Northern Region (Ghana)

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Location
Northern Region

Statistics
Regional Minister	Mustafa Iddris (NPP)
Capital	Tamale
Area	70,384 km² Ranked 1st
Population 2000 Census 1984 Census	Ranked 5th 1,820,806 1,164,583
Districts	18
ISO 3166-2	GH-NP

The Northern Region is the largest area of Ghana. As of 2004, it is divided into 18 districts. The region's capital is Tamale. Climatically, religiously, linguistically, and culturally, the region differs greatly from the politically and economically dominating regions of central and southern Ghana.

1 Geography
- 1.1 Districts
2 Climate and Vegetation
3 People
4 Religion
5 Ethnic conflicts in the Northern Region
6 Economy
7 Sources
8 External links

[edit] Geography

The region lies in the north of the country and is bordered in the northwest by the Upper West Region, in the northeast by the Upper East Region, in the southwest by the Brong-Ahafo Region, in the southeast by the Volta Region, in the west by Côte d'Ivoire (the Ivory Coast) and in the east by Togo.

Districts of Northern Ghana

[edit] Districts

The Northern Region of Ghana contains the following 18 districts:

Bole District
Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo District
Central Gonja District
East Gonja District
East Mamprusi District
Gushiegu District
Karaga District
Nanumba North District
Nanumba South District
Saboba/Chereponi District
Savelugu/Nanton District
Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District
Tamale Municipal District
Tolon/Kumbungu District
West Gonja District
West Mamprusi District
Yendi District
Zabzugu/Tatale District

[edit] Climate and Vegetation

The Northern Region is much drier than southern areas of Ghana, due to its proximity to the Sahel, and the Sahara. The vegetation consists predominantly of grassland, especially savanna with clusters of drought-resistant trees such as baobabs or acacias. Between May and October is the wet season, with an average annual rainfall of 750 to 1050 mm (30 to 40 inches). The dry season is between about November and April. The highest temperatures are reached at the end of the dry season, the lowest in December and January. However, the hot Harmattan wind from the Sahara blows frequently between December and the beginning of February. The temperatures can vary between 14°C (59°F) at night and 40°C (104°F) during the day.

[edit] People

The Northern Region is the least densely populated area of Ghana. Most inhabitants (52%) speak a language of the Mole-Dagbane subfamily in the Niger-Congo language family. The largest ethnicities within this group are the Dagomba and the Mamprussi. The Gurma along with the Komkomba place as the largest sub-group, comprising 21% of the population. The largest individual ethnic group is the Dagomba, which constitute about a third of the population. The previously mentioned languages belong - in contrast to the groups in the South - to the Gur language family.

[edit] Religion

Over 56% of the population are followers of Islam, 21% belong to traditional religions, and 19% are Christian. About 3% belong other religions.

[edit] Ethnic conflicts in the Northern Region

The relationship between the various ethnic groups in the Northern Region has not been continuously stable. In particular, conflicts have been smoldering for a long time between the Dagomba and the nomadic Kokomba. In the eyes of the dominating Dagomba, the Kokomba are landless intruders and bandits, who penetrated into the areas of the Dagomba only in the colonial ages. 1994 experienced the worst ethnic conflicts ever in Ghana. The conflict spread to other groups, and ended up with several thousand dead.

[edit] Economy

The region is one of the least developed areas of Ghana. More than 70% of the economically active population are agricultural. The small population density is partly caused by emigration due to extreme poverty in the region.