GHANA
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 238,540 km2; land area: 230,020 km2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Oregon
Land boundaries: 2,093 km total; Burkina 548 km, Ivory Coast
668 km, Togo 877 km
Coastline: 539 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 24 nm;
Continental shelf: 200 nm;
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical; warm and comparatively dry along southeast
coast; hot and humid in southwest; hot and dry in north
Terrain: mostly low plains with dissected plateau in south-central
area
Natural resources: gold, timber, industrial diamonds, bauxite,
manganese, fish, rubber
Land use: arable land 5%; permanent crops 7%; meadows and pastures
15%; forest and woodland 37%; other 36%; includes irrigated NEGL%
Environment: recent drought in north severely affecting marginal
agricultural activities; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; dry,
northeasterly harmattan wind (January to March)
Note: Lake Volta is world's largest artificial lake
PEOPLE
Population: 15,616,934 (July 1991), growth rate 3.2% (1991)
Birth rate: 46 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 13 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: - 1 migrant/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 86 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 53 years male, 56 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 6.3 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Ghanaian(s); adjective--Ghanaian
Ethnic divisions: black African 99.8% (major tribes--Akan 44%,
Moshi-Dagomba 16%, Ewe 13%, Ga 8%), European and other 0.2%
Religion: indigenous beliefs 38%, Muslim 30%, Christian 24%,
other 8%
Language: English (official); African languages include Akan,
Moshi-Dagomba, Ewe, and Ga
Literacy: 60% (male 70%, female 51%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force: 3,700,000; agriculture and fishing 54.7%, industry
18.7%, sales and clerical 15.2%, services, transportation, and
communications 7.7%, professional 3.7%; 48% of population of working age
(1983)
Organized labor: 467,000 (about 13% of labor force)
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Republic of Ghana
Type: military
Capital: Accra
Administrative divisions: 10 regions; Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo,
Central, Eastern, Greater Accra, Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Volta,
Western
Independence: 6 March 1957 (from UK, formerly Gold Coast)
Constitution: 24 September 1979; suspended 31 December 1981
Legal system: based on English common law and customary law;
has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Independence Day, 6 March (1957)
Executive branch: chairman of the Provisional National Defense
Council (PNDC), PNDC, Cabinet
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly dissolved after 31
December 1981 coup, and legislative powers were assumed by the
Provisional National Defense Council
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government--Chairman of the Provisional
National Defense Council Flt. Lt. (Ret.) Jerry John RAWLINGS (since
31 December 1981)
Political parties and leaders: none; political parties outlawed
after 31 December 1981 coup
Suffrage: none
Elections: none
Communists: a small number of Communists and sympathizers
Member of: ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-24, G-77, GATT,
IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL,
IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIIMOG, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Dr. Joseph ABBEY; Chancery at
2460 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone (202) 462-0761;
there is a Ghanaian Consulate General in New York;
US--Ambassador Raymond C. EWING; Embassy at Ring Road East, East of
Danquah Circle, Accra (mailing address is P. O. Box 194, Accra);
telephone 233 (21) 775347 through 775349
Flag: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), yellow, and green
with a large black five-pointed star centered in the gold band; uses the
popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia; similar to the flag of Bolivia
which has a coat of arms centered in the yellow band
ECONOMY
Overview: Supported by substantial international assistance, Ghana
has been implementing a steady economic rebuilding program since 1983,
including moves toward privatization and relaxation of government
controls. Heavily dependent on cocoa, gold, and timber exports,
economic growth is threatened by a poor cocoa harvest and higher oil
prices in 1991. Rising inflation--unofficially estimated at 50%--could
undermine Ghana's relationships with multilateral lenders. Civil service
wage increases and the cost of peacekeeping forces sent to Liberia are
boosting government expenditures and undercutting structural adjustment
reforms. Ghana opened a stock exchange in 1990.
GNP: $5.8 billion, per capita $380; real growth rate 2.7% (1990
est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 50% (1990 est.)
Unemployment rate: 1.9% (1989)
Budget: revenues $821 million; expenditures $782 million, including
capital expenditures of $151 million (1990 est.)
Exports: $826 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.);
commodities--cocoa 45%, gold, timber, tuna, bauxite, and aluminum;
partners--US 23%, UK, other EC
Imports: $1.2 billion (c.i.f., 1990 est.);
commodities--petroleum 16%, consumer goods, foods, intermediate
goods, capital equipment;
partners--US 10%, UK, FRG, France, Japan, South Korea, GDR
External debt: $3.1 billion (1990 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 7.4% in manufacturing (1989);
accounts for almost 1.5% of GDP
Electricity: 1,172,000 kW capacity; 4,110 million kWh produced,
280 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: mining, lumbering, light manufacturing, fishing,
aluminum, food processing
Agriculture: accounts for more than 50% of GDP (including fishing
and forestry); the major cash crop is cocoa; other principal crops--rice,
coffee, cassava, peanuts, corn, shea nuts, timber; normally
self-sufficient in food
Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis for the international
drug trade
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $455
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $2.3 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $78 million;
Communist countries (1970-89), $106 million
Currency: cedi (plural--cedis); 1 cedi (C) = 100 pesewas
Exchange rates: cedis (C) per US$1--342.91 (November 1990), 270.00
(1989), 202.35 (1988), 153.73 (1987), 89.20 (1986), 54.37 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: 953 km, all 1.067-meter gauge; 32 km double track;
railroads undergoing major renovation
Highways: 28,300 km total; 6,000 km concrete or bituminous surface,
22,300 km gravel, laterite, and improved earth surfaces
Inland waterways: Volta, Ankobra, and Tano Rivers provide 155 km of
perennial navigation for launches and lighters; Lake Volta provides
1,125 km of arterial and feeder waterways
Pipelines: none
Ports: Tema, Takoradi
Merchant marine: 4 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling
52,016 GRT/66,627 DWT
Civil air: 6 major transport aircraft
Airports: 10 total, 9 usable; 5 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 7 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: poor to fair system of open-wire and cable,
radio relay links; 38,000 telephones; stations--6 AM, no FM, 9 TV;
1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Police Force, paramilitary Palace
Guard, National Civil Defense Organization
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 3,538,503; 1,983,493 fit for
military service; 169,698 reach military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures: $23 million, 0.5% of GNP (1988)