Beaches

* There are no well developed beach resorts.
+ Cape Coast
+ Labadi
- Water: Warm water. Often bathing is dangerous, local advice should be sought.
- Accommodation: Good accommodation available but limited choice and range.
- Sports Facilities: Limited range of water sports.
- Entertainment: Mostly local.
- Development: Not developed for volume tourism.

Climate

* Tropical, warm and dry on the eastern coast, hot and humid in the extreme western part of the coast.

* On the Ashanti Plateau, hot and dry. Average annual rainfall at Kumasi is 1400 mm / 55 inches.

* There are excursions on Lake Volta, mostly half day from Akosombo Port.

* Currency: Cedi (C) divided into 100 pesewas.

* Credit Cards: Visa, Mastercard, Access, American Express and Diners Club are no widely accepted and can usually only be used in good hotels and restaurants etc.

* Banking Hours: 0830 to 1400 Monday to Thursday, 0830 to 1500 Friday.

* Currency Restrictions:
+ Importing: The import of Cedis is limited to residents only, up to a maximum of 3,000 and only if the currency has previously been exported by them and recorded in their passport. The import of foreign currency is not limited but should be recorded on arrival.
+ Exporting: The export of local currency is only permitted for residents, up to a maximum of 3,000 and only if the currency has previously been exported by them and recorded in their passport. The export of foreign currency is permitted up to the amount imported and declared on arrival.

* Agriculture: One of the world's leading cocoa producers; also tobacco, rubber, cotton, vegetables, fruit, timber, fish.

* Mining: Some of the worlds largest gold reserves, also oil, diamonds, manganese, bauxite.

* Manufacturing: Timber products, aluminium, light manufacturing.

* Other: Small scale tourism; remittances from Ghanaian workers abroad.

* Official name: Republic of Ghana.

* Population: 16,500,000 (1992 estimate)

* Situation: West Africa.

* Timezone: GMT.

* Area: 238,686 square kilometres / 92,133 square miles.

* Borders with: Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Togo.

* Coasts: Atlantic Ocean.

* Capital: Accra.

* Major Towns: Sekondi-Takoradi, Kumasi, Tamale.

* Chief Port: Tema.

* Religion: Christianity (44%), Islam (12%), local beliefs (38%).

* Rest Day: Sunday.

* Electricity: 220 Volts AC, 50 Hz.

* Physical: Coastal plain with sandy beaches and lagoons rising in the west to the Ashanti Plateau and leading in the east to the Volta basin. The River Volta is dammed at Akosombo Dam to form Lake Volta. In the east, mountains rise to peak at Afadjado 885 meters / 2,930 feet.

* A number of kingdoms arose in Ghana in the 13th century. These were strongly influenced by the Sahelian trading empires. The first of them in Ghana were the states of Bono and Banda, which occupied the northern orchard bush before expanding south. They were following the course of the Volta River to the coastal grasslands.

* Ashanti was one of the most well known and powerful of the kingdoms of Ghana, by late in the 17th century it had conquered the majority of the earlier states and turned its attention to controlling trade routes to the coast; their capital was Kumasi.

* Muslim secretaries from the north were employed by the ruler Asantehene, to manage trade with the Sahelian kingdoms and to govern distant provinces.

* Europeans found employment as advisers to the Asantehene.

* The British invaded in the 1870's , and a German official was ordered to raise and train an army of Hausa troops.

* Kingdoms in Ghana were rich and powerful as a result of the trade in gold, ivory, slaves and salt. Traditionally the slave trade had increased the wealth of the kingdoms along the Niger River and the edge of the Sahara as they taxed the trans Saharan caravans but the focus changed with the advent of slave trading with the Americas which led to great prosperity along the coast of West Africa.

* Europeans relied upon the coastal kingdoms rather than the interior kingdoms to deliver their human cargoes to a number of coastal forts which were used as collection points. The initial fort was built by the Portuguese in the 15th century. The British, French, Dutch and Danes soon followed suit. These forts were frequently overrun, slavers were thrown out and massacred.

* Due to the abolition of the slave trade in the 19th century the Europeans looked for other ways to make their profit. British interest increased in the interior after the transfer of Dutch possessions to the British in 1878.

* The British conquered Ghana (originally named the Gold Coast) this was strongly resisted especially by the Fante Confederation, an alliance of coastal kingdoms.

* Kumasi was sacked in 1874, but warfare with Ashanti lasted until the 1900's.

* In the 1920's and 1930's a number of political parties dedicated to achieving independence arose, none of these nor the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) which was formed in 1977 were nationally based.

* On 1948 the Secretary-General of the UGCC Kwame Nkrumah broke away due to the fact that the UGCC had ignored the aspirations of the number of workers who were attracted to cities during the boom in public works. He then founds his own party, the Convention Peoples Party (CPP), which became the voice of the people and drew the north into national politics.

* The CPP was an immediate success. Nkrumah called a national strike in 1949; in an attempt to contain the situation, the British made Nkrumah stand before the courts and sentenced him to jail.

* In 1951 the CPP won the general election. Nkrumah was released to become the leader of the government.

* In March 1957 Ghana gained independence, the first African country to achieve freedom from European colonisers.

* There was powerful opposition to the CPP from traditional chiefs and big farmers. The party gradually changed from cultivating mass support to dispensing favours and patronage.

* Corruption began to grow, Nkrumah kept himself out of trouble and became one of the most powerful leaders on the African continent. He gave inspiration for nationalist movements all over the world.

* Praiseworthy though his achievements were, corruption, reckless spending, unpaid debts and expansion of his personal guard into a regiment were the reasons for his downfall.

* Whilst Nkrumah was travelling to Beijing the police and army led a coup in February 1966; they described their coup as essential to avoid communism. A new regime was quickly put into place, debts were rescheduled and emergency aid was brought into the country.

* In 1969 the military handed over the leadership to Dr Busia who led a conservative, civilian government. From the beginning his administration was crippled by problems left by Nkrumah.

* A military coup occurred in 1972 led by Colonel Achaempong; little changed.

* There were many food shortages and demonstrations against the rule broke out. The government retaliated by using all the brutality at their disposal.

* In May 1979 Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings demanded a confrontation between officers and men. This was aimed at eliminating those responsible for the corruption. Rawlings was court martialled following his denunciation of the military personnel. The population's imaginations were captured and a week or so later, there was an uprising of the junior ranks against their superiors.

* Rawlings was released and taken to the Broadcasting House; it was there that he announced that the junior ranks of the army were to take over the government. He also said that the people responsible for the country's bankruptcy would be brought to trial.

* Rawlings' Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, after the general elections, handed over to a civilian government.

* The government began a major house cleaning operation and included in those executed by firing squads was General Achaempong.

* Hilla Limann was now the new President but he was not happy due to Rawlings popularity. Limann attempted to harass Rawlings' friends and meddle with the constitution and composition of the High Court. Rawlings then began warning the population about a slide back into the old mould of the pre 1917 era. Limann retaliated by accusing Rawlings of attempting to subvert constitutional rule which resulted in another take over by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council.

* Policies of the revolutionary council have come under criticism from radicals. They were particularly annoyed by the government's willingness to adopt strict austerity measures which were suggested by the IMF and the World Bank. This was an attempt to help the economy and drew support from the traditional Ashanti chiefs.

* In 1983 chronic food shortages were caused after a massive influx of one million Ghanaian workers expelled from Nigeria. Also in this year there was a serious drought.

* 1984 was a good year for rain helping the country to recover.

* Official: English.

Owabi Wildlife Sanctuary

* Access by road from Kumasi. No further information at present.

Mole National Park

* 5,100 square kilometres / 3187 square miles. Savannah and scrub bush. Access by road from Tamale. Open all year round. Best time to visit is March to June. Reasonable accommodation available. Camping available. Foot safaris permitted. Animals living in the park include antelope, baboon, buffalo, crocodile, elephant, lion, monkey, warthogs, waterbuck and a variety of birds.

Kujani Game Reserve

* No current information.

Shai Hills Game Reserve

* Access by road from Accra. Horse riding safaris available.

People

* Countries whose nationals do not require a visa include:
+ Member countries of ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States)- Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo.

* Countries whose nationals do require a visa include:
+ All except members of the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) - Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo.

* Visas are issued at Ghanaian Embassies and High Commissions.

* Advice, information and full visa service from :

VISA SERVICES