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Geography
Ghana is situated in West Africa between the latitudes of 4°44’ and 11°11’ North
and longitudes 3° 15’ West and 1° 12’ East (Figure 2 and 3). Ghana occupies a total of
238,540 square kilometers, roughly the size of Oregon. Ghana shares its borders with
three countries, 668 km with Cote d’Ivoire to the west, 548 km with Burkina Faso to the
north, and 877 km with Togo to the east. The coastline of Ghana stretches for 539 km
along the Gulf of Guinea. Half of the country lies less than 152 meters (500 ft.) above
sea level, and the highest point is Mount Afadjato at 883 meters (2,900 ft.). The coastline
is predominantly tropical sandy beaches and inland of that are the drier coastal plains.
The south central area of the country is a tropical rain forest belt where most of the
country’s cocoa, minerals, and timber are found. Grasslands and Guinea and Sudan
savanna predominate in the northern part of the country. In 1964, the Akosambo dam
was built on the White Volta River that created Lake Volta, the world’s largest artificial
lake (Library of Congress 2002).
The population of Ghana is estimated at 19,894,014 with an equal ratio of males
to females. The life expectancy is estimated at 57 years. Education and literacy rates are
averaged for the country and one must take into account the south has much higher
literacy rates than the north. The literacy for age 15 and above rate is 65% of the total
population, 76% for males and 53.5% for females. Ghana is a diverse country as one
looks at the differences in languages, ethnicity, and religious beliefs. English is the
official language, however over 79 languages are spoken in Ghana including Akan,
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