Northern Region (Ghana)

Last updated
Northern Region
Region
Stadium tamale2.jpg
Tamale Stadium
Ghana - Northern Region (2018).png
Location of Northern Region in Ghana
Country Ghana
Capital Tamale
Districts16
Government
 •  Regional Minister Ali Adolf John [1]
Area
[2]
 • Total
26,534 km2 (10,245 sq mi)
Population
 (2021 Census)
 • Total
2,310,939
 • Density87.094/km2 (225.57/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)
 • Year2013
 • Per capita$5,150
GDP (Nominal)
 • Year2018
 • Per capita$2,500
Time zone GMT
Area code 037
ISO 3166 code GH-NP
HDI (2021)0.539 [3]
low · 10th

The Northern Region is one of the sixteen regions of Ghana. [4] It is situated in the northern part of the country and ranks as the second largest of the sixteen regions. Before its division, it covered an area of 25,000 square kilometres, representing 10 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 16 districts. The region's capital is Tamale, Ghana's third-largest city. [2]

Contents

Geography and climate

Location and size

The Northern Region, spanning approximately 25,000 square kilometres, stands as Ghana's second-largest region by land area. It shares borders with the North East Region and Savannah Region to the north and Oti Region to the south, and neighbouring countries, including the Republic of Togo to the east and La Cote d'Ivoire to the west. [5]

Climate and vegetation

A baobab tree Baobob tree.jpg
A baobab tree

The Northern Region has a Guinean forest-savanna mosaic ecosystem. The Guinea Savanna is the wettest of the three savanna ecological zones. The vegetation consists predominantly of woodlands and grasslands. The wet season is between April and October, while the dry season occurs from January to March. There is an average annual rainfall of 750 to 1050 mm (30 to 40 inches). The highest temperatures are reached in March, at the end of the dry season. From late November to March, the northeast trade winds blow, causing Harmattan. [6] During this time, temperatures can vary between 14 °C (59 °F) at night and 40 °C (104 °F) during the day.

Economy

Agriculture Factory, Tamale, Dagbon.jpg
Agriculture Factory, Tamale.jpg
Agribusiness factory in Tamale, Northern Region. Agriculturist workers at Agriculture factory in Tamale, Northern Region.

Like all parts of Ghana, more than half of the economically active population are agricultural. The region is one of the most agriculturally important regions in Ghana. It also has the largest reserve of iron ore.

Demographics

The Northern Region contains much of the territories of the Kingdom of Dagbon, and Dagbani is the most widely spoken language, [7] along with English. Dagbani belongs to the Oti–Volta subfamily in the Niger–Congo language family. Other languages spoken within the region include Likpakpaln and Nawuri.

Business

Night view of the city of Tamale, Ghana. Night View of Tamale Street in Northern Ghana 01.png
Night view of the city of Tamale, Ghana.

The region is a hotspot for investment in Ghana, with Tamale previously being ranked as the fastest-growing city in West Africa, experiencing tremendous growth compared to other cities in Ghana. [8] The region's location and greater proximity to both Europe and North Africa, compared to Accra, make it an increasingly attractive destination for investors. Ghana's largest iron ore reserves, estimated to be more than three billion tons, [9] make the region an ideal destination for investments in steel and iron.

Tourism

Religion

Around three out of five residents in the Northern region were affiliated with Islam (60.0%). [10]

Districts

Districts of the Northern Region Districts of the Northern Region (2018).png
Districts of the Northern Region

The Northern Region of Ghana contains 16 districts. 11 are ordinary districts in addition to 1 metropolitan and 4 municipal districts. [11] Under every municipality, metropolis and district are many towns and villages.

Districts in Northern region
#DistrictCapitalPopulation
1 Gushegu Gushegu
2 Karaga Karaga
3 Kpandai Kpandai 108,816
4 Kumbungu Kumbungu
5 Mion Sang
6 Nanton Nanton
7 Nanumba North Bimbilla
8 Nanumba South Wulensi
9 Saboba [12] Saboba
10 Sagnarigu Sagnerigu
11 Savelugu Savelugu
12 Tamale Metropolitan Tamale
13 Tatale Sangule Tatale
14 Tolon Tolon
15 Yendi Municipal District Yendi
16 Zabzugu Zabzugu

Health facilities

Tamale Teaching Hospital, Ghana's third largest hospital. Tamale Teaching Hospital 3.jpg
Tamale Teaching Hospital, Ghana's third largest hospital.

Hospitals in the Northern Region: [13]

Healthcare Delivery

High-risk districts in the northern belt have been identified as having significant health insurance coverage gaps driven by localised socioeconomic determinants. [14]

Notable citizens

Some notable native citizens of Northern Region, Dagbon
#CitizenSettlement
1 Aliu Mahama Yendi
2 Wakaso Tamale
3 Majeed Waris Tamale
4 Haruna Iddrisu Tamale
5 Muhammad Mumuni Kumbungu
6 Ramatu Baba Yendi
7 Abubakari Sadiq NAM Yendi
8Sheikh Ibrahim BashaTamale
9Sheikh Sa-eed AbubakarTamale
10 Hajia Samata Gifty Bukari Yendi
11 Ibrahim Mahama Tamale

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Regional Ministers - Government of Ghana". ghana.gov.gh. Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Northern Region". GhanaDistricts.com. Archived from the original on 2010-02-11. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
  3. ↑ "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  4. ↑ "No new Covid-19 cases in Northern Region in 3 weeks - MyJoyOnline.com". MyJoyOnline. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  5. ↑ Mutuku, Ryan (2021-01-25). "The Northern Region districts and their capitals in Ghana". Yen.com.gh - Ghana news. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  6. ↑ Lyngsie, G.; Awadzi, T.; Breuning-Madsen, H. (2011-11-01). "Origin of Harmattan dust settled in Northern Ghana — Long transported or local dust?" . Geoderma. 167–168: 351–359. Bibcode:2011Geode.167..351L. doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2011.07.026. ISSN   0016-7061.
  7. ↑ "Learn Dagbanli (Dagbanli Bɔhimbu) → What Is The Dagbanli Language? - Learn Dagbanli | Learn Dagbani" . Retrieved 2023-02-04.
  8. ↑ "Tamale is the fastest growing city in West Africa - Tamale in Ghana". independent-travellers.com. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
  9. ↑ "N/R: Over 1.7bn tonnes of iron ore discovered in Yendi Municipality- Majority Leader". Prime News Ghana. 2019-05-15. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
  10. ↑ "Table 4.17: Population by religious affiliation and region, 2010" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-07-12. Retrieved 2018-07-17.
  11. ↑ "Northern". GhanaDistricts.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  12. ↑ "Victims of land conflict in Saboba district pick up their pieces - MyJoyOnline.com". MyJoyOnline. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  13. ↑ "HEALTH FACILITIES IN NORTHERN REGION IN SHAMBLES...Tamale Hospital worst affected". Modern Ghana. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  14. ↑ Ghanem, V. G. (2026). "Spatial and Machine Learning Analysis of District-Level Health Insurance Inequities in Ghana". Cureus. 18 (1) e101984. doi: 10.7759/cureus.101984 .

9°30′N1°00′W / 9.500°N 1.000°W / 9.500; -1.000

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.