DOCSLIB.ORG

Copyright by Anima Adjepong 2017

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Copyright by Anima Adjepong 2017 Copyright by Anima Adjepong 2017 The Dissertation Committee for Anima Adjepong Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Afropolitan Projects: Creating Community, Identity, and Belonging Committee: Ben Carrington, Supervisor Oloruntoyin Falola Gloria Gonzalez-Lopez Jemima Pierre Nestor Rodríguez Afropolitan Projects: Creating Community, Identity, and Belonging by Anima Adjepong, A.B.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May 2017 Dedication To HOLAAfrica! for throwing me a lifeline when I most needed one; and to the Ghanaian Community in Houston, without whom this project would not have been possible. Afropolitan Projects: Creating Community, Identity, and Belonging Anima Adjepong, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2017 Supervisor: Ben Carrington Abstract: Despite a dramatic growth in the numbers of African immigrants to the United States, until recently, this population has been marginal in studies about voluntary migration and race. Likewise, in mainstream scholarship about black identities, Africa appears as a site of imagination and struggle whilst contemporary Africans are frozen in an unchanging, parochial age. My dissertation addresses the marginalization of Africa and Africans in both race and migration studies through an ethnographic case study of a community of Ghanaians in Houston, Texas. The research considers how questions of religion, race, class, and sexual politics shape the community’s boundaries of belonging. I explore how answers to these questions inform members’ relationship with Ghana, Africa, Houston, and the United States more generally. The ways in which the community addresses these issues are part of what I call its Afropolitan projects, which advance a modern non-victimized narrative about Ghana and Africa more generally, and sustain the community’s identity as progressive, modern Ghanaians. By outlining the contours of one community’s Afropolitan projects, my research offers an urgent contribution to understanding contemporary African and black identities. The dissertation argues that within the intentionally curated community of Ghanaians in Houston, members engage Christianity, sexual and racial politics, and class respectability to claim their place in the United States and to a culturally complex and cosmopolitan v Ghanaian/African identity. These practices of belonging are produced through community members’ experiences as Christians, postcolonial Africans, and American residents and citizens. My analysis reveals how this particular Afropolitan project complicates possibilities for the community to find solidarity with working class and queer black/African people and instead aligns itself with heterosexual respectability and middle-class progress. By examining this black/African community formation through a theoretical lens that complicates flattened conceptualizations of community, this project proposes new ways of building solidarities across difference within the black diaspora. vi Table of Contents List of Tables ........................................................................................................... x List of Figures ......................................................................................................... xi Chapter One. Introduction ....................................................................................... 1 Epistemology and motivations ....................................................................... 4 What are Afropolitan Projects? ...................................................................... 8 Overview of the dissertation ......................................................................... 15 Chapter Two. Literature Review ........................................................................... 18 Community as belonging .............................................................................. 18 Culture as contested ideological terrain .............................................. 21 Culture and ethnicity ........................................................................... 23 Culture and identity ............................................................................. 26 Community as an orientation device ................................................... 27 Diaspora, difference, and hybridity ..................................................... 29 Immigration in the United States: When blacks enter .................................. 31 Imagining the immigrant ..................................................................... 33 Black immigrants and ethnicity ........................................................... 35 Racialization and black immigrants .................................................... 41 African Immigrants in the United States ...................................................... 46 Race, identity, and black African immigrants ..................................... 50 Considering gender, class, and sexuality among black/African immigrants .................................................................................................... 55 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 56 Chapter Three. Research Methods ........................................................................ 60 Case Selection: Why Ghanaians in Houston, Texas .................................... 61 The Ghanaian Community ........................................................................... 67 Access to the community .............................................................................. 70 Research Design ........................................................................................... 74 vii Employing “live methods” .................................................................. 77 In-depth interviews .............................................................................. 79 Data analysis ........................................................................................ 88 Invading Ethnography .................................................................................. 89 Taking up space in the field ................................................................. 93 Disorientation in the field .................................................................... 95 The politics of autoethnography: A combative native “I” ................... 98 Methodological Limitations ....................................................................... 100 Ethics .......................................................................................................... 101 Chapter Four. Little Lagos, African ethnicity and the Afropolitan ..................... 103 Introduction ................................................................................................ 103 Race, Ethnicity and Black Immigrant Identities ......................................... 104 From “Ghana Must Go” to #JollofWars: Ghana-Nigeria Relations ........... 108 Being Ghanaian in “Little Lagos” .............................................................. 112 Celebrating being Ghanaian in “Little Lagos” .................................. 114 “Our friends from the Nigerian Community” ................................... 119 MCGH and the “fear of Nigerians” ................................................... 121 Heterosexual politics of Ghanaian identities ..................................... 125 Being African in Houston, Texas ............................................................... 132 “African to my core”: The African identities of U.S.-born Africans 136 Being African from an Experiential Perspective ............................... 144 Houston, African Ethnicity and the Afropolitan ........................................ 149 Becoming Afropolitan, Complicating African as a Black Ethnicity .......... 154 Conclusion .................................................................................................. 156 Chapter Five. “Postracial America” and Being/Becoming Black ....................... 159 Introduction ................................................................................................ 159 Understanding Black Identities .................................................................. 162 Race in a U.S. Context ...................................................................... 163 Post/colonialism, race, and Africa ..................................................... 169 “Black like us” with a Different Mindset ................................................... 177 viii “Black like us” because “all they see is black” .......................................... 186 Obi man so: Ignorance/innocence about racism and postracial America ... 192 Living on “obi man so” in the time of Black Lives Matter ............... 197 Conclusion .................................................................................................. 205 Chapter Six. The Christian America Afropolitan Project ................................... 212 Introduction ................................................................................................ 212 Colonialism, Modernity, and Christianity in Ghana .................................. 215 Being Christian, Being Ghanaian ............................................................... 218 Ghanaian Christians in (white)
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Islamic Art from the Collection, Oct. 23, 2020 - Dec
    It Comes in Many Forms: Islamic Art from the Collection, Oct. 23, 2020 - Dec. 18, 2021 This exhibition presents textiles, decorative arts, and works on paper that show the breadth of Islamic artistic production and the diversity of Muslim cultures. Throughout the world for nearly 1,400 years, Islam’s creative expressions have taken many forms—as artworks, functional objects and tools, decoration, fashion, and critique. From a medieval Persian ewer to contemporary clothing, these objects explore migration, diasporas, and exchange. What makes an object Islamic? Does the artist need to be a practicing Muslim? Is being Muslim a religious expression or a cultural one? Do makers need to be from a predominantly Muslim country? Does the subject matter need to include traditionally Islamic motifs? These objects, a majority of which have never been exhibited before, suggest the difficulty of defining arts from a transnational religious viewpoint. These exhibition labels add honorifics whenever important figures in Islam are mentioned. SWT is an acronym for subhanahu wa-ta'ala (glorious and exalted is he), a respectful phrase used after every mention of Allah (God). SAW is an acronym for salallahu alayhi wa-sallam (may the blessings and the peace of Allah be upon him), used for the Prophet Muhammad, the founder and last messenger of Islam. AS is an acronym for alayhi as-sallam (peace be upon him), and is used for all other prophets before him. Tayana Fincher Nancy Elizabeth Prophet Fellow Costume and Textiles Department RISD Museum CHECKLIST OF THE EXHIBITION Spanish Tile, 1500s Earthenware with glaze 13.5 x 14 x 2.5 cm (5 5/16 x 5 1/2 x 1 inches) Gift of Eleanor Fayerweather 57.268 Heavily chipped on its surface, this tile was made in what is now Spain after the fall of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada (1238–1492).
    [Show full text]
  • A Meta-Regression Analysis on the Association Between Income Inequality and Intergenerational Transmission of Income
    A meta-regression analysis on the association between income inequality and intergenerational transmission of income Ernesto F. L. Amaral Texas A&M University [email protected] Sharron X. Wang Texas A&M University [email protected] Shih-Keng Yen Texas A&M University [email protected] Francisco Perez-Arce University of Southern California [email protected] Abstract Our overall aim is to understand the association between income inequality and intergenerational transmission of income (degree to which conditions at birth and childhood determine socioeconomic situation later in life). Causality is hard to establish, because both income inequality and inequality in opportunity are results of complex social and economic outcomes. We analyze whether this correlation is observed across countries and time (as well as within countries), in a context of recent increases in income inequality. We investigate Great Gatsby curves and perform meta-regression analyses based on several papers on this topic. Results suggest that countries with high levels of income inequality tend to have higher levels of inequality of opportunity. Intergenerational income elasticity has stronger associations with Gini coefficient, compared to associations with top one percent income share. Once fixed effects are included for each country and study paper, these correlations lose significance. Increases in income inequality not necessarily bring decreases in intergenerational mobility maybe as a result of different drivers of inequality having diverse effects on mobility, as well as a consequence of public policies that might reduce associations between income inequality and inequality of opportunity. Keywords Income inequality. Intergenerational transmission of income. Intergenerational mobility. Inequality of opportunity. Great Gatsby Curve.
    [Show full text]
  • Experiences of Socio-Spatial Exclusion Among Ghanaian Immigrant Youth in Toronto: a Case Study of the Jane-Finch Neighbourhood
    Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 6-28-2012 12:00 AM Experiences of Socio-Spatial Exclusion Among Ghanaian Immigrant Youth in Toronto: A Case Study of the Jane-Finch Neighbourhood Mariama Zaami The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Godwin Arku The University of Western Ontario Joint Supervisor Joseph Mensah The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Geography A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Master of Arts © Mariama Zaami 2012 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Human Geography Commons Recommended Citation Zaami, Mariama, "Experiences of Socio-Spatial Exclusion Among Ghanaian Immigrant Youth in Toronto: A Case Study of the Jane-Finch Neighbourhood" (2012). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 604. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/604 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. EXPERIENCES OF SOCIO-SPATIAL EXCLUSION AMONG GHANAIAN IMMIGRANT YOUTH IN TORONTO: A CASE STUDY OF THE JANE andFINCH NEIGHBOURHOOD (Spine Title: Socio-Spatial Exclusion among Ghanaian Immigrant Youth) (Thesis Format: Monograph) by Mariama Zaami Graduate Program in Geography A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Western University London, Ontario, Canada © Mariam Zaami 2012 WESTERN UNIVERSITY School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies CERTIFICATE OF EXAMINATION Joint-Supervisor Examiners _____________________________________ _______________________________ Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Theminorityreport
    theMINORITYREPORT The annual news of the AEA’s Committee on the Status of Minority Groups in the Economics Profession, the National Economic Association, and the American Society of Hispanic Economists Issue 11 | Winter 2019 Nearly a year after Hurricane Maria brought catastrophic PUERTO RICAN destruction across the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, the governor of Puerto Rico MIGRATION AND raised the official death toll estimate from 64 to 2,975 fatalities based on the results of a commissioned MAINLAND report by George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health (2018). While other SETTLEMENT independent reports (e.g., Kishore et al. 2018) placed the death toll considerably higher, this revised estimate PATTERNS BEFORE represented nearly a tenth of a percentage point (0.09 percent) of Puerto Rico’s total population of 3.3 million AND AFTER Americans—over a thousand more deaths than the estimated 1,833 fatalities caused by Hurricane Katrina in HURRICANE MARIA 2005. Regardless of the precise number, these studies consistently point to many deaths resulting from a By Marie T. Mora, University of Texas Rio Grande lack of access to adequate health care exacerbated by the collapse of infrastructure (including transportation Valley; Alberto Dávila, Southeast Missouri State systems and the entire electrical grid) and the severe University; and Havidán Rodríguez, University at interruption and slow restoration of other essential Albany, State University of New York services, such as running water and telecommunications.
    [Show full text]
  • Kojo's Life Journey
    Seat Belts Please! Get Ready For Kojo’s Life Journey 2008 1 All About Kojo Kojo’s Home and Family Kojo’s Nursery Kojo’s Name The Beginning Kojo’s Time with June Kojo’s Mum and Dad More About Kojo 2008 2 (scan in photograph) This is Kojo and as you can see he is a fine looking boy, with big brown eyes and a great smile! Kojo was born on the 5th April 2004, so that makes him 4 years old at the moment. Kojo is fit and healthy and he has plenty of energy. He is tall and just about the right size for a 4 year old and of course, his mum and dad think that he is just lovely! Kojo likes being outside either riding his bike, playing football and going to the park. He has lots of toys – but his favourites are his cars. Kojo just loves cars - small ones, large ones, fast ones, slow ones, electronic ones, push along ones, ones with wheels and even ones without wheels 3 Kojo just loves cars! 4 Kojo lives in a town called Newton, with his mum and dad. Kojo’s mum is called Pat and his dad is Samuel, but most people call him Sam for short. They are both from sunny Ghana, in West Africa, and they speak both English and Twi. They left Ghana many years ago, in 1990, and came to live and work in Britain, and now they live in Newton. Kojo’s dad is a chemist and before Kojo became their son, his mum worked on the computers in the College in Newton.
    [Show full text]
  • An English Speaking Country Ghana
    Ghana – an English speaking country A global perspective in English classes Finanziert durch: Pia Kranz Esther Mumuni Introduction Table of contents Introduction 2 Chapter schedule 5 Chapter 1: First steps into Ghana (B1) 6 On DVD: Pictures to Main exercise C Chapter 2: Weekdays in Ghana (A2) 21 On DVD: Pictures to Main exercise A Chapter 3: Globalisation on Ghana’s markets and Ghanaian culinary art (B1) 32 On DVD: Pictures to Introduction A, Exercise A, Conclusion Chapter 4: The impact of festivals and traditions in the Ghanaian and German culture (B1) 44 On DVD: Pictures to Introduction A, Main exercise A Chapter5: Business location Ghana – The consequences of economic growth, gold mining and tourism (B2) 57 Chapter 6: Cocoa production in Ghana (B2) 73 On DVD: Pictures to Main exercise B Chapter 7: Conservation of natural resources – A global responsibility (B2) 83 On DVD: Pictures to Introduction A Chapter 8: What is culture? New perspectives on Ghana and Germany (B2) 91 Chapter 9: Modern media – Electrical explosion in the world and it effects on Ghana (C1) 102 On DVD: Pictures to Main exercise B Ghana – an English speaking country | dvv international 2013 | 1 Introduction Introduction This English book is addressed to English teachers in adult education centres and provides an opportunity to integrate global learning into language courses with the main focus on language acquisition In an age of globalisation the world is drawing closer together and ecological and economic sustainable development has become
    [Show full text]
  • TCB Groove Program
    www.piccolotheatre.com 224-420-2223 T-F 10A-5P 37 PLAYS IN 80-90 MINUTES! APRIL 7- MAY 14! SAVE THE DATE! NOVEMBER 10, 11, & 12 APRIL 21 7:30P APRIL 22 5:00P APRIL 23 2:00P NICHOLS CONCERT HALL BENITO JUAREZ ST. CHRYSOSTOM’S Join us for the powerful polyphony of MUSIC INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO COMMUNITY ACADEMY EPISCOPAL CHURCH G.F. Handel's As pants the hart, 1490 CHICAGO AVE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER 1424 N DEARBORN ST. EVANSTON, IL 60201 1450 W CERMAK RD CHICAGO, IL 60610 Domenico Scarlatti's Stabat mater, TICKETS $10-$40 CHICAGO, IL 60608 TICKETS $10-$40 and J.S. Bach's Singet dem Herrn. FREE ADMISSION Dear friends, Last fall, Third Coast Baroque’s debut series ¡Sarabanda! focused on examining the African and Latin American folk music roots of the sarabande. Today, we will be following the paths of the chaconne, passacaglia and other ostinato rhythms – with origins similar to the sarabande – as they spread across Europe during the 17th century. With this program that we are calling Groove!, we present those intoxicating rhythms in the fashion and flavor of the different countries where they gained popularity. The great European composers wrote masterpieces using the rhythms of these ancient dances to create immortal pieces of art, but their weight and significance is such that we tend to forget where their origins lie. Bach, Couperin, and Purcell – to name only a few – wrote music for highly sophisticated institutions. Still, through these dance rhythms, they were searching for something similar to what the more ancient civilizations had been striving to attain: a connection to the spiritual world.
    [Show full text]
  • A Culture of Recording: Christopher Raeburn and the Decca Record Company
    A Culture of Recording: Christopher Raeburn and the Decca Record Company Sally Elizabeth Drew A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Sheffield Faculty of Arts and Humanities Department of Music This work was supported by the Arts & Humanities Research Council September 2018 1 2 Abstract This thesis examines the working culture of the Decca Record Company, and how group interaction and individual agency have made an impact on the production of music recordings. Founded in London in 1929, Decca built a global reputation as a pioneer of sound recording with access to the world’s leading musicians. With its roots in manufacturing and experimental wartime engineering, the company developed a peerless classical music catalogue that showcased technological innovation alongside artistic accomplishment. This investigation focuses specifically on the contribution of the recording producer at Decca in creating this legacy, as can be illustrated by the career of Christopher Raeburn, the company’s most prolific producer and specialist in opera and vocal repertoire. It is the first study to examine Raeburn’s archive, and is supported with unpublished memoirs, private papers and recorded interviews with colleagues, collaborators and artists. Using these sources, the thesis considers the history and functions of the staff producer within Decca’s wider operational structure in parallel with the personal aspirations of the individual in exerting control, choice and authority on the process and product of recording. Having been recruited to Decca by John Culshaw in 1957, Raeburn’s fifty-year career spanned seminal moments of the company’s artistic and commercial lifecycle: from assisting in exploiting the dramatic potential of stereo technology in Culshaw’s Ring during the 1960s to his serving as audio producer for the 1990 The Three Tenors Concert international phenomenon.
    [Show full text]
  • Spleatipiiidiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitilullut Academy
    \ ACADEMY & FESTIVAL Faculty Artist Recital Du Huang, Piano Jeffery Meyer, Piano Naomi Niskala, Piano Nathan Knutson, Piano Karen Wilkerson, Mezzo-soprano Cheryl Lemmons, Piano Paul Morton, Trumpet Ray Iwazumi, Violin Ayako Yonetani, Violin Spencer Martin, Viola Bjérling Recital Hall Schaefer Fine Arts Center Gustavus Adolphus College Sunday, June 29, 2008 8:00 PM This program has been sponsored by the Wenger Corporation SPLEATIPIIIDIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITILULLUT Program at Sonata in One Movement for 2 Pianos 8 Hands Bedrich Smetana (1824—1884) Du Huang, Jeffery Meyer, Naomi Niskala, and Nathan Knutson, Piano Greeting Leonard Bernstein (1918-1884) In the corner Modeste Mussorgsky (1839-1881) The Green-Eyed Dragon Greatrex Newman (1892—1984) Wolseley Charles CET Holding Each Other Gene Scheer God Bless the Child Billie Holiday With: Paul Morton, Trumpet (1915—1959) Arthur Herzog Jr. (1927—1983) Karen Wilkerson, Mezzo-soprano Cheryl Lemmons, Piano EPTEC Sonata for Piano and Violin in F major, Op. 24 Beethoven "Spring" (1770—1827) I. Allegro Il. Adagio molto espressivo CELT Ill. Scherzo: Allegro molto IV. Rondo: Allegro ma non troppo Ray Iwazumi, Violin Naomi Niskala, Piano Passacaglia in g minor George Frideric Handel (1685—1759) Arr. Johan Halvorsen (1864—1935) Ayako Yonetani, Violin Spencer Martin, Viola CEFCFEFEFEECEC Pianist Du Huang has presented solo performances at the Grosser Saal of the Konzerthaus in Vienna, Salle Cortot in Paris, Shanghai Music Hall and Beijing Music Hall in China, and numerous concert venues in Czech Republic. Huang also performs actively as a member of the Unison Piano Duo, their concert performances have been broadcasted by Minnesota Public Radio, Wisconsin Public Radio, and Iowa Public Television.
    [Show full text]
  • Conclusion 60
    Being Black, Being British, Being Ghanaian: Second Generation Ghanaians, Class, Identity, Ethnicity and Belonging Yvette Twumasi-Ankrah UCL PhD 1 Declaration I, Yvette Twumasi-Ankrah confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. 2 Table of Contents Declaration 2 List of Tables 8 Abstract 9 Impact statement 10 Acknowledgements 12 Chapter 1 - Introduction 13 Ghanaians in the UK 16 Ghanaian Migration and Settlement 19 Class, status and race 21 Overview of the thesis 22 Key questions 22 Key Terminology 22 Summary of the chapters 24 Chapter 2 - Literature Review 27 The Second Generation – Introduction 27 The Second Generation 28 The second generation and multiculturalism 31 Black and British 34 Second Generation – European 38 US Studies – ethnicity, labels and identity 40 Symbolic ethnicity and class 46 Ghanaian second generation 51 Transnationalism 52 Second Generation Return migration 56 Conclusion 60 3 Chapter 3 – Theoretical concepts 62 Background and concepts 62 Class and Bourdieu: field, habitus and capital 64 Habitus and cultural capital 66 A critique of Bourdieu 70 Class Matters – The Great British Class Survey 71 The Middle-Class in Ghana 73 Racism(s) – old and new 77 Black identity 83 Diaspora theory and the African diaspora 84 The creation of Black identity 86 Black British Identity 93 Intersectionality 95 Conclusion 98 Chapter 4 – Methodology 100 Introduction 100 Method 101 Focus of study and framework(s) 103
    [Show full text]
  • January 2017 13 F Women in Touch Event St
    Annual Meeting Information Rooted in baptism, POSTMARK Growing in faith. Branching out into the Special Annual Meeting Edition world. January 2017 13 F Women in Touch Event St. Mark’s 120th Annual Meeting 14 Sa Miqra Weekend Sunday, January 22, 2017 Soup and Bread, Bridge Communities 11:45 am – 1:00 pm 15 Su Miqra Weekend All are welcome to attend the St. Mark’s annual meeting. Have Group Sunday School for K-5 lunch, meet new vestry members, thank those who are finishing 16 M Daughters of the King their terms and bid on cakes as part of fundraising for our One Day Drama Camp companion church in Mexico. Activities for children provided. 17 T Vestry Meeting Read more about this important event on page 2. 18 W Middle School Youth Group High School Youth Group 22 Su Annual Meeting and Cake Auction Cake Auction Children's Programming It’s the sweetest time of the year! Men and Women of St. Mark’s are 28 Sa Men's Group invited to bake cakes and other baked goods for: 29 Su Winter Farmers Market The Mexico Mission Trip Annual Cake Auction and Bake Sale Confirmand, Parent, Mentor Lunch SUNDAY, JANUARY 22, 11:30 am in Mahon Hall. Choral Evensong Come prepared to bid on the confections and take home Save the Date in February a winner! Again this year, there will be a silent auction in 11 Sa Italian Night at the Opera addition to the live auction, AND many delicious baked 19 Su Group Sunday School for K-5 26 S Parents and Child Communion meeting goods of all sorts will be available on the bake sale table.
    [Show full text]
  • Rhode Island College TESL 539: Language Acquisition and Learning Powerpoint Presentation: Ghana By: Gina Covino
    Rhode Island College TESL 539: Language Acquisition and Learning PowerPoint Presentation: Ghana By: Gina Covino GHANA March 6, 1957 Table of Contents Part I. 1. Geography/Demographics 2. 10 Administrative Regions 3. Language Diversity 4. Politics Part II. 5. Education: Environment and Curriculum 6. Education: Factors 7. Education: Enrollment 8. Education: Literacy Rate Part III. 9. Culture, Values and Attitudes 10. Ghanaian Migrants Abroad 11. Ghanaian Americans Geography Demographics Population: 24,392,000 • Location: Ghana is in • Rural population: 49% Western Africa, bordering • Population below poverty level 28.5 % the Gulf of Guinea, • Ghana is a low income country with a between Cote d'Ivoire per capital GDP of only $402.7 (U.S.) per and Togo. year. • Capital: Accra Age structure: 0-14 years: 36.5% (male 4,568,273/female 4,468,939) 15-64 years: 60% (male 7,435,449/female 7,436,204) 65 years and over: 3.6% (male 399,737/female 482,471) Ethnic groups: Akan 47.5%, Mole-Dagbon 16.6%, Ewe 13.9% Ga-Dangme 7.4%, Gurma 5.7%, Guan 3.7%, Grusi 2.5%, Mande-Busanga 1.1%, 1 Reference: 15 Other 1.6% 10 Administrative Regions Region Regional Capital Northern Tamale Eastern Koforidua Western Takoradi Central Cape Coast Upper East Bolgatanga Upper West Wa Volta Ho Ashanti Kumasi Brong-Ahafo Sunyani Greater Accra Accra • About 70 percent of the total population lives in the southern half of the country. Accra and Kumasi are the largest settlement areas. Reference: 14 2 Language Diversity National Official Language: English • More than 60 languages and dialects are spoken in Ghana.
    [Show full text]