Ghana (/ˈɡɑːnə/ (audio speaker iconlisten)), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa.[9] It spans the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with the Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Togo in the east.[10] Ghana covers an area of 238,535 km2 (92,099 sq mi), spanning diverse biomes that range from coastal savannas to tropical rain forests. With over 31 million people, Ghana is the second-most populous country in West Africa, after Nigeria.[11] The capital and largest city is Accra; other major cities are Kumasi, Tamale, and Sekondi-Takoradi.

The first permanent state in present-day Ghana was the Bono state of the 11th century.[12] Numerous kingdoms and empires emerged over the centuries, of which the most powerful were the Kingdom of Dagbon in the north[13] and the Ashanti Empire in the south.[14] Beginning in the 15th century, the Portuguese Empire, followed by numerous other European powers, contested the area for trading rights, until the British ultimately established control of the coast by the late 19th century. Following over a century of colonization, Ghana's current borders took shape, encompassing four separate British colonial territories: Gold Coast, Ashanti, the Northern Territories and British Togoland. These were unified as an independent dominion within the Commonwealth of Nations on 6 March 1957, becoming the first colony in sub-Saharan Africa to achieve sovereignty.[15][16][17] Ghana subsequently became influential in decolonisation efforts and the Pan-African movement.[18]

Ghana is a multinational state, home to a variety of ethnic, linguistic and religious groups;[19] while the Akan are the largest ethnic group, they constitute only a plurality. The vast majority of Ghanaians are Christian (71.3%), with close to a fifth being Muslim and a tenth practising traditional faiths or reporting no religion.[3] Ghana is a unitary constitutional democracy led by a president who is both head of state and head of government.[20] Since 1993, it has maintained one of the freest and most stable governments on the continent, and performs relatively well in metrics of healthcare, economic growth, and human development.[18] Ghana consequently enjoys significant influence in West Africa,[21] and is highly integrated in international affairs, being a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Group of 24 (G24) and the Commonwealth of NationsGhana is located on the Gulf of Guinea, only a few degrees north of the Equator, therefore giving it a warm climate.[66] Ghana spans an area of 238,535 km2 (92,099 sq mi), and has an Atlantic coastline that stretches 560 kilometres (350 miles) on the Gulf of Guinea in Atlantic Ocean to its south.[66] It lies between latitudes 4°45'N and 11°N, and longitudes 1°15'E and 3°15'W. The Prime Meridian passes through Ghana, specifically through the industrial port town of Tema.[66] Ghana is geographically closer to the "centre" of the Earth geographical coordinates than any other country; even though the notional centre, (0°, 0°) is located in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 614 km (382 mi) off the south-east coast of Ghana on the Gulf of Guinea.

Grasslands mixed with south coastal shrublands and forests dominate Ghana, with forest extending northward from the south-west coast of Ghana on the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean 320 kilometres (200 miles) and eastward for a maximum of about 270 kilometres (170 miles) with the Kingdom of Ashanti or the southern part of Ghana being a primary location for mining of industrial minerals and timber.[66] Ghana is home to five terrestrial ecoregions: Eastern Guinean forests, Guinean forest-savanna mosaic, West Sudanian savanna, Central African mangroves, and Guinean mangroves.[67] It had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.53/10, ranking it 112th globally out of 172 countries.[68]

Ghana encompasses plains, waterfalls, low hills, rivers, Dodi Island and Bobowasi Island on the south Atlantic Ocean coast.[69] The White Volta River and its tributary Black Volta, flow south through Ghana to Lake Volta, the world's third largest reservoir by volume and largest by surface area, formed by the hydroelectric Akosombo Dam,[70] completed in 1965. Flowing out of Lake Volta into the Atlantic Ocean at the Gulf of Guinea is the Volta River.[71]

The northernmost part of Ghana is Pulmakong and the southernmost part of Ghana is Cape Three Points mapa de Ghana Africa

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