• Ghana, In West Africa is a land of plains and low plateaus covered by rain forests in the west and Lake Volta in the east.
• Formed from the merger of the British colony of the Gold Coast and the Togoland trust territory, Ghana in 1957 became the first sub-Saharan country in colonial Africa to gain its independence. 2007 marks 50 years of independence.
• The highest point in Ghana is Mount Afadjato at 880m.
• As many former African colonies, the official language of Ghana is the colonial language, in this case English. Nine languages have the status of government-sponsored languages: Akan, Dagaare/Wale, Dagbane, Dangme, Ewe, Ga, Gonja, Kasem, and Nzema.
• Ghana’s climate is tropical; warm and comparatively dry along the south-east coast; hot and humid in the south-west and hot and dry in the north.
• Cocoa is the dried and partially fermented fatty seed of the cacao tree from which chocolate is made.Many developing world economies depend heavily on the cocoa industry; cocoa is responsible for 30% of Ghana’s export earnings.
• In 2004 Ghana produced .74 million metric tons of cocoa and along with Côte d'Ivoire, Indonesia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Brazil, Ecuador and Malaysia represents 90% of world production.

Child collecting cocoa

Next >>