Where is ghana and what is its significance

Green symbolises the country's rich forests. The Black Star stands for the lodestar of African Freedom. Crossed linguist staff and ceremonial sword on a blue background Position: Top left-hand quarter. Represents local administration A heraldic castle on a heraldic sea with a light blue background Position: Top right-hand quarter.

George's Cross. News , Stories. Every year on May 25, Africa Day is celebrated around the world. Did you know that Ghana played a central role in the creation of the so-called A-Day? Furthermore, we give you an insight on how Ghana celebrates this special day. It is considered the predecessor organization of the African Union AU which was founded in During the worldwide festivities, people of African-descended cultures join to celebrate the fight against colonialism and for the independence of African states.

After World War II, the process of decolonization of the African continent gained dynamics as African states increasingly demanded stronger political rights and independence. The name Ghana comes from an ancient kingdom several kilometres northwest of the modern republic. Archaeological remains found in the coastal zone indicate that the area has been inhabited since the early Bronze Age ca. Archaeological work also suggests that central Ghana north of the forest zone was inhabited as early as 3, to 4, years ago.

Oral history and other sources suggest that the ancestors of some of Ghana's residents entered this area at least as early as the tenth century A. These migrations resulted in part from the formation and disintegration of a series of large states in the western Sudan. The trans-Saharan trade that contributed to the expansion of Kingdoms in the western Sudan also led to the development of contacts with regions in northern modern Ghana and in the forest to the south.

Although the rulers themselves were not usually Muslims, they either brought with them or welcomed Muslims as scribes and medicine men, and Muslims also played a significant role in the trade that linked southern with northern Ghana. As a result of their presence, Islam substantially influenced the north.

Muslim influence, spread by the activities of merchants and clerics, has been recorded even among the Asante to the south. Although most Ghanaians retained their traditional beliefs, the Muslims brought with them certain skills, including writing, and introduced certain beliefs and practices that became part of the culture of the peoples among whom they settled In the broad belt of rugged country between the northern boundaries of the Muslim-influenced states of Gonja, Mamprusi, and Dagomba and the southernmost outposts of the Mossi Kingdoms, lived a number of peoples who were not incorporated into these entities.

Among these peoples were the Sisala, Kasena, Kusase, and Talensi, agriculturalists closely related to the Mossi. Rather than establishing centralised states themselves, they lived in so-called segmented societies, bound together by kinship ties and ruled by the heads of their clans.

Trade between the Akan states to the south and the Mossi Kingdoms to the north flowed through their homelands, subjecting them to Islamic influence and to the depredations of these more powerful neighbours. Although most Ghanaians retained their traditional beliefs, the Muslims brought with them certain skills, including writing, and introduced certain beliefs and practices that became part of the culture of the peoples among whom they settled.

The growth of trade stimulated the development of early Akan states located on the trade route to the goldfields in the forest zone of the south. The forest itself was thinly populated, but Akan speaking peoples began to move into it toward the end of the 15th Century with the arrival of crops from Southeast Asia and the New World that could be adapted to forest conditions.

These new crops included sorghum, bananas, and cassava. By the beginning of the 16th Century, European sources noted the existence of the gold rich states of Akan and Twifu in the Ofin River Valley.

By the midth Century, Asante was a highly organised state. The wars of expansion that brought the northern states of Mamprusi, Dagomba, and Gonja under Asante influence were won during the reign of Asantehene Opoku Ware I successor to Osei Tutu.

By the s, successive rulers had extended Asante boundaries southward. Although the northern expansions linked Asante with trade networks across the desert and in Hausaland to the east, movements into the south brought the Asante into contact, sometimes antagonistic, with the coastal Fante, Ga-Adangbe, and Ewe people, as well as with the various European merchants whose fortresses dotted the Gold Coast. On 1 July , Ghana became a commonwealth republic with Nkrumah as the first President of the country.

The flag of Ghana consists of the colours red, gold, green, and the black star. In its first president and pan-African hero, Kwame Nkrumah, was deposed in a coup, heralding years of mostly-military rule. In Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings staged his second coup.

The country began to move towards economic stability and democracy. In April a constitution allowing for a multi-party system was approved in a referendum, ushering in a period of democracy. A well-administered country by regional standards, Ghana is often seen as a model for political and economic reform in Africa.

Poverty endemic areas are often constrained by basic infrastructure such as feeder roads that links their economic activity, mostly farming, to urban market centres.

Malaria still remains a public health concern as it is the leading cause of morbidity in Ghana. There are still challenges in meeting the goal of reducing maternal mortality ratio to the expected maternal deaths per , live births by