The Republic of Ghana is a country located on the Gulf of Guinea, just a few degrees north of the Equator. Ghana is bordered by the Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, Togo in the east and the Atlantic Ocean in the south. Ghana means “Warrior King” in the Soninke language.

The first known kingdom of Ghana was founded in the 4th century by the Soninke people, a Mande group. The kingdom flourished between the 9th and 13th centuries, thanks to the region’s rich gold deposits. This made Ghana one of the most powerful kingdoms in West Africa.

In the early 13th century, the Mande king Sundiata Keita conquered the kingdom of Ghana. The kingdom continued to exist under Keita’s successors, but by the 16th century it had shrunk in size and importance.

In the late 19th century, the British established the Gold Coast colony in what is now Ghana