Ghana:
Geography

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Other pages in this profile of Ghana:
People, Government, Economy, Communications & Transportation, Military & Transnational Issues.


Background	Definition Formed from the merger of the British colony of the Gold Coast and the Togoland trust territory, Ghana in 1957 became the first sub-Saharan country in colonial Africa to gain its independence. Ghana endured a long series of coups before Lt. Jerry RAWLINGS took power in 1981 and banned political parties. After approving a new constitution and restoring multiparty politics in 1992, RAWLINGS won presidential elections in 1992 and 1996, but was constitutionally prevented from running for a third term in 2000. John KUFUOR succeeded him and was reelected in 2004. Kufuor is constitutionally barred from running for a third term in upcoming Presidential elections, which are scheduled for December 2008.

Location	Definition Western Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between Cote d'Ivoire and Togo
Geographic coordinates	Definition 8 00 N, 2 00 W
Map references	Definition Africa
Area	Definition - World rank and map total: 239,460 sq km land: 230,940 sq km water: 8,520 sq km
Area - comparative	Definition slightly smaller than Oregon
Land boundaries	Definition total: 2,094 km border countries: Burkina Faso 549 km, Cote d'Ivoire 668 km, Togo 877 km
Coastline	Definition 539 km
Maritime claims	Definition territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm
Climate	Definition tropical; warm and comparatively dry along southeast coast; hot and humid in southwest; hot and dry in north
Terrain	Definition mostly low plains with dissected plateau in south-central area
Elevation extremes	Definition lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Afadjato 880 m
Natural resources	Definition gold, timber, industrial diamonds, bauxite, manganese, fish, rubber, hydropower, petroleum, silver, salt, limestone
Land use	Definition - World rank and map arable land: 17.54% permanent crops: 9.22% other: 73.24% (2005)
Irrigated land	Definition 310 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources	Definition 53.2 cu km (2001)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)	Definition total: 0.98 cu km/yr (24%/10%/66%) per capita: 44 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards	Definition dry, dusty, northeastern harmattan winds occur from January to March; droughts
Environment - current issues	Definition recurrent drought in north severely affects agricultural activities; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; poaching and habitat destruction threatens wildlife populations; water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water
Environment - international agreements	Definition party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation
Geography - note	Definition Lake Volta is the world's largest artificial lake