all about ghana

how much do you know about ghana? i certainly did not know much before december. let me share some general information about the country and its people. of course, i have not actually been to ghana yet, so this information is simply what peace corps and the internet have told me. i'll be able to paint a more complete picture in just a few months!

location: ghana is located in west africa. it is bordered on the west by cote d'ivoire, north by burkina faso, east by togo, and south by water. it is just north of the equator and on the greenwich meridian, making it the closest land point to the "center of the world."

size: ghana is roughly the size of oregon.

language: actually, english is the official language! however, not everyone will speak it. i am supposed to begin learning twi now (too bad i'm the world's worst procrastinator...). twi is one of the widely spoken languages, and i will use it for travel. i will likely be learning a local language as well, but that will depend on what my permanent location will be, and i won't know that until i begin training over there. oh, and since i'm teaching deaf students, i'll also be learning ghanaian sign language, i believe. count 'em: that's three new languages for me to learn!

climate: hot. drier up north (toward the sahara), more humid toward the south. the seasons are wet or dry, not hot or cold. they are all hot.

economy: major exports are gold, cocoa, and diamonds. actually, ghana was a major source for the slave trade hundreds of years ago, and along the southern coast, slave forts still stand as memorials.

time: in the winter, ghana is five hours ahead of indiana. in the summer, it is four hours. ghana does not follow daylight saving time. (yay!)

alright. that's what i can think of right now. please let me know what other information you want me to look up on wikipedia and post here!