Western Sahara (2005) | Ghana (2008) | |
Administrative divisions | none (under de facto control of Morocco) | 10 regions; Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo, Central, Eastern, Greater Accra, Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Volta, Western |
Age structure | 0-14 years: NA
15-64 years: NA 65 years and over: NA |
0-14 years: 38.2% (male 4,438,308/female 4,329,293)
15-64 years: 58.2% (male 6,661,512/female 6,687,738) 65 years and over: 3.6% (male 380,495/female 433,953) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | fruits and vegetables (grown in the few oases); camels, sheep, goats (kept by nomads) | cocoa, rice, cassava (tapioca), peanuts, corn, shea nuts, bananas; timber |
Airports | 11 (2004 est.) | 12 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 (2004 est.) |
total: 7
over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 8
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 3 (2004 est.) |
total: 5
914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 2 (2007) |
Area | total: 266,000 sq km
land: 266,000 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 239,460 sq km
land: 230,940 sq km water: 8,520 sq km |
Area - comparative | about the size of Colorado | slightly smaller than Oregon |
Background | Morocco virtually annexed the northern two-thirds of Western Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara) in 1976, and the rest of the territory in 1979, following Mauritania's withdrawal. A guerrilla war with the Polisario Front contesting Rabat's sovereignty ended in a 1991 UN-brokered cease-fire; a UN-organized referendum on final status has been repeatedly postponed. | 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 re-elected in 2004. Kufuor is constitutionally barred from running for a third term in upcoming Presidential elections, which are scheduled for December 2008. |
Birth rate | NA births/1,000 population | 29.85 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues: NA
expenditures: NA, including capital expenditures of NA |
revenues: $4.347 billion
expenditures: $5.197 billion (2007 est.) |
Capital | none | name: Accra
geographic coordinates: 5 33 N, 0 13 W time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore air currents produce fog and heavy dew | tropical; warm and comparatively dry along southeast coast; hot and humid in southwest; hot and dry in north |
Coastline | 1,110 km | 539 km |
Constitution | - | approved 28 April 1992 |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Western Sahara former: Spanish Sahara |
conventional long form: Republic of Ghana
conventional short form: Ghana former: Gold Coast |
Death rate | NA deaths/1,000 population | 9.55 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | NA | $3.387 billion (31 December 2007 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none | chief of mission: Ambassador Pamela E. BRIDGEWATER
embassy: 24 4th Circular Rd. Cantonments, Accra mailing address: P. O. Box 194, Accra telephone: [233] (21) 741-000 FAX: [233] (21) 741-389 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none | chief of mission: Ambassador Dr. Kwame BAWUAH-EDUSEI
chancery: 1156 15th St. NW #905, Washington, DC 20005 telephone: [1] (202) 785-1379 FAX: [1] (202) 785-1430 consulate(s) general: New York |
Disputes - international | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, whose sovereignty remains unresolved - UN-administered cease-fire has remained in effect since September 1991, administered by the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), but attempts to hold a referendum have failed and parties thus far have rejected all brokered proposals | Ghana struggles to accommodate returning nationals who worked in the cocoa plantations and escaped fighting in Cote d'Ivoire |
Economic aid - recipient | NA | $1.316 billion in loans and grants (2007) |
Economy - overview | Western Sahara depends on pastoral nomadism, fishing, and phosphate mining as the principal sources of income for the population. The territory lacks sufficient rainfall for sustainable agricultural production, and most of the food for the urban population must be imported. All trade and other economic activities are controlled by the Moroccan Government. Moroccan energy interests in 2001 signed contracts to explore for oil off the coast of Western Sahara, which has angered the Polisario. Incomes and standards of living in Western Sahara are substantially below the Moroccan level. | Well endowed with natural resources, Ghana has roughly twice the per capita output of the poorest countries in West Africa. Even so, Ghana remains heavily dependent on international financial and technical assistance. Gold and cocoa production, and individual remittances, are major sources of foreign exchange. The domestic economy continues to revolve around agriculture, which accounts for about 35% of GDP and employs about 55% of the work force, mainly small landholders. Ghana opted for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) program in 2002, and is also benefiting from the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative that took effect in 2006. Thematic priorities under its current Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy, which also provides the framework for development partner assistance, are: macroeconomic stability; private sector competitiveness; human resource development; and good governance and civic responsibility. Sound macro-economic management along with high prices for gold and cocoa helped sustain GDP growth in 2007. Ghana signed a Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact in 2006, which aims to assist in transforming Ghana's agricultural sector. |
Electricity - consumption | 83.7 million kWh (2002) | 6.906 billion kWh (2007 est.) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2002) | 256 million kWh (2007 est.) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2002) | 461 million kWh (2007 est.) |
Electricity - production | 90 million kWh (2002) | 7.042 billion kWh (2007 est.) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Sebjet Tah -55 m
highest point: unnamed location 463 m |
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Afadjato 880 m |
Environment - current issues | sparse water and lack of arable land | 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 | party to: none of the selected agreements
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
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 |
Ethnic groups | Arab, Berber | Akan 45.3%, Mole-Dagbon 15.2%, Ewe 11.7%, Ga-Dangme 7.3%, Guan 4%, Gurma 3.6%, Grusi 2.6%, Mande-Busanga 1%, other tribes 1.4%, other 7.8% (2000 census) |
Exchange rates | Moroccan dirhams per US dollar - 8.868 (2004), 9.5744 (2003), 11.0206 (2002), 11.303 (2001), 10.6256 (2000) | cedis per US dollar - 0.95 (2007), 9,174.8 (2006), 9,072.5 (2005), 9,004.6 (2004), 8,677.4 (2003) |
Executive branch | none | chief of state: President John Agyekum KUFUOR (since 7 January 2001); Vice President Alhaji Aliu MAHAMA (since 7 January 2001); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President John Agyekum KUFUOR (since 7 January 2001); Vice President Alhaji Aliu MAHAMA (since 7 January 2001) cabinet: Council of Ministers; president nominates members subject to approval by Parliament elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms (eligible for a second term); election last held 7 December 2004 (next to be held in December 2008) election results: John Agyekum KUFUOR reelected president in election; percent of vote - John KUFUOR 52.4%, John ATTA-MILLS 44.6% |
Exports | NA | 8,041 bbl/day (2004) |
Exports - commodities | phosphates 62% | gold, cocoa, timber, tuna, bauxite, aluminum, manganese ore, diamonds, horticulture |
Exports - partners | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts | Netherlands 11.3%, UK 8.7%, US 6.7%, Spain 5.7%, Belgium 5.2%, France 4.4% (2006) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | - | three equal horizontal bands of red (top), yellow, and green with a large black five-pointed star centered in the yellow band; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia; similar to the flag of Bolivia, which has a coat of arms centered in the yellow band |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: NA
industry: NA services: 40% (1996 est.) |
agriculture: 37.3%
industry: 25.3% services: 37.5% (2006 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - NA | - |
GDP - real growth rate | NA | 6.2% (2007 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 24 30 N, 13 00 W | 8 00 N, 2 00 W |
Geography - note | the waters off the coast are particularly rich fishing areas | Lake Volta is the world's largest artificial lake |
Highways | total: 6,200 km
paved: 1,350 km unpaved: 4,850 km (1991 est) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
lowest 10%: 2.2%
highest 10%: 30.1% (1999) |
Illicit drugs | - | illicit producer of cannabis for the international drug trade; major transit hub for Southwest and Southeast Asian heroin and, to a lesser extent, South American cocaine destined for Europe and the US; widespread crime and money laundering problem, but the lack of a well developed financial infrastructure limits the country's utility as a money laundering center; significant domestic cocaine and cannabis use |
Imports | NA | 45,010 bbl/day (2004) |
Imports - commodities | fuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs | capital equipment, petroleum, foodstuffs |
Imports - partners | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts | Nigeria 16.7%, China 13%, UK 5.7%, Belgium 4.7%, US 4.7%, South Africa 4.1%, France 4.1% (2006) |
Independence | - | 6 March 1957 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA | 7.4% (2007 est.) |
Industries | phosphate mining, handicrafts | mining, lumbering, light manufacturing, aluminum smelting, food processing, cement, small commercial ship building |
Infant mortality rate | total: NA
male: NA female: NA |
total: 53.56 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 58 deaths/1,000 live births female: 48.99 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | NA | 11% (2007 est.) |
International organization participation | none | ACP, AfDB, AU, C, ECOWAS, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM, OAS (observer), OIF, OPCW, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNOCI, UNOMIG, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 310 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | - | Supreme Court |
Labor force | 12,000 | 11.29 million (2007 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | animal husbandry and subsistence farming 50% | agriculture: 56%
industry: 15% services: 29% (2005 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 2,046 km
border countries: Algeria 42 km, Mauritania 1,561 km, Morocco 443 km |
total: 2,094 km
border countries: Burkina Faso 549 km, Cote d'Ivoire 668 km, Togo 877 km |
Land use | arable land: 0.02%
permanent crops: 0% other: 99.98% (2001) |
arable land: 17.54%
permanent crops: 9.22% other: 73.24% (2005) |
Languages | Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic | Asante 14.8%, Ewe 12.7%, Fante 9.9%, Boron (Brong) 4.6%, Dagomba 4.3%, Dangme 4.3%, Dagarte (Dagaba) 3.7%, Akyem 3.4%, Ga 3.4%, Akuapem 2.9%, other 36.1% (includes English (official)) (2000 census) |
Legal system | - | based on English common law and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | - | unicameral Parliament (230 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 7 December 2004 (next to be held December in 2008) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NPP 128, NDC 94, PNC 4, CPP 3, independent 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: NA years
male: NA years female: NA years |
total population: 59.12 years
male: 58.31 years female: 59.95 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 57.9% male: 66.4% female: 49.8% (2000 census) |
Location | Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Mauritania and Morocco | Western Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between Cote d'Ivoire and Togo |
Map references | Africa | Africa |
Maritime claims | contingent upon resolution of sovereignty issue | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | - | total: 3 ships (1000 GRT or over) 5,032 GRT/7,282 DWT
by type: petroleum tanker 1, refrigerated cargo 2 foreign-owned: 1 (Brazil 1) (2007) |
Military branches | - | Ghanaian Army, Ghanaian Navy, Ghanaian Air Force (2007) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 0.8% (2006 est.) |
National holiday | - | Independence Day, 6 March (1957) |
Nationality | noun: Sahrawi(s), Sahraoui(s)
adjective: Sahrawi, Sahrawian, Sahraouian |
noun: Ghanaian(s)
adjective: Ghanaian |
Natural hazards | hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind can occur during winter and spring; widespread harmattan haze exists 60% of time, often severely restricting visibility | dry, dusty, northeastern harmattan winds occur from January to March; droughts |
Natural resources | phosphates, iron ore | gold, timber, industrial diamonds, bauxite, manganese, fish, rubber, hydropower, petroleum, silver, salt, limestone |
Net migration rate | - | -0.58 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Pipelines | - | oil 13 km; refined products 316 km (2007) |
Political parties and leaders | - | Convention People's Party or CPP [Ladi NYLANDER]; Democratic Freedom Party or DFP [Alhaji Abudu Rahman ISSAKAH]; Every Ghanaian Living Everywhere or EGLE; Great Consolidated Popular Party or GCPP [Dan LARTEY]; National Democratic Congress or NDC [Dr. Kwabena ADJEI]; New Patriotic Party or NPP [Peter MAC-MANU]; People's National Convention or PNC [Alhaji Amed RAMADAN]; Reform Party [Kyeretwie OPUKU]; United Renaissance Party or URP [Charles WAYO] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | NA |
Population | 273,008 (July 2005 est.) | 22,931,299
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 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA | 28.5% (2007 est.) |
Population growth rate | NA | 1.972% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Ad Dakhla, Cabo Bojador, Laayoune (El Aaiun) | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 0, FM 86, shortwave 3 (2007) |
Railways | - | total: 953 km
narrow gauge: 953 km 1.067-m gauge (2006) |
Religions | Muslim | Christian 68.8% (Pentecostal/Charismatic 24.1%, Protestant 18.6%, Catholic 15.1%, other 11%), Muslim 15.9%, traditional 8.5%, other 0.7%, none 6.1% (2000 census) |
Sex ratio | NA | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.025 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.996 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.877 male(s)/female total population: 1.003 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | none; a UN-sponsored voter identification campaign not yet completed | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: sparse and limited system
domestic: NA international: country code - 212; tied into Morocco's system by microwave radio relay, tropospheric scatter, and satellite; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) linked to Rabat, Morocco |
general assessment: fixed-line infrastructure outdated and unreliable; competition among multiple mobile-cellular providers has spurred growth with subscribership about 25 per 100 persons and rising
domestic: primarily microwave radio relay; wireless local loop has been installed international: country code - 233; landing point for the SAT-3/WASC fiber-optic submarine cable that provides connectivity to Europe and Asia; satellite earth stations - 4 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); microwave radio relay link to Panaftel system connects Ghana to its neighbors |
Telephones - main lines in use | about 2,000 (1999 est.) | 356,400 (2006) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 0 (1999) | 5.207 million (2006) |
Television broadcast stations | NA | 7 (2007) |
Terrain | mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces rising to small mountains in south and northeast | mostly low plains with dissected plateau in south-central area |
Total fertility rate | NA children born/woman | 3.89 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA | 11% (2000 est.) |
Waterways | - | 1,293 km
note: 168 km for launches and lighters on Volta, Ankobra, and Tano rivers; 1,125 km of arterial and feeder waterways on Lake Volta (2007) |