Friday 5 August 2016

GHANA


Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located along the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean, in the subregion of West Africa. Spanning a land mass of 238,535 km2 (92,099 sq mi), Ghana is bordered by the Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, Togo in the east, and the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean in the south. Ghana means "Warrior King" in the Soninke language. The first permanent state in the territory of present-day Ghana dates back to the 11th century. Numerous kingdoms and empires emerged over the centuries, of which the most powerful was the Kingdom of Dagbon and the Kingdom of Ashanti.  Beginning in the 15th century, the Portuguese Empire, followed by numerous other European powers, contested the area for trading rights, until the British ultimately established control of the coast by the late 19th century. Following over a century of native resistance, Ghana's current borders were established by the 1900s as the British Gold Coast. It became independent of the United Kingdom on 6 March 1957.
Ghana is located on the Gulf of Guinea, only a few degrees north of the Equator, therefore giving it a warm climate. Ghana spans an area of 238,535 km2 (92,099 sq mi), and has an Atlantic coastline that stretches 560 kilometres (350 miles) on the Gulf of Guinea in Atlantic Ocean to its south.
Ghana is a multiethnic country.  The largest ethnic group is the Ashanti people. Ghana's territorial area within West Africa was unoccupied and uninhabited by humans until the 10th century BC. By the 10th century AD. The Guans were the first settlers in Ghana long before the other tribes came. Akans had established Bonoman (Brong Ahafo region) and were joined by the current settlers and inhabitants by the 16th century.

postal history of Ghana, known as the Gold Coast before independence.  The Gold Coast gradually came under British control by the middle of the nineteenth century and it was administered by Sierra Leone, further along the coast, until Gold Coast became a Crown Colony in 1874. Mails travelled via Freetown at this time. A postal service was established at Cape Coast Castle in 1853. The settlement at Lagos on the coast of Southern Nigeria was under Gold Coast control between July 1874 and 13 January 1886 when it became a separate colony. It had previously been under Sierra Leone. The first stamps of the Gold Coast were stamps of Queen Victoria issued 1 July 1875 and Gold Coast joined the Universal Postal Union in January 1879. In August 1914, German Togo was invaded by British troops from Gold Coast and French troops from Dahomey which occupied the territory until 1919. Overprinted stamps of Gold Coast were used in the British occupied zone of Togo. From 1922, the British zone was administered as part of Gold Coast. The first stamps of independent Ghana were issued in March 1957 and consisted of a commemorative stamp set of four and a definitive stamp series of 12 formed by overprinting former Gold Coast stamps with the words GHANA INDEPENDENCE 6th MARCH 1957. Regular issues have followed, including a number of sets of postage due stamps.

Ghanaian stamps after independence were noted for their bold colours and the frequent incorporation of the Ghanaian flag in their design. Ghana was the first country client of the Inter-Governmental Philatelic Corporation,  however, inept handling of the early post-independence issues caused damage to Ghana's reputation in the philatelic world from which it has not yet recovered.





The covers posted on April 19, 2017 and I received in my hands on April 26, 2017. Thank You Linda.



The covers posted on July 17, 2016 and I received them in my hands on August 04, 2016. Thank You Emanuel for the big help.

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