A reminder of colonial times, a statue of Queen Victoria in  the town of Cape Coast

Ghana’s rich history centres on the once-great Ashanti empire, which rose to power during the late seventeenth century. By this time, the Ashanti empire had conquered the majority of the other tribal states and turned its attention to controlling trade routes to the coast. The trade in gold, ivory, and slaves made the Ashanti, and later the Europeans, very rich. The Portuguese were the first of a long line of European powers to arrive in Ghana, then called 'the Gold Coast'. The British invaded in the 1870s, although warfare with the Ashanti lasted until the 1900s.

In the 1920s and 1930s, a number of political parties arose, dedicated to achieving independence from British Colonial rule, but it wasn’t until 1951 that a general election was held. The election was won by Kwame Nkrumah who founded the Convention People’s Party. In 1957, under Nkrumah’s leadership, Ghana became the first African country to gain its independence from European colonisers.

In 1966, Nkrumah was ousted by a coup, because of growing dissatisfaction with the economic and political situation. A series of military governments with intervals of civilian rule followed. Months before a scheduled democratic election in 1979, a group of young soldiers led by Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings took power, promising to rid Ghana of corruption. His regime introduced tough economic reforms and controlled any opposition; however, it allowed democratic elections in 1989. At present, there is a democratically-elected government, and Rawlings remains Chief of State, President, and head of the government.