什么是迦纳

正式名称迦纳共和国（Republic of Ghana）

旧称黄金海岸（Gold Coast）

非洲西部国家。面积238,533平方公里。人口约19,894,000（2001）。首都︰阿克拉。有七十五个不同的部族。数量最多的是阿坎人，其次是摩尔－达格巴尼（莫西）人。语言︰英语（官方语）。宗教：基督教（新教和天主教）和本土宗教。货币︰塞地（）。全境地势偏低，以伏塔河盆地为主。北部以草地平原为特徵，南部森林茂密。南部沿海平原称为黄金海岸，向内陆延伸50～80公里。野生动物有狮子、豹和大象。属开发中的混合型经济，以农业和矿业为基础。经济以可可为主；出口的矿产有黄金、钻石。政府形式是共和国，一院制。国家元首暨政府首脑是总统。

现代迦纳系以古代迦纳帝国之名命名，该帝国在13世纪前正处於兴盛时期，其中心位於今迦纳西北约800公里处。後来阿坎人在今迦纳建立起他们的第一个国家。14世纪时，寻找金矿的曼德人到达。16世纪时，豪萨人也来到此地。15世纪期间，曼德人在北半部区域建立达贡巴国和曼普鲁西诺国。阿善提人为阿坎人一支，原居住在中部森林地区，後建立起一个强大的中央集权帝国，18和19世纪为该帝国鼎盛时期。15世纪初期，葡萄牙人登陆黄金海岸，欧洲人遂开始到该地区探险，随後他们在埃尔米纳建立一个居民点，作为奴隶买卖的大本营。到18世纪中叶，黄金海岸被荷兰、英国或丹麦商人的几个碉堡控制着。1874年黄金海岸成为英国殖民地。1901年英国在阿善提和北部地区建立了保护地区。1957年黄金海岸独立，改名迦纳。自独立後，发生多次政变。1981年成立的政府一直持续到1990年代。

Ghana

formerlyGold CoastRepublic, western Africa. Area: 92,098 sq mi (238,533 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 18,101,000. Capital: Accra. Ghana is home to some 75 different tribes; the most numerous are the Akan, followed by the Mole-Dagbani (Mossi). Language: English (official). Religions: Christianity (both Protestantism and Roman Catholicism) and indigenous religions. Currency: cedi. The land is generally flat, dominated by the Volta River basin. The north is characterized by grassland plains; the south is heavily forested. The southern coastal plain, called the Gold Coast, extends inland for 30-50 mi (50-80 km). Its varied wildlife includes lion, leopard, and elephant. It has a developing mixed economy based largely on agriculture and mining. Cacao is the mainstay of the economy; mineral exports include gold and diamonds. It is a republic with one legislative house; its head of state and government is the president. The modern state of Ghana is named after the ancient Ghana empire that flourished until the 13th century AD in the western Sudan, about 500 mi (800 km) northwest of the modern state. The Akan peoples then founded their first states in modern Ghana. Gold-seeking Mande traders arrived by the 14th century and Hausa merchants by the 16th century. During the 15th century the Mande founded the states of Dagomba and Mamprussi in the northern half of the region. The Ashanti, an Akan people, originated in the central forest region and formed a strongly centralized empire that was at its height in the 18th-19th century. European exploration of the region began early in the 15th century, when the Portuguese landed on the Gold Coast; they later established a settlement at Elmina as headquarters for the slave trade. By the mid-18th century the Gold Coast was dominated by numerous forts controlled by Dutch, British, and Danish merchants. Britain made the Gold Coast a crown colony in 1874, and British protectorates over the Ashanti and the northern territories were established in 1901. In 1957 the Gold Coast became the independent state of Ghana. Since independence, numerous political coups have occurred, but that of 1981 produced a government that lasted into the 1990s.