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.
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