Sub-Saharan Africa to achieve sovereignty, under the leadership of Kwame Nkrumah.
Francis Kwame Nkrumah was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He served as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast from 1952 until 1957, when it gained independence from Britain. He was then the first Prime Minister and then the President of Ghana, from 1957 until 1966. An influential advocate of Pan-Africanism, Nkrumah was a founding member of the Organization of African Unity and winner of the Lenin Peace Prize from the Soviet Union in 1962.
The area of the Republic of Ghana became known in Europe and Arabia as the Ghana Empire after the title of its Emperor, the Ghana. Geographically, the ancient Ghana Empire was approximately 500 miles (800 km) north and west of the modern state of Ghana, and controlled territories in the area of the Sénégal River and east towards the Niger rivers, in modern Senegal, Mauritania and Mali. The empire appears to have broken up following the 1076 conquest by the Almoravid General Abu-Bakr Ibn-Umar. A reduced kingdom continued to exist after Almoravid rule ended, and the kingdom was later incorporated into subsequent Sahelian empires, such as the Mali Empire. Around the same time, south of the Mali empire in present-day northern Ghana, the Kingdom of Dagbon emerged. The decentralised states ruled by the tindaamba were unified into a kingdom. Many sub-kingdoms would later arise from Dagbon including the Mossi Kingdoms of Burkina Faso and Bouna Kingdom of Ivory Coast. Dagbon pioneered Ghana's earliest learning institutions, including a university town, and a writing system prior to European arrival.
There are many styles of traditional and modern music of Ghana, due to Ghana's worldwide geographic position on the African continent.
The national flag of Ghana consists of a horizontal triband of red, yellow, and green. It was designed in replacement of the British Gold Coast's Blue Ensign.
The Ghana national football team represents Ghana in men's international football. The team is named the Black Stars after the Black Star of Africa in the flag of Ghana. It is governed by the Ghana Football Association, the governing body for football in Ghana. Prior to 1957, it played as the Gold Coast.
The Ashanti Region is located in the southern part of Ghana and is the third largest of 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of 24,389 km2 (9,417 sq mi) and making up 10.2 percent of the total land area of Ghana. It is the most populated region in Ghana, with a population of 5,440,463 according to the 2021 census, accounting for around one-sixth of Ghana's total population. The Ashanti Region is known for its gold bar and cocoa production. The largest city and capital of Ashanti is Kumasi.
Joseph Kwame Kyeretwie Boakye Danquah was a Ghanaian politician, scholar, anglophile, lawyer and statesman. He was a politician in pre- and post-colonial Ghana, which was formerly the Gold Coast.
Articles related to Ghana include:
Ghanaians in the United Kingdom encompass both Ghana-born immigrants and their descendants living in the United Kingdom. Immigration to the UK accelerated following the independence of Ghana from the British Empire in 1957, with most British Ghanaians having migrated to the UK between the 1960s to the 1980s owing to poor economic conditions at home.
Ghanaian Americans are an ethnic group of Americans of full or partial Ghanaian ancestry or Ghanaian immigrants who became naturalized citizen of the United States.
Migration of Chinese people in Ghana dates back to the 1940s. Originally, most came from Hong Kong; migration from mainland China began only in the 1980s.
Charles Odamtten Easmon or C. O. Easmon, popularly known as Charlie Easmon, was a medical doctor and academic who became the first Ghanaian to formally qualify as a surgeon specialist and the first Dean of the University of Ghana Medical School. Easmon performed the first successful open-heart surgery in Ghana in 1964, and modern scholars credit him as the "Father of Cardiac Surgery in West Africa". Easmon was of Sierra Leone Creole, Ga-Dangme, African-American, Danish, and Irish ancestry and a member of the distinguished Easmon family, a Sierra Leone Creole medical dynasty of African-American descent.
Ghana gained independence from the British on 6 March 1957. It is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The country became a republic on July 1, 1960.
Ghanaian Indians are Ghanaians citizens of Indian origin or descent. Many Ghanaian Indians are descendants from those who migrated from India following India's partition in 1947.
Ghanaian Arabs are Ghanaians and citizens of Arab origin or descent. Ghanaian Arabs are mainly from Lebanon, Syria and Arab Maghreb. Ghana has the largest Arab population in western Africa.
India-Ghana relations are the bilateral relations between India and Ghana. As members of the Commonwealth, India maintains a High Commission in Accra and Ghana has its High Commission in New Delhi.
Ghanaian Australians are Australian citizens and residents of Ghanaian origin and descent. More than 50% of those who are Ghana-born live in Sydney.
Gold Coast Euro-Africans were a historical demographic based in coastal urban settlements in colonial Ghana, that arose from unions between European men and African women from the late 15th century – the decade between 1471 and 1482, until the mid-20th century, circa 1957, when Ghana attained its independence. In this period, different geographic areas of the Gold Coast were politically controlled at various times by the Portuguese, Germans, Swedes, Danes, Dutch and the British. There are also records of merchants of other European nationalities such as the Spaniards, French, Italians and Irish, operating along the coast, in addition to American sailors and traders from New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Euro-Africans were influential in intellectual, technocratic, artisanal, commercial and public life in general, actively participating in multiple fields of scholarly and civic importance. Scholars have referred to this Euro-African population of the Gold Coast as "mulattos", "mulatofoi" and "owulai" among other descriptions. The term, owula conveys contemporary notions of "gentlemanliness, learning and urbanity" or "a salaried big man" in the Ga language. The cross-cultural interactions between Europeans and Africans were mercantile-driven and an avenue to boost social capital for economic and political gain i.e. "wealth and power". The growth and development of Christianity during the colonial period also instituted motifs of modernity vis-à-vis Euro-African identity. This model created a spectrum of practices, ranging from a full celebration of native African customs to a total embrace and acculturation of European culture.
The Political history of Ghana recounts the history of varying political systems that existed in Ghana during pre-colonial times, the colonial era and after independence. Pre-colonial Ghana was made up of several states and ethnic groups whose political system was categorized by 3 main administrative models; Centralized, Non-centralized and Theocratic states. In the colonial era, the British Empire employed different forms of government among its four territorial possessions in the Gold Coast. Indirect rule was implemented in the late 19th century after its success in Northern Nigeria. From the 1940s, native Ghanaians yearned for more autonomy. This resulted in the several constitutional reforms as well as the creation of the office of the Prime Minister in 1952.
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