The Ghana Report (One page, basic version)
Overview | History | Geography | Economy | People | Current Event
Star Player | World Cup Information | Links | Sources
The Ghana Report (One page, basic version)
Overview
|
History
| Geography
| Economy
| People
| Current Event
Star Player
| World Cup Information
| Links
| Sources
Overview
Ghana is an intriguing country in Western Africa.
Located near the equator, Ghana's complicated history includes slavery, imperialism,
and political struggles after independence. Its economy is weak globally,
but competitive within Africa. Many different types of people live
in Ghana, speaking English and African languages, and practicing native,
Islam, or Christian religions. Ghana lost in the finals of the preliminary
rounds of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) last year, so it won't
have a team in the 2002 World Cup.
History
Ghana was called the Gold Coast by Europeans for a long time because its
Akan gold fields were a target for exploitation. Later, Ghana became
a center of slave trading from Africa to Caribbean nations, where Ghanaians
worked on sugar and rice plantations. The slave fort Elmina is now
a tourist attraction for visitors to Ghana to remember this terrible time
in history. Elmina (the Mine) was built by the Portuguese, was controlled
by the Dutch, then taken over by the British, when the United Kingdom declared
the Gold Coast a protectorate. The Ashanti kingdom in the north was
especially resistant to this transfer of power.
Independence Movement in Ghana
In 1957, Ghana gained its independence and was awarded 200 million British
pounds. This was not easily won. After World War II, Ghanaian
leaders sought more direct control over their own country. The most
important people involved in this were Kwame Nkrumah and Dr. J. B. Danquah.
In 1947, Danquah formed the United Gold Coast Conversion to transform
Ghana into an independent country. Nkrumah was selected as the UGCC's
general secretary. But rivalries developed, and Nkrumah split off to
form the Convention Peoples' Party in 1949. Their slogan was "Self
Government Now." Nkrumah was jailed for protests when his party won
34 seats in the first general election (1951); the UGCC won 3 seats. Nkrumah
was released, and became Prime Minister in 1952.
Baffour Akoto, a linguist, formed the National Liberation Movement, which became the chief political rival to the CPP. The NLM's main leader was Danquah. The two parties both wanted independence, however, and in 1957, the country was free. In their first elections, Nkrumah was chosen as the country's first President. Also, as a new country, Ghana created its first national soccer team, and named it the Black Stars, after the black star on the country's new flag. Another political party that was created in the 1950s was the Northern Peoples' Party. The NPP is currently lead by Ghana's President Kuffour, elected in 2001.
People
Click here
for information about Ghana's people, including graphs of religion, GDP,
and ethnic groups.
World Cup Information
Ghana did not qualify for the World Cup this year. During
the Africa Cup (Confederation of African Football), Ghana was in the B Group
with Nigeria, Liberia, Sudan, and Sierra Leone. Ghana did not fare
well, finishing with 3 wins, 2 draws, and 3 losses. (source:
FIFA Worldcup)
Recently, Ghana played the World Cup squad from Slovenia in a friendly, losing 2-0 to the Slovenes, who are in the World Cup finals in Group B. The Ghanaian national team is currently coached by Jabir Malik, but will soon be coached by Milan Zivadinovic. Zivadinovic is excited about taking over the team in its preparation for the 2006 World Cup. Zivadinovic is a man amidst controversy the last few years. Interestingly, he has worked most of his coaching career in Yugoslavia, from which Slovenia gained its independence in 1991. He was recently named coach of a club team in Serbia and Montenegro, but two months later, he signed on with the team from Ghana for 9000 euros ($8310) per month plus win bonuses. He has also coached the Iran and Saudia Arabia's national teams for short spells. (source: uefa.com )
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