Elmina

Elmina (elmē'nu) [key], town, S Ghana, on the Gulf of Guinea; also known locally as Edina. It is a fishing center located in a region where corn and cassava are grown. In the late 1400s the Portuguese established an outpost near the native settlement of Anomansa, and later (1482) built St. Jorge's castle, which still stands. It was the first important European settlement on the Gold Coast. The Portuguese colony was conquered by the Dutch in 1637; it passed to Great Britain in 1872.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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