The Dagaaba people are an ethnic group located north of the convergence of Ghana, Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire. They speak the Dagaare language, a Gur language made up of the related Northern Dagaare dialects, Southern Dagaare dialects and a number of sub dialects. In northern dialects, both the language and the people are referred to as Dagara. They are related to the Birifor people and the Dagaare Diola. The language is collectively known as Dagaare, and historically some non-natives have taken this as the name of the people. One historian, describing the former usage of "Dagarti" to refer to this community by colonials, writes: "The name 'Dagarti' appears to have been coined by the first Europeans to visit the region, from the vernacular root dagaa. Correctly 'Dagari' is the name of the language, 'Dagaaba' or 'Dagara' that of the people, and 'Dagaw' or 'Dagawie' that of the land."
The Songhai people are an ethnolinguistic group in West Africa who speak the various Songhai languages. Their history and lingua franca are linked to the Songhai Empire which dominated the western Sahel in the 15th and 16th century. Predominantly a Muslim community, the Songhai are found primarily throughout Niger and Mali in the Western sudanic region. The name Songhai was historically neither an ethnic nor linguistic designation, but a name for the ruling caste of the Songhay Empire which are the Songhai proper of sunni and Askya dynasty found predominantly in present-Niger. However, the correct term used to refer to this group of people collectively by the natives is "Ayneha". Although some Speakers in Mali have also adopted the name Songhay as an ethnic designation, other Songhay-speaking groups identify themselves by other ethnic terms such as Zarma or Isawaghen. The dialect of Koyraboro Senni spoken in Gao is unintelligible to speakers of the Zarma dialect of Niger, according to at least one report. The Songhay languages are commonly taken to be Nilo-Saharan but this classification remains controversial. Nicolai considers the songhay languages as a afro-asiatic Berber subgroup or a new subgroup of semitic languages restructured under Mande and nilo Saharan influence, the lexicon of songhay languages includes many completes lexical fields close to Berbers languages, old and new semitic, northern songhay speakers are Berbers from Tuareg people : Dimmendaal (2008) believes that for now it is best considered an independent language family.
Bolgatanga, colloquially known as Bolga, is a town and the capital of the Bolgatanga Municipal District and Upper East Region of Ghana, adjacent to the border with Burkina Faso. Bolgatanga has over 2012 settlement and a population of about 66,685 people. Bolgatanga is 161 km to the north of Tamale. Bolgatanga lies in the Red Volta River Valley, with the White Volta River and the cliffs of the Gambaga Escarpment to the south of the town forming the southern boundary of the Upper East Region.
Wa is a town and the capital of Wa Municipal District and the Upper West Region of northern Ghana. Wa had a 2012 settlement population of 102,446. Features of the town include several churches and mosques, the Wa-Na Palace, the St. Andrew's Catholic cathedral, the University for Development Studies (UDS), a museum, a nearby hippopotamus sanctuary in Wicheau, the mushroom rock In Jirapa and the ants hill at Nanvielle. The geography of Wa is notable for the dramatic monadnock Ombo Mountain, which is located around Kaleo and visible from much of the Wa town. Other notable towns around Wa region include Naaha and Ga.
Lawra is a small town and is the capital of Lawra district, a district in the Upper West Region of Ghana.
The Upper West Region of Ghana is located in the north-western corner of Ghana and is bordered by Upper East region to the east, Northern region to the south, and Burkina Faso to the west and north. The Upper West regional capital and largest settlement is Wa. The Upper West was created by the then Head of State, Flight-Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings in 1983 under the Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC) military regime. The area was carved out of the former Upper Region, which is now the Upper East Region. For about thirty-five years, it remained the youngest region of Ghana until 2018 when six more regions were created by the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government; hence increasing the total number of administrative regions in the country to sixteen.
The Northern Region is one of the sixteen regions of Ghana. It is located in the north of the country and is the second largest of the sixteen regions. Until its split, it covered an area of 70,384 square kilometres or 31 percent of Ghana's area. In December 2018, the Savannah Region and North East Region were created from it. The Northern Region is divided into 14 districts. The region's capital is Tamale, Ghana's third largest city.
Bolgatanga Municipal District is one of the fifteen districts in Upper East Region, Ghana. Originally created as an ordinary district assembly in 1988 when it was known as Bolgatanga District; which was established by Legislative Instrument (L.I.) 1438, until the southeast part of the district was split off by a decree of president John Agyekum Kufuor in August 2004 to create Talensi-Nabdam District; thus the remaining part was elevated to municipal district assembly status on the same year to become Bolgatanga Municipal District, which was established by Legislative Instrument (L.I.) 1797. However, on 15 March 2018, the eastern part of the district was later split off to create Bolgatanga East District, which was established by Legislative Instrument (L.I.) 2321; thus the remaining part has been retained as Bolgatanga Municipal District. The municipality is located in the central part of Upper East Region and has Bolgatanga as its capital town, which also serves as the capital of the Upper East Region.
The Wala or Waala live in Upper West Region of Ghana. They are a predominantly Muslim people who are the founders of the city of Wa and the Kingdom of Wala. They speak the Wali language, which belongs to the Gur group. There are 84,800 speakers of the language as of 2013. Their neighbors are the Birifor, Dagaaba, and Vagla peoples.
Professor Emeritus Ivor G. Wilks was a noted British Africanist and historian, specializing in Ghana. Considered one of the founders of modern African historiography, he was an authority on the Ashanti Empire in Ghana and the Welsh working-class movement in the 19th century. At the time of his death, he was Professor Emeritus of History at Northwestern University in Illinois, USA.
Builsa North is one of the constituencies represented in the Parliament of Ghana. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. Builsa North is located in the Builsa district of the Upper East Region of Ghana.
The Kassena people are an ethnic group located along the northern Ghana and Burkina Faso border. They speak the Kasem language. Their king lives in the town of Tiébélé. The Kasenna are closely related to the people of Nankanni and were brought together to form the Kassena-Nankana administrative district in 1936. As of 2008 the (Kassena-Nankana) area comprises two districts: Kassena Nankana West and Kassena Nankana East.
Kasoa, formerly known as Odupongkpehe, is a peri-urban town in the Awutu Senya East Municipal District of the Central region of Ghana.
Funsi is a small town and is the capital of Wa East district, a district in the Upper West Region of north Ghana.
The Kulpawn River is one of the major rivers of northwestern Ghana, along with the Black Volta and Sisili Rivers. It flows through Wa Municipal District. The riparian woodland around the bank of the Kulpawn in the Wahabu is particularly popular with ornithologists, due to a rich variety of birds.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the second largest sect of Islam in Ghana, behind only Sunni Islam. Pew Research Center estimates the total number of Ahmadis in Ghana at 635,000 people, representing roughly 16.5% of Ghana's Muslim population, and roughly 2.5% of Ghana's population as a whole. The estimate is disputed due to the alleged undercounting of Muslims in Ghana, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community estimates a population of two million Ghanaian Ahmadis. The early rise of the Community in Ghana can be traced through a sequence of events beginning roughly at the same time as the establishment of the worldwide Community in 1889 in British India. It was during the early period of the Second Caliphate that the first missionary, Abdul Rahim Nayyar was sent to what was then the Gold Coast in 1921 upon invitation from Muslims in Saltpond. Having established the Ahmadiyya movement in the country, Nayyar left and was replaced by the first permanent missionary, Al Hajj Fadl-ul-Rahman Hakim in 1922.
The Zabarma Emirate was an Islamic state that existed from the 1860s to 1897 in what is today parts of Ghana and Burkina Faso.
Babatu or Baba Ato, was the Djerma military leader and jihadi warlord over the Zabarma Emirate in the late 19th century. Babatu originated in Indougou (N'Dougou) in what is today the nation of Niger. Babatu became the ruler of the Zabarima emirate in 1878 after the death of the former ruler, Gazari. He was a slaver and fought against Sandema warriors.
Kulmasa is a town in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District, Savannah Region, Ghana. In the 1890s, it marked the southern frontier of the Kingdom of Wala.
The North East Region is one of the sixteen regions of Ghana. It is located in the north of the country and was created in December 2018 after a referendum was voted upon to break it off of the Northern region. The region's capital is Nalerigu.
