Ghana

Map of Ghana

Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Ghana
conventional short form: Ghana
former: Gold Coast

Capital:: Accra
geographic coordinates: 5 33 N, 0 13 W
time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Government type: constitutional democracy

Location	Western Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between Cote d'Ivoire and Togo
Geographic coordinates	8 00 N, 2 00 W
Map references	Africa
Area	total: 238,533 sq km land: 227,533 sq km water: 11,000 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than Oregon
Land boundaries	total: 2,094 km border countries: Burkina Faso 549 km, Cote d'Ivoire 668 km, Togo 877 km
Coastline	539 km
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm
Climate	tropical; warm and comparatively dry along southeast coast; hot and humid in southwest; hot and dry in north
Terrain	mostly low plains with dissected plateau in south-central area
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Afadjato 885 m
Natural resources	gold, timber, industrial diamonds, bauxite, manganese, fish, rubber, hydropower, petroleum, silver, salt, limestone
Land use	arable land: 17.54% permanent crops: 9.22% other: 73.24% (2005)
Irrigated land	340 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources	53.2 cu km (2001)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)	total: 0.98 cu km/yr (24%/10%/66%) per capita: 44 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards	dry, dusty, northeastern harmattan winds from January to March; droughts
Environment - current issues	recurrent drought in north severely affects agricultural activities; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; poaching and habitat destruction threatens wildlife populations; water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water
Environment - international agreements	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation
Geography - note	Lake Volta is the world's largest artificial lake by surface area (8,482 sq km; 3,275 sq mi)