Accra is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, 20.4 km2 (7.9 sq mi), had a population of 284,124 inhabitants, and the larger Greater Accra Region, 3,245 km2 (1,253 sq mi), had a population of 5,455,692 inhabitants. In common usage, the name "Accra" often refers to the territory of the Accra Metropolitan District as it existed before 2008, when it covered 199.4 km2 (77.0 sq mi). This territory has since been split into 13 local government districts: 12 independent municipal districts and the reduced Accra Metropolitan District (20.4 km2), which is the only district within the capital to be granted city status. This territory of 199.4 km2 contained 1,782,150 inhabitants at the 2021 census, and serves as the capital of Ghana, while the district under the jurisdiction of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly proper (20.4 km2) is distinguished from the rest of the capital as the "City of Accra".
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was an American sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist.
Guy Warren of Ghana, also known as Kofi Ghanaba, was a Ghanaian musician, most notable as the inventor of Afro-jazz — "the reuniting of African-American jazz with its African roots" — and as a member of The Tempos, alongside E. T. Mensah. He also inspired musicians such as Fela Kuti. Warren's virtuosity on the African drums earned him the appellation "The Divine Drummer". At different stages of his life, he additionally worked as a journalist, DJ and broadcaster.
Shirley Graham Du Bois was an American-Ghanaian writer, playwright, composer, and activist for African-American causes, among others. She won the Messner and the Anisfield-Wolf prizes for her works.
The Greater Accra Region has the smallest area of Ghana's 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of 3,245 square kilometres. This is 1.4 per cent of the total land area of Ghana. It is the most populated region, with a population of 5,455,692 in 2021, accounting for 17.7 per cent of Ghana's total population.
Achimota School, formerly Prince of Wales College and School at Achimota, later Achimota College, now nicknamed Motown, is a co-educational public boarding high school located at Achimota in Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana. The school was founded in 1924 by Sir Frederick Gordon Guggisberg, Dr. James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey and the Rev. Alec Garden Fraser. It was formally opened in 1927 by Sir Frederick Guggisberg, then Governor of the British Gold Coast colony. Achimota, modelled on the British public school system, was the first mixed-gender school to be established on the Gold Coast.
Sir David Frank Adjaye is a Ghanaian-British architect. He is known for having designed many notable buildings around the world, including the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. Adjaye was knighted in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to architecture. He is the recipient of the 2021 Royal Gold Medal, making him the first African recipient and one of the youngest recipients. He was appointed to the Order of Merit in 2022.
Raphael Ernest Grail Armattoe was a Ghanaian scientist and political activist. He was nominated for the 1948 Nobel Peace Prize and was a campaigner for unification of British and French Togoland. He was called by the New York Post "the 'Irishman' from West Africa", and the BBC producer Henry Swanzy referred to him as the "African Paracelsus".
Efua Theodora Sutherland was a Ghanaian playwright, director, dramatist, children's author, poet, educationalist, researcher, child advocate, and cultural activist. Her works include the plays Foriwa (1962), Edufa (1967), and The Marriage of Anansewa (1975). She founded the Ghana Drama Studio, the Ghana Society of Writers, the Ghana Experimental Theatre, and a community project called the Kodzidan. As Ghana's earliest playwright-director, she was an influential figure in the development of modern Ghanaian theatre, and helped to introduce the study of African performance traditions at university level. She was also a pioneering African publisher, establishing the company Afram Publications in Accra in the 1970s.
Articles related to Ghana include:
The Foundation for Contemporary Art (FCA) is a Ghanaian visual arts foundation that aims to create an active network of artists and provide a critical forum for the development of contemporary art in Ghana. Based in Accra, the FCA was founded in 2004 by Professor Joe Nkrumah and Australian/Italian artist Virginia Ryan, along with 12 founding members. The FCA office is located in the W.E.B. DuBois Memorial Centre for Pan-African Culture in the Cantonments neighborhood of Accra.
The Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and Memorial Park is located in downtown Accra, the capital of Ghana. Over the years, the park has attracted visitors from around the world, with an annual count of approximately 98,000 individuals who visit to pay homage to Ghana's first President, and learn about his life and legacy. As one of the top 10 most visited sites in the country, the park holds immense cultural and historical significance.
The W.E.B. Du Bois Boyhood Homesite is a National Historic Landmark in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, commemorating an important location in the life of African American intellectual and civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois (1868–1963). The site contains foundational remnants of the home of Du Bois' grandfather, where Du Bois lived for the first five years of his life. Du Bois was given the house in 1928, and planned to renovate it, but was unable to do so. He sold it in 1954 and the house was torn down later that decade.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Accra, Ghana.
St. Thomas Aquinas Senior High School is a Ghanaian public day senior high school for boys in the Osu district of Accra in the Greater Accra Region. It was established in 1952. The school is currently located in Cantonments, a suburb of Accra. It was established to provide education for boys of the Accra Archdiocese of the Catholic church whose parents could not afford the cost of sending their male children to expensive boarding schools.
The history of African Americans in Ghana goes back to individuals such as American civil rights activist and writer W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963), who settled in Ghana in the last years of his life and is buried in the capital, Accra. Since then, other African Americans who are descended from slaves imported from areas within the present-day jurisdiction of Ghana and neighboring states have applied for permanent resident status in Ghana. As of 2015, the number of African American residents has been estimated at around 3,000 people, a large portion of whom live in Accra.
Serge Attukwei Clottey is a Ghanaian artist who works across installation, performance, photography and sculpture. He is the creator of Afrogallonism, an artistic concept, which he describes as 'an artistic concept to explore the relationship between the prevalence of the yellow oil gallons in regards to consumption and necessity in the life of the modern African.' As the founder of Ghana's GoLokal, Clottey tries to transform society through art.
Lebrecht Wilhelm Fifi Hesse was a Ghanaian public servant and the first black African Rhodes Scholar. He served as Director-General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation on two occasions. He was also a member of the Public Services Commission of Ghana.
Kobena Eyi Acquah is a Ghanaian lawyer and poet. His debut collection, The Man Who Died (1984), won the 1985 British Airways Commonwealth Prize for Poetry. The dramatized performance of his Music for a Dream Dance "remains one of the most memorable events in the recent history of the poetic scene in Ghana".
Ivor Agyeman-Duah is a Ghanaian academic, economist, writer, editor and film director. He has worked in Ghana's diplomatic service and has served as an advisor on development policy.
