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Country · Africa

Ghana

Republic of Ghana

Ghana is a country in Western Africa. Its capital city is Accra. About 29.8 million people live there, in an area of 238 533 square kilometres.

Where is Ghana?

Ghana lies in Western Africa, on the continent of Africa.

It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 891 km from the equator.

Its coastline is about 539 km long.

It shares a border with 3 countries: Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Togo.

How big is Ghana?

Ghana covers 238 533 square kilometres.

That is about 5.8 times the size of Switzerland.

Among the world's countries that makes it the 80th largest.

If everybody spread out evenly, there would be about 124.8 people on every square kilometre.

Who lives in Ghana?

About 29.8 million people live in Ghana.

That is the 46th biggest population in the world.

People here speak English.

They pay with the Ghanaian cedi (₵).

On average, people born here can expect to live about 57 years.

The land of Ghana

The land in Ghana sits on average 190 metres above sea level, which makes it one of the flatter countries on Earth.

Its coast runs for about 539 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 27 days.

It lies inside the tropics, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.

What makes Ghana different?

A dish the country is known for: Fufu.

Websites from here often end in .gh.

Ghana and the rest of the world

Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about 4 live in Ghana.

It takes up about 0.18 % of all the land that countries stand on.

Within Africa it is the 33rd largest of 54 countries, and the 13th most populated.

That is busier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.

Ghana and its neighbours

Ivory Coast, its largest neighbour, is about 1.4 times bigger.

More people live in Ghana than in Ivory Coast — 29.8 million against 25.1 million.

Questions children ask

What is the capital of Ghana?

The capital of Ghana is Accra. It is the city where the country's government works from.

How many people live in Ghana?

About 29.8 million people live in Ghana, which makes it the 46th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)

Which countries border Ghana?

Ghana borders Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Togo — 3 neighbours in total.

How big is Ghana?

Ghana covers 238 533 square kilometres, making it the 80th largest country in the world. That is about 5.8 times the size of Switzerland.

Which continent is Ghana in?

Ghana is in Africa, in the part called Western Africa.

Where these numbers come from

Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.

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