(View map of Ghana)
President: John Atta Mills (2009)
Land area: 88,811 sq mi (230,020 sq km); total area: 92,456 sq mi (239,460 sq km)
Population (2008 est.): 23,382,848 (growth rate: 1.9%); birth rate: 29.2/1000; infant mortality rate: 52.3/1000; life expectancy: 59.4; density per sq km: 101
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Accra, 2,825,800 (metro. area), 1,661,400 (city proper)
Other large cities: Kumasi, 645,100; Tamale, 279,600
Monetary unit: Cedi
Languages: English (official), African languages (including Akan, Moshi-Dagomba, Ewe, Ga)
Ethnicity/race: black African 98.5% (major tribes: Akan 44%, Moshi-Dagomba 16%, Ewe 13%, Ga 8%, Gurma 3%, Yoruba 1%), European and other 1.5% (1998)
Religions: Christian 63%, indigenous beliefs 21%, Islam 16%
National Holiday: Independence Day, March 6
Literacy rate: 75% (2003 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $31.33 billion; per capita $1,400. Real growth rate: 6.4%. Inflation: 9.6%. Unemployment: 11% (2000 est.). Arable land: 18%. Agriculture: cocoa, rice, coffee, cassava (tapioca), peanuts, corn, shea nuts, bananas; timber. Labor force: 11.29 million (2007 est.); agriculture 60%, industry 15%, services 25% (1999 est.). Industries: mining, lumbering, light manufacturing, aluminum smelting, food processing, cement, small commercial ship building. Natural resources: gold, timber, industrial diamonds, bauxite, manganese, fish, rubber, hydropower, petroleum, silver, salt, limestone. Exports: $4.194 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): gold, cocoa, timber, tuna, bauxite, aluminum, manganese ore, diamonds. Imports: $8.073 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): capital equipment, petroleum, foodstuffs. Major trading partners: Netherlands, UK, France, U.S., Belgium, Spain, South Africa, Nigeria, China (2006).
Member of Commonwealth of Nations
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 356,400 (2006); mobile cellular: 5.207 million (2006). Radio broadcast stations: AM 0, FM 49, shortwave 3 (2007). Television broadcast stations: 7 (2007). Internet hosts: 2,899 (2007). Internet users: 609,800 (2006).
International disputes: Ghana struggles to accommodate returning nationals who worked in the cocoa plantations and escaped rebel fighting in Côte d'Ivoire.