Ghana

The Republic of Ghana was previously called the Gold Coast during colonial times and is situated in West Africa. Ghana borders de Gulf of Guinee and the Atlantic Ocean in the south, Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north and Togo in the east. The land mass of Ghana is approximately 6 times bigger than the Netherlands and has 16 regions.

The official language in Ghana is English, 11 other languages are officially recognized by the government. The Akan languages (Asante Twi, Akuapem Twi, Fante, Nzema) form the biggest language group, 44% of Ghanaians speak this language as their first or second language. The other official languages are Ga, Ewe, Dagaare, Dagbanli, Dagme, Guan and Kasem. However in total, there are about 80 different languages spoken in Ghana.

In the 19th century, the southern part of Ghana was part of the Ashanti Kingdom, one of the biggest tribes in Sub-Saharan Africa before colonialism. They traded in gold and gold commodities. Ghana was the first country on the African continent that became independent in 1957 under the leadership of Kwame Nkrumah. Ghana is politically stable, has democratic elections every four years and is an icon of democratic governance and the rule of law in Africa. Ghana is a peaceful and stable country known for its friendly and hospitable population.

With about 30 million inhabitants, Ghana has a young population with about 57% of the Ghanaians under the age of 25. They have a relatively high middle class in comparison with other African countries and they have experienced relatively big economic growth in the past few years, yet the income inequality in Ghana is large. The most recent statistics (2016) show that 55% of Ghanaians live below the poverty line.