Quick Facts

Capital: Accra, located on the southern coast
Land size: Roughly same size as Great Britain or the state of Oregon, USA
Population: Approximately 20 million
Time Zone: GMT
Language: English*, although there are 75 tribal language spoken (Twi is the most common)
Religion: Christian is dominant in the south & Muslim is dominant in the north; many people (including Christian & Muslim) practice some traditional beliefs
Independence from Britain: March 1957
Money: cedi; US$1 = c9,000

* It should be noted that Ghanaian English is different from American English, and is actually a recognized language. Many say it's just "broken English" but I think it's closer to British English than anything.

Location & Environment

Ghana is located in West Africa - east of Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), west of Togo, south of Burkina Faso, & north of the Gulf of Guinea/Atlantic Ocean. It is divided into ten regions; I live in the Upper East region near the border of Burkina Faso. Ghana is home of the world's largest artificial body of water - Lake Volta. And since you know I love "highpoints", the highest point in Ghana is Mount Afadjayo located in the Eastern region.

Brief History

Just like most other African countries, Ghana has a rich history of slavery. Most of the slaves from Ghana were captured by and then sold to other Europeans. Before the Europeans started raiding the country for slaves, Africans were enslaving their own people through inter-tribal war but were relatively few in number. It’s estimated that between 12 and 20 million Africans were transported across the Atlantic between the 17 th and early 19 th centuries. The conditions of the 5 week trip were so horrible that often times over half of the people died on the way. What’s amazing to me is how African people got involved with the slave traders. Often times, the chiefs were the ones capturing slaves and trading with the Europeans for firearms (for protection), alcoholic spirits, and tobacco. As the 18 th century drew to a close, the anti-slave lobby became an increasingly powerful voice in Europe. Britain abolished the slave trade in 1807, but it was not halted completely, however, until slavery was completely banned in 1833.

The Culture

I just had a session on diversity and stereotypes, so I'm caveating this section by saying that everything I say is "in general". Obviously, there are exceptions to the rules, but these are "stereotypes" that I think any Ghanaian would agree.

Ghanaians are extremely polite, hospitable, and friendly. It's rude to just walk up to someone and ask a question - you must greet the person first and then ask your question. Taxi drivers even get mad if you don't greet them before negotiating the price of your ride.

Ghanaians are very religious people. I have a book that puts it perfectly!! "The country is 15% Muslim, 70% Christian and 100% obsessed with spiritual worship." Examples of this are cars with Bible verses painted on the windows or shop/kiosk names like "God is Love Hair Salon" or "Jesus Loves Me Forex Bureau". Christianity is concentrated in the south and Islam is concentrated in the north along with the people practicing traditional religions.

Ghanaians love music and dancing. It's the birthplace of highlife music, which is a cross between . I've come to really like it even though a lot of it is in Twi, which I don't understand. Other popular types of music here are gospel, reggae, hiplife (similar to hiphop), Celine Dion, Westlife (a boyband), and Fifty Cent (somehow). Most tribes have their own local music and instruments as well.

Economy

Agriculture is the heart of Ghana's economy. Cocoa is it's most important crop. Ghana is Africa's 2nd largest gold exporter after South Africa. After gold and cocoa, tourism has been an increasing earner of foreign revenue. About half of the business volunteers here are at tourism sites.