Ghana Factbook

The most common response I get when I tell someone I’m moving to Ghana for two years is… “Ghana? That’s in Africa, right?” Since the average person doesn’t know much about Ghana, here are some interesting facts about Ghana courtesy of the CIA.

• In 1957, Ghana became the first sub-Saharan country in colonial Africa to gain its independence.
• Ghana is located in Western Africa, bordering Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, and Togo. It is slightly smaller than Oregon.
• English is the official language, but there are a ton of regional languages spoken, such as Akan, Mole-Dagbon, and Ewe. I get to learn one or more of these regional languages.
• The population of Ghana is 24.8 million (smaller than California’s) and the population of its capital, Accra, is 2.269 million (smaller than San Diego’s).
• The adult prevalence rate of HIV/AIDs in Ghana is 1.8%, which ranks 32nd highest in the world. In comparison the adult prevalence rate of HIV/AIDs in the U.S. is 0.6%
• 57.9% of Ghana is literate.
• The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Ghana is $61.97 billion. The GDP of the United States is $14 trillion.
• A better comparison would be GDP per capita. The GDP per capita of Ghana is $2,500. The GDP per capita of the United States is $47,200.
• There is electricity in Ghana! In fact they consume 6.06 billion kWh a year.

These are all of the facts I can handle for now. I’m sure I will learn a lot more interesting facts about Ghana while I live there.

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