Location:

Western Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between Cote d'Ivoire and Togo

Area:

total: 239,460 sq km
land: 230,940 sq km
water: 8,520 sq km

Land boundaries:

total: 2,094 km
border countries: Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, and Togo.

Climate:

tropical; warm and comparatively dry along southeast coast; hot and humid in southwest; hot and dry in north

Natural resources:

gold, timber, industrial diamonds, bauxite, manganese, fish, rubber, hydropower, petroleum, silver, salt, limestone

Land use:

arable land: 17.54%
permanent crops: 9.22%
other: 73.24% (2005)

Population:

22,409,572
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2006 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 38.8% (male 4,395,744/female 4,288,720)
15-64 years: 57.7% (male 6,450,828/female 6,483,781)
65 years and over: 3.5% (male 371,428/female 419,071) (2006 est.)

Median age:

total: 19.9 years
male: 19.7 years
female: 20.1 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate:

2.07% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:

30.52 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:

9.72 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 55.02 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 59.56 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 50.33 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 58.87 years
male: 58.07 years
female: 59.69 years (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

350,000 (2003 est.)

Major infectious diseases:

degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and yellow fever are high risks in some locations
water contact disease: schistosomiasis
respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis (2007)

Nationality:

noun: Ghanaian(s)
adjective: Ghanaian

Ethnic groups:

African 98.5% (includes Akan 44%, Moshi-Dagomba 16%, Ewe 13%, Ga 8%, Gurma 3%, Yoruba 1%), European and other 1.5% (1998)

Religions:

Christian 63%, Muslim 16%, indigenous beliefs 21%

Languages:

English (official), African languages (including Akan, Moshi-Dagomba, Ewe, and Ga)

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 74.8%
male: 82.7%
female: 67.1% (2003 est.)