Ghan A Country Of Many Firsts

Throughout the ages, Africa has been populated by a diverse array of peoples, whose cultural, ethnic, and sociological differences have been shaped by the continents varied landscape ( ). Known for being the three magnificent trading territories in West Africa. Ghana, Mali, and Songhay were three very closely associated, but separate African civilizations that prospered and dominated West Africa for more than 300 years. Ancient Ghana was a rich and powerful empire. Despite the name Ancient Ghana is not related to the country we know today.

Ghana is located in a different place than the modern country of Ghana in West Africa. Ghana was located in the savanna region, and just south of it lay rain forests where there was an abundance of gold found in streams and mine shafts. Ancient Ghana was divided into ten regions, Western Ghana, Central Ghana, Greater Accra, Eastern Ghana, Volta, Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo, Northern Ghana, Upper West Ghana and Upper East Ghana. The Empire of Ghana was located in Western Africa in what is today the countries of Mauritania, Senegal, and Mali. The region lies just south of the Sahara Desert and is mostly savanna grasslands. Major rivers in the region such as the Gambia River, Senegal River, and the Niger River served as the means of transportation and trade.

The Ashanti tribe, is located on the gold coast of West Africa in the center of Ghana it is known to be one of the largest tribe of the entire region. According to David Luca the author of the article The Ashanti Legal System says that the Ashanti tribe was under British control from the year 1873 until 1951, but had little or no effect on the way their society was developed since they were free to develop their own laws, religious, and etc. (Luca 2005). British domination had no effect on their way the society was able to be built is because Ashanti tribe had the freedom to make the society the way they wanted it since British people did not intervene on the way it was being built. According to Buzz Ghana the Ashanti tribe dominated most of the modern province of Ghana from 1670-1902 (BuzzGhana 2016). The Ashanti tribe was known to dominate most of Ghana since it was one of the largest and most powerful tribe in the region since it was one of the most indigenous groups of the Akans (Ashanti and Fanti) of Ghana. They were also dominant because they were very rich in gold so they were able to start their own state without any financial issues, but then came the time of the 19th century, when trade of the slaves was completely abolished, and this was the major reason for the Ashanti Kingdom’s downfall (BuzzGhana 2016). The Ashanti had a major downfall when the slaves were abolished because they relied on the slaves in order to get things done around the kingdom and they used

Even before Europeans came to Africa, the kingdoms in Africa were quite wealthy. As previously mentioned, Ghana was a very strong kingdom in which its people were also incredibly wealthy. Their government appeared to be wealthy as well, which assisted Ghana in being able to control the gold and salt trade. An Arab scholar, Al-Bakri, wrote about the king’s court and how basically everything that the court had was gold (Document 2). The point of view of this document was also positive, and that is because scholars are usually upper class, just like the king’s court. Al-Bakri thought very highly of the court, and explains in detail how every person has some gold on them and how their surroundings also possessed gold. Ghana had a strong army and an intelligent political counsel, which made other countries fear them. Nations around Ghana did not want to start problems and usually just maintained peace with Ghana (Document 3). Ghana was not the only successful kingdom, one of the leaders of Mali, Mansa Musa,

The Kingdom Ghana in western Africa flourished. Ghana gained control of the salt-and-gold trade (Doc. 2). This was important because Gold was used as a currency,

The relationship between the geography of West Africa and the development of the Kingdom of Ghana go hand in hand. It was a great place for civilization because it flourished over time. The Kingdom of Ghana’s development was helped because of trade and wealth.

Gold and salt mines surrounded Ghana and were kept a secret from the other countries who might want to get in on the great wealth of Ghana. Another reason Ghana had an opulent economy was because people loved books and would pay a great fortune to buy them. In Document 1 it talks about how the location of Ghana was important to the economy and in Document 4, people in Ghana lived on to do great tasks, because of the knowledge they got from all the books they bought. As seen in the map in document 1, it shows Ghana located directly in the middle of 12 gold and salt mines which they kept private so no one could steal their good fortune (Document 1). In the fourth document it reads,“Here are many doctors, judges, priests, and other learned men that are well maintained at the king's costs. Various manuscripts and written books are brought here . . . and sold for more money than other merchandise” (Document 4). This is helpful because they used the mines to trade with people who did not have the opportunity to collect gold and salt, but needed it. The salt is used to keep food fresh in warmer areas, and the gold is used for trading. They also highly appreciated books and would pay a substantial of money to get them. Books started to even become more highly priced than items like merchandise. The location of Ghana contributed greatly to the rich and wealthy atmosphere of Ghana as well as

The Kingdom of Ghana was a rich and mysterious country. The Ancient country lay where Maturia, Mali, and Senegal are to day. The kingdom existed from 700-1200 A.D. but people had been living in the area since the Fourth century A.D. Ghana's Golden age was from the Ninth to the Eleventh century A.D. During this time gold was abundant along with salt and other valuable goods. These items made Ghana a rich nation where the primary income was made from trading with the Arabs and other African nations. Even though trading was the main source of income, most of the common people were farmers. These farmers grew crops like corn, wheat, and rice. All of these reasons make the Ancient Kingdom of Ghana a desireable place to move to.

Ghana was no exception to this, as they were said to have food for all its citizens, advanced weapons, and a good government (doc 3). They were more than capable of living good lives and thriving. The city of Timbuktu in the empire of Mali valued written manuscripts and sold them for a higher price than that of any other good (doc 5). Mali also viewed security and justice as very important things to include in a society (doc 6). They were always fair and the citizens and tourists were never afraid. Finally, bronze was important, and went through a very lengthy process to make beautiful and amazing figures (doc 7). Aspects that make a society complex were valued and used during the reign of African

Ghana is located in west africa and its capital is Accra. The country was actually called the Gold Coast because of the ambulance of gold they had and also the abundant resources that they have. The country also is known for its history and its diverse animal life. Ghana was affected by the colonization of european countries, especially Britain. Ghana did trade with them, mostly with slaves and gold, they still felt enslaved.

Mali was once called Ghana. The colossal Ghana Realm (c.800-1230) was situated in western Mali. "Ghana" signifies "warrior ruler" in the dialect of the Soninke (the indigenous individuals of the Senegal waterway valley). At the time, it was the world 's wealthiest nation. The Ghana Realm controlled the entry of extravagance merchandise and slaves over the Sahara. Ibrāhīm al-Fazārī, a Persian court cosmologist in the eighth century, called it "the place where there is gold". The present day condition of Ghana was named to pay tribute to the domain, yet shares no regular land.

City of Ghana consists of two towns lying on a plain, inhabited by Muslims, a mosque for Friday prayer, each having a prayer leaders.

There were many economic struggles in Ghana that put sever stress on the residents. Because of the lack of money there are a huge number of people that are unemployed and will continue to be for a very long amount of time. Those between the ages of 18 and 35 are most commonly struggling through being jobless but this makes up so much of Ghana’s population. With a scarcity of money, infrastructural struggles begin to occur which is not easy to deal with. They barely have electricity, running water, heat, etc. and this can result in many uncomfortable results.

In the very beginning, you start to prepare for the Basic Education Certificate Examination. The BECE is basically an exam that students will take at the end of 8th grade to determine which high school they will go to. They will compete with everyone in their country in this exam to get the best scores so they are selected for the best high schools in Ghana. Due to all this pressure from this huge exam, Eben says his teenage years there were mostly spent studying and getting and preparing for the

This is a map of the ancient kingdom of Ghana, displaying its location well north of present-day Ghana. Today this area is part of the countries of Mali and Mauritania. As salt was worth its weight in gold, and gold was so abundant in the kingdom, Ghana achieved much of its wealth through trade with the Arabs. Islamic merchants traveled over two months through the desert to reach Ghana and "do business." They were taxed for both what they