Culture of the Month : GHANA
Every month, our Cultural Awareness prefects - Menen Hailu and Eva Oppong - will bring to this page information and interesting facts about a particular culture.
May 2007 - Ghana
Ghana is the size of the UK and insists of rainforests, savannah, scrub and is the home of the biggest man-made lake in the World; Lake Volta.
There are over 60 different languages and tribes, with the main tribes being the Ashanti, Fante, and Ga and the most widely spoken language other than English is Twi.
Ghana was the first Sub-Saharan country in Africa to gain independence; March 6th 1957. Kwame Nkrumah, a native of Ghana, becomes the first African prime minister and government leader, but still shares the power with the British governor Sir Charles Arden-Clarke. Nkrumah is re-elected in for the post in 1954 and 1956.
Ghana derived its name from the 10th century Empire of Ghana which was actually located closer to the Sahara than on the coast as the country of Ghana is today. But was formerly called Land of Gold, which was how it got it’s name.
Two thirds of Ghana’s population follow Christianity. According to statistics, Ghana has the highest Christian population in West Africa.
The first European built fort in Ghana was Fort São Jorge da Mina (Elmina), which was built by the Portuguese in 1482 near an African village, with which they were in trade, called by them Aldeia das Duas Partes. Elmina castle is one the most significant landmarks that remain of slave history.
Kente is the traditional cloth of Ghana. It is weaved on a loom. Exports include cocoa beans which are used in Cadbury’s Chocolate, gold, timber, minerals.
Plantain, Yam and Papaya are the most common food imported from Ghana into Europe.
Famous Ghanaian
Footballer Michael Essien is a Ghanaian defender playing for Chelsea. He was born in Accra and was voted BBC African Footballer of 2006 ahead of Ivory Coast/Chelsea team-mate Didier Drogba.
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