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.

A long series of coups resulted in the suspension of Ghana's third constitution in 1981 and a ban on political parties.

A new constitution, restoring multiparty politics, was approved in 1992.

Lt. Jerry Rawlings, head of state since 1981, won presidential elections in 1992 and 1996, but was constitutionally prevented from running for a third term in 2000.

John Kufuor, who defeated former Vice President John Atta-Mills in a free and fair election, succeeded him.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population: 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.)

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Age structure: 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.)

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Median age: total: 20.2 years male: 19.9 years female: 20.4 years (2007 est.)

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Population growth rate: 1.972% (2007 est.)

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Birth rate: 29.85 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Death rate: 9.55 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Net migration rate: -0.58 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Sex ratio: 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.)

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Infant mortality rate: 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.)

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Life expectancy at birth: total population: 59.12 years male: 58.31 years female: 59.95 years (2007 est.)

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Total fertility rate: 3.89 children born/woman (2007 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 3.1% (2003 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 350,000 (2003 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - deaths: 30,000 (2003 est.)

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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)

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Nationality: noun: Ghanaian(s) adjective: Ghanaian

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Ethnic groups: 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)

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Religions: 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)

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Languages: 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)

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Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 57.9% male: 66.4% female: 49.8% (2000 census)

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, timber, and cocoa production are major sources of foreign exchange. The domestic economy continues to revolve around subsistence agriculture, which accounts for 37% of GDP and employs 60% of the work force, mainly small landholders. Ghana opted for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) program in 2002, but was included in a G-8 debt relief program decided upon at the Gleneagles Summit in July 2005. Priorities under its current $38 million Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) include tighter monetary and fiscal policies, accelerated privatization, and improvement of social services. Receipts from the gold sector helped sustain GDP growth in 2006 along with record high prices for Ghana's largest cocoa crop to date. Ghana received a Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant in 2006, which aims to assist in transforming Ghana's agricultural export sector.

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GDP (purchasing power parity): $60 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP (official exchange rate): $10.21 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP - real growth rate: 6% (2006 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP): $2,700 (2006 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 37.3% industry: 25.3% services: 37.5% (2006 est.)

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Labor force: 10.87 million (2006 est.)

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Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 60% industry: 15% services: 25% (1999 est.)

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Unemployment rate: 20% (1997 est.)

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Population below poverty line: 31.4% (1992 est.)

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Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.2% highest 10%: 30.1% (1999)

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Distribution of family income - Gini index: 30 (1999)

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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 10.9% (2006 est.)

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Investment (gross fixed): 29% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Budget: revenues: $3.616 billion expenditures: $3.947 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.)

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Public debt: 38.6% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Agriculture - products: cocoa, rice, coffee, cassava (tapioca), peanuts, corn, shea nuts, bananas; timber

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Industries: mining, lumbering, light manufacturing, aluminum smelting, food processing, cement, small commercial ship building

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Industrial production growth rate: 3.8% (2000 est.)

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Electricity - production: 6.489 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - consumption: 7.095 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - exports: 900 million kWh (2004)

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Electricity - imports: 1.96 billion kWh (2004)

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Oil - production: 7,477 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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Oil - consumption: 44,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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Oil - exports: NA bbl/day

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Oil - imports: NA bbl/day

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Oil - proved reserves: 16.51 million bbl (1 January 2005)

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Natural gas - production: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - consumption: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - proved reserves: 23.79 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.)

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Current account balance: -$219 million (2006 est.)

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Exports: $3.286 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Exports - commodities: gold, cocoa, timber, tuna, bauxite, aluminum, manganese ore, diamonds

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Exports - partners: Netherlands 11.2%, UK 8.6%, US 6.7%, Spain 5.7%, Belgium 5.2%, France 4.4% (2006)

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Imports: $5.666 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Imports - commodities: capital equipment, petroleum, foodstuffs

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Imports - partners: Nigeria 16.4%, China 12.8%, UK 5.6%, Belgium 4.7%, US 4.6%, Brazil 4.3%, South Africa 4.1%, France 4% (2006)

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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $2.098 billion (2006 est.)

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Debt - external: $3.546 billion (2006 est.)

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Economic aid - recipient: $6.9 billion (1999)

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Currency (code): cedi (GHC)

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Exchange rates: cedis per US dollar - 9,174.8 (2006), 9,072.5 (2005), 9,004.6 (2004), 8,677.4 (2003), 7,932.7 (2002)

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Fiscal year: calendar year