About Ghana
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The Republic of Ghana is named from the word Ghana itself, meaning Warrior King, although at the time of independence from Britain in 1957 the area was known as the Gold Coast. The name Ghana was chosen as it reflected the ancient Ghana empire that thrived there in ancient times.
The flag of Ghana is symbolised by a black star representing African emancipation, green representing agriculture, red representing the blood shed on the journey towards independence and gold reflecting the great mineral wealth of the nation.
As with many of the newly emerging African nations, Ghana's newly found independence was lost to the people in a succession of coups. In 1981 political parties were banned after Lt. Jerry Rawlings seized power, however in 1992 multi party elections were restored and Rawlings himself won that and a subsequent election in 1996.
The new constitution preventing him from standing for a third time. Today the president is John Mills having won the 2009 election.
With its population of same 24 million, Ghana is seen as a relatively stable democracy today, supported by an economy buoyed by gold and cocoa exportation. Oil reserves found off the coast are likely to boost the economy further in years to come.
Whilst all of this is good news, the situation in the north of the country is very disparate from that in the south with high rates of poverty due to a short rainy season that barely allows for subsistence farming.
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