Ghana is named after an ancient gold-trading empire that flourished in the west African interior between the 4th and 10th centuries, when the trans-Sahara caravan route linked the region to the Mediterranean via Timbuktu. However, prior to independence on 6 March 1957, the territory was always known as the Gold Coast, a reference to the large volumes of gold that were mined in the interior and exported by sea following the arrival of the Portuguese at Elmina in late 15th century. Over the centuries that followed, the Gold Coast became the site of several dozen castles, built as trade centres - initially specialising in gold but later in slaves - by the Portuguese, Dutch, British, Danish and various other European powers. Away from the castles, the area was divided into several kingdoms, of which the most important were the coastal Fanti, and the Ashanti further inland around Kumasi.
In 1874, the Gold Coast formally became a British colony, and the territory reached its present extent after WWI, when parts of what were formerly German Togoland were annexed to its eastern border to form present-day Volta Region. In 1957, the newly independent state of Ghana became the first British colony in Africa to be granted independence. Under President Kwame Nkrumah, the newly independent country made rapid progress in fields such as education, industrialisation, infrastructural development and provision of social services. A key founder of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU, now the African Union), Nkrumah also played a leading role in international affairs, by supporting the struggle for the liberation in other African colonies.
In 1966, Nkrumah's dictatorial tendencies resulted in the 1966 coup, which was the first of several military takeovers during a 15-year period of economic and political instability that culminated in the coup led by Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings on 31 December 1981. Under Rawlings's uncompromising leadership, the decade that followed was marked by sustained economic growth, but also by high levels of dissidence and repression. In 1991, Rawlings bowed to popular pressure and enacted a new constitution that effectively returned the country to civilian rule and sowed the seed for a more democratic style of governance.
As the leader of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Rawlings won the country's first democratic election in 1992 and was re-elected in 1996. That the days of coup and countercoup were long gone was confirmed by the election of December 2000, which was won by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) under John Kufour, and led to the first transfer of power from one elected leader to another in Ghanaian history. In 2008, the NDC was returned to power under President John Atta Mills, who died in office as a result of a stroke on 24 July 2012. The vice-president John Dramani Mahama was sworn in as Mills's successor the same day, and he went on the lead the NDC to a tight electoral victory in 2012.
There is no official state religion, and freedom of worship is a constitutional right, but religion has a strong influence on day to day life. Indeed, Ghana emerged as the world’s most religious country in a poll conducted by the Christian Science Monitor in 2012, with 96% of respondents stating that they are religious.
Unofficial figures claim that at least 60% of Ghanaians are Christian, and around 30% Muslim, making Ghana is the only West African country where Christianity is numerically dominant. Islam is the predominant faith in the north, having arrived there via the trans-Sahara trade routes as early as the 8AD. Christianity dominates further south, with Catholicism having been introduced by the Portuguese in the late 15th century. Minority religions include Hinduism, Buddhism, Baha’i, and various traditional faiths.
Social conventions:Ghanaians should always be addressed by their formal titles unless they specifically request otherwise. Handshaking is the usual form of greeting. It is customary in much of West Africa not to use the left hand for touching food.
Photography: Permission should be sought before photographing military installations, government buildings or airports. Elsewhere, there are few restrictions on photography, but it is polite to ask before photographing a street or market scene. Many official tourist sites charge addition fees for photography and/or use of a video camera.
The official language is English. Local Ghanaian languages are widely spoken, including Akan, Moshi-Dagomba, Ewe and Ga.
