Major FAQ-Ghana

More About Ghana

Culture and Religion

The extended family is the foundation of Ghanaian society and is usually matrilineal. You belong to your mother's clan; clans are grouped under a chief, who answers to a paramount chief, who is the political and spiritual head of his people. Visitors are generally welcomed with friendliness as politeness is a shared value among Ghana's people. Greetings, handshakes and courtesy are very important parts of this value which makes Ghana's people so well liked by her visitors. This trademark politeness is given credit for stability in the country through some tough times.

Ghanaians will find any excuse to dance and can turn the most dull moments into a dance party. Some of Africa's most well known musicians are from Ghana.

But Religion remains the pillar of Ghanaian society. Worship is evident in all aspects of culture and society. The majority of the people practice the Christian faith, about 70%, which was introduced by European missionaries. Pentecostal and charismatic denominations are well-represented, as are the Protestant and Catholic churches. The second largest religious affiliation in Ghana is the Muslim faith practiced by 15% of the people who reside mainly in the north of the country. The rest of the people practice other traditional religions, which generally include a belief in a supreme being, as well as in spirits and lesser gods who inhabit the natural world. Ancestor veneration is an important part of traditional beliefs. Most people retain their traditional beliefs alongside Christian or Muslim beliefs.

History

Present day Ghana has been inhabited from 4000 BC or longer, although little evidence remains of its early societies. Successive waves of migration from the north and east resulted in Ghana's present ethnographic composition. By the 13th century, a number of kingdoms had developed, influenced by the Sahelian trading empires of the northern regions of Ancient Ghana (which incorporated western Mali and present-day Senegal ). Fuelled by gold, of which Ghana has substantial deposits, trading networks grew, stimulating the development of Akan kingdoms in the center and south of present day Ghana. The most powerful of these trading networks was that of the Ashanti, who by the 18th century had conquered most of the trade routes to the coast.

The Portuguese arrived in the late 15th century, initially lured by the gold and ivory trade. However, with the establishment of plantations in the Americas during the 16th century, slaves rapidly replaced gold as the principal export of the region. The fortunes to be earned in the slave trade attracted the Dutch, British and Danes in the late 16th century.

By the time slavery was outlawed in the early 19th century, the British had gained a dominant position on the coast. The Ashanti continued to try to expand their territory and protect their interests and as a result the coastal Ga, Ewe and Fanti people came to rely on the British for protection. Conflict between the British and Ashanti continued on and the British established a protective territory over Ashantiland, which was expanded in 1901 to also include the northern territories.

Under the British, cocoa became the backbone of the economy and, in the 1920's the Gold Coast became the world's leading producer. By WWI, cocoa, gold and timber made the Gold Coast the most prosperous colony in Africa. By the time Ghana won her independence in 1957, the Gold Coast was also the world's leading producer of manganese. It had the best schools and the best civil service in West Africa, a cadre of enlightened lawyers and a thriving press.

In 1979, in the midst of serious food shortages and demonstrations against army affluence and military rule, a group of young revolutionaries sieved power of Ghana. Their leader was a young, charismatic, half-Scottish 32 year-old Air Force flight lieutenant, Jerry Rawlings, who quickly became the darling of the masses. Although Rawlings never delivered on his promised left-wing radical revolution, under his colorful leadership life became better for most Ghanaians. He yielded to World Bank and IMF pressure and carried out some tough free-market reforms, which included floating the cedi (₵), removing price controls, raising payments to cocoa farmers and disposing of some unprofitable state enterprises. In return, the World Bank and the IMF rewarded Ghana amply with loans and funding. For a while, in the 1980's Ghana was lauded as an economic success story, with an economic growth rate that was the highest in Africa.

During the 1990's Ghana made mixed progress. On the one hand, Rawlings seemed to have achieved a respectable democratic mandate, economic growth was maintained and Ghana continued to attract praise from the IMF. On the other hand, however, all was not well with many Ghanaians. Lack of improvements in social services, rising inflation and increasing corruption led to major civil unrest. However, Rawlings' personal popularity was relatively unaffected and in December 1996 he was again elected as president in an election acknowledged as free and fair. At much the same time, the appointment of Ghanaian Kofi Annan as UN secretary general boosted national morale.

Ghana today is on the upswing, with a slowly growing economy and a government cautiously joining the ranks of emerging African democracies.

Geography

Ghana is about the size of Britain. Its landscape is generally flat or gently rolling, consisting of low-lying coastal plains punctuated by saline lagoons in the south, wooded hill ranges in the center and a low plateau in the northern two-thirds. Keta Lagoon east of Accra , near the Togolese border, is Ghana 's largest lagoon. Dominating the eastern flank of the country is Lake Volta , formed when the Volta River was dammed in the mid-1960's. It's the world's largest artificial lake, about twice the size of Luxembourg. The highest hills are part of the Akwapim range in the east, which runs from just north of Accra , then east of Lake Volta and into Togo.

Much of Ghana 's terrain consists of wooded ranges, wide valleys and low-lying coastal plains. Logging, mining, the use of wood fuels and deforestation for agriculture have reduced Ghana 's forests by 75% in this century. Marine and coastal areas are threatened by high erosion and population concentration. Ghana has five national parks and nine protected areas and different species of protected wildlife like the elephant and baboon.

Cuisine

A typical Ghanaian meal consists of starch staple such as rice, fufu (mashed cassava, plantain or yam), kenkey (similar to a sourdough dumpling) or banku (fermented maize meal) eaten with a sauce or stew, sometimes served with a side of goat meat or fish. Ghanaian soups are typically made of groundnuts, palm nut, okra and other vegetables. It's good, sturdy food that will fill you up. Common sauces or soups are made from greens, egg, tomato, fish or meat. Other menu regulars are fried rice with chicken or vegetables, bean stew with meat or fish and fried plantain. Meat in Ghana is usually chicken, goat, or beef. Fish that is dried and smoked is also an important part of many meals. Omo tuo, a special dish served only on Sunday, are mashed rice balls with a fish or meat soup.

Breakfast is usually iced kenkey, a sort of liquid porridge made from fermented maize, with a hunk of bread, or bread and an omelette. Ghanaian bread is soft, white and sweet.

In Accra and other major city centers you'll find a variety of cuisines, commonly Lebanese, Chinese and West African, but also Italian, French and Indian. Western fast food is hugely popular and there are plenty of outlets in Accra and other centers in the south.