Tamale is the capital city of the Northern Region of Ghana. It is Ghana's third largest city, with a population of 371,351 people. The city has been ranked as the fastest-growing city in West Africa. Tamale is located in the Kingdom of Dagbon, Ghana's oldest Kingdom. Major ethnic groups who resided in Tamale are Dagomba, Gonja, Mamprusi, Akan, and Dagaaba.
Yaa Naa Yakubu Andani II (1945–2002) was the King of Dagbon, the traditional kingdom of the Dagomba people in northern Ghana, from 31 May 1974 until his assassination on 27 March 2002. He was born in August 1945 in Sagnarigu, a suburb of Tamale in the Northern Region of Ghana. Yakubu II was killed on 27 March 2002 at Yendi, the capital of the Kingdom of Dagbon, by unknown people when clashes broke out between the two feuding Gates of Dagbon Kingship. For 600 years the Abudu and Andani clans, named after two sons of the ancient Dagbon king Ya Naa Yakubu I, cordially rotated control of the kingdom centred in Yendi, 530 kilometres (330 mi) north of Accra, the capital of Ghana. A regent acted as sovereign of the kingdom until 18 January 2019 when a new ruler is chosen to occupy the revered Lion Skins of Yendi.
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 second most 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 Dyula are a Mande ethnic group inhabiting several West African countries, including Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Burkina Faso.
Islam was the first Abrahamic monotheistic religion to arrive in Ghana. Today, it is the second most widely professed religion in the country behind Christianity. Its presence in Ghana dates back to the 10th century. According to the Ghana Statistical Service's Population and Housing census (2021), the percentage of Muslims in Ghana is about 19.9%.
Gonja are an ethnic group that live in Ghana. The Gonja established a kingdom in northern Ghana of the same name, which was founded in 1675 by Sumaila Ndewura Jakpa.
Yendi Municipal District is one of the sixteen districts in Northern Region, Ghana. Originally created as an ordinary district assembly in 1988 when it was known as Yendi District, which was created from the former East Dagomba District Council, until it was elevated to municipal district assembly status on 29 February 2008 to become Yendi Municipal District. However, on 28 June 2012, the western part of the district was later split to create Mion District with the remaining part retained as Yendi Municipal District. The municipality is located in the central part of Northern Region and has Yendi as its capital town.
Savelugu is a town and the capital of Savelugu Municipal, a municipality in the Northern Region of north Ghana. Savelugu has a 2012 settlement population of 38,074 people. There are many villages under Savelugu kingship. Most of the villages are smaller.
Kpandai is a town and is the capital of Kpandai district, a district in the Northern Region of north Ghana. Kpandai had a 2012 settlement population of 11,239 people.
Bimbilla is the capital town of Nanumba North District, a district in the Northern Region of Ghana. It is located in the East of the region, and is near the Oti River. The location is situated within the range of 8.5° north to 9.25° north latitude, and between 0.57° east to 0.5° east longitude. It borders five municipalities: Yendi Municipal to the north, Mion Municipal to the northwest, East Gonja Municipal to the west and southwest, Nanumba South Municipal to the south and east, and Zabzugu Municipal to the north-northeast.
Daboya is the capital of the North Gonja district, a district in the Savannah Region of north Ghana. It was previously called Burugu by the Dagomba people. It was important in the trade route the stretched from Yendi to Bouna. This made Daboya one of the most important towns in Dagbon as at then. Today Daboya is represented by the Daboya-Mankarigu constituency. It is considered a historical place in Ghana. There is an Army Special Operations Training School at Daboya.
Zongo settlements are areas in West African towns populated mostly by migrants from the northern savannah regions and the West African Sahel, especially from Niger and northern Nigeria.
The Kingdom of Dagbon is the oldest and one of the most organised traditional kingdoms in Ghana founded by the Dagomba people (Dagbamba) in the 15th century. During its rise, it comprised, at various points, the Northern, Upper West, Upper East, Savannah Region and North East regions of present-day Ghana. It also covered portions of Burkina Faso, North East Ivory Coast and North West Togo. Since Ghana's independence in 1957, the Kingdom just like all of Ghana's kingdoms and ethnic states has assumed a traditional, customary role.
Mion District is one of the sixteen districts in Northern Region, Ghana. Originally it was formerly part of the then-larger Yendi District in 1988, which was created from the former East Dagomba District Council, until the western part of the district was later split off to create Mion District on 28 June 2012; thus the remaining original part has bee retained to become Yendi Municipal District. The district assembly is located in the central part of Northern Region and has Sang as its capital town.
The 1892 Sack of Salaga was a Gonja civil war for the control of the town of Salaga that occurred on December 5, 1892. A rebellion led by Kabachewura Isifa and assisted by his Dagomba and Nanumba allies overthrew Kpembewura Napo who died in exile in the same year.
The Zabarma Emirate was an Islamic state that existed from the 1860s to 1897 in what is today parts of Ghana and Burkina Faso.
The Savannah Region is one of the newest regions of Ghana and yet the largest region in the country. The creation of the Region follows presentation of a petition by the Gonja Traditional Council, led by the Yagbonwura Tumtumba Boresa Jakpa I. Upon receiving favourable responses from all stakeholders in the Northern Region, the Brobbey Commission, a referendum was conducted on the 27th December 2018. The result was a resounding yes of 99.7%. The President of the Republic of Ghana signed and presented the Constitutional Instrument (CI) 115 to the Yagbonwura in the Jubilee House, Accra on 12 February 2019. The launch was well attended by sons and daughters of Gonjaland including all current and past Mps, MDCEs and all appointees with Gonjaland descent. Damongo was declared the capital of the new Savannah Region. It is located in the north of the country. The Savannah Region is divided into 7 districts; Bole, Central Gonja, North Gonja, East Gonja, Sawla/Tuna/Kalba, West Gonja, North East Gonja and 7 Constituencies; Bole/Bamboi, Damongo, Daboya/Mankarigu, Salaga North, Salaga South, Sawla/Tuna/Kalba and Yapei/Kusawgu. The capital of Bole district is Bole; East Gonja municipal is Salaga; West Gonja district is Damango; Sawla Tuna Kalba district is Salwa; Central Gonja is Buipe; North Gonja is Daboya; and North East Gonja is Kpalbe
Salaga Slave Market is an 18th-century slave market located in the East Gonja District of northern Ghana. During the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, Salaga served as an important market where slaves were transported to the coast for export. The market also served as outposts for the movement of slaves along the trans-Saharan routes.
Kpalbe or Palbe is a town in the Savannah Region of Ghana. It is the capital of the North East Gonja District.
8 roads with several sub routes were built by the Asante Empire to connect the capital with cities north and south of the empire starting from the 18th century. Asante roads were supervised and policed by the government, but the sacred roads of the state received more attention. 4 main roads were directed northwards of the state whiles the other 4 were built south and towards the Coast. The southern roads of the Asante Empire fell into decline in the late 19th century and the entire road network was abandoned following British colonization.
