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Ghana

OFFICIAL NAME: Republic of Ghana

DATE OF FORMATION: 1957

POPULATION: 21.4 million

DENSITY: 241 people per square mile

LANGUAGES: Twi, Fanti, Ewe, Ga, Adangbe, Gurma, Dagomba (Dagbani)

RELIGIONS: Christian 69%, Muslim 16%, Traditional beliefs 9%, Other 6%

ETHNIC MIX: Ashanti and Fanti 52%, Moshi-Dagomba 16%, Ewe 12%, Other 11%, Ga and Ga-adanbe 8%, Yoruba 1%

GOVERNMENT: Multiparty elections

CURRENCY: Cedi

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The heartland of the ancient Ashanti kingdom, modern Ghana is a union of the former British colony of the Gold Coast and the British-administered part of the UN Trust Territory of Togoland. Ghana gained independence in 1957, the first west African colony to do so. Multiparty democracy was embraced in 1992, and the handover of power to the main opposition party in 2000 confirmed the shift from a recent history of intermittent military rule.