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Ghana

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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 (includes English (official)) 36.1% (2000 census)

Ethnicity/race: 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)

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)

National Holiday: Independence Day, March 6

Literacy rate: 57.9% (2000 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2011 est.): $74.77 billion; per capita $3,100. Real growth rate: 13.5%. Inflation: 8.8%. Unemployment: 11% (2000 est.). Arable land: 18%. Agriculture: cocoa, rice, coffee, cassava (tapioca), peanuts, corn, shea nuts, bananas; timber. Labor force: 11.44 million (2011 est.); agriculture 56%, industry 15%, services 29% (2005 est.). Industries: mining, lumbering, light manufacturing, aluminum smelting, food processing, cement, small commercial ship building. Natural resources: gold, timber, industrial diamonds, bauxite, manganese, fish, rubber, hydropower, petroleum, silver, salt, limestone. Exports: $13.13 billion (2011 est.): gold, cocoa, timber, tuna, bauxite, aluminum, manganese ore, diamonds. Imports: $14.03 billion (2011 est.): capital equipment, petroleum, foodstuffs. Major trading partners: Netherlands, UK, France, U.S., Belgium, Ukraine, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, China (2009).

Member of Commonwealth of Nations

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 277,900 (2009); mobile cellular: 17.436 million (2009). Broadcast media: state-owned TV station, 2 state-owned radio networks; several privately-owned TV stations and a large number of privately-owned radio stations; transmissions of multiple international broadcasters are accessible; several cable and satellite TV subscription services are obtainable (2007). Internet hosts: 60,282 (2010). Internet users: 1.297 million (2009).

Transportation: Railways: total: 947 km (2008). Highways: total: 62,221 km; paved: 9,955 km; unpaved: 52,266 km (2004). 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 (2011). Ports and harbors: Takoradi, Tema. Airports: 10 (2012).

International disputes: Ghana struggles to accommodate returning nationals who worked in the cocoa plantations and escaped rebel fighting in Côte d'Ivoire.

Major sources and definitions