Axim

This article discusses Ghana geography. For the Dell handheld device, see Dell Axim.
Axim
Town

Nzema East Municipal District logo
Axim

Location of Axim in Western Region, South Ghana

Coordinates: 4°52′N 2°14′W / 4.867°N 2.233°W / 4.867; -2.233
Country  Ghana
Region Western Region
District Nzema East Municipal
Population (2013)
 • Total 27,719[1]
Time zone GMT
 • Summer (DST) GMT (UTC)

Axim is a coastal town and the capital of Nzema East Municipal district, a district in Western Region of South Ghana.[2] Axim lies 64 kilometers west of the port city of Sekondi-Takoradi in Western Region to the west of Cape Three Points.[2] Axim has a 2013 settlement population of 27,719 people.[1]

History

Fort St. Anthony at Axim, 1709. Lithograph.

This area was occupied by the Nzema people.

The Portuguese arrived by the early 16th century as traders. They built a prominent seaside fort, Fort Santo Antonio, in 1515. They exported some Africans as slaves to Europe and the Americas. Between 1642 and 1872, the fort was expanded and altered by the Dutch, who "ruled" during that period. The fort, now property of Ghana, is open to the public. Off-shore are some picturesque islands, including one with a lighthouse.[2]

Axim structure

The town of Axim is divided into two parts: Upper Axim and Lower Axim. Fort Santo Antonio lies roughly on the division between the two parts, but closest to the centre of Upper Axim, the original European settlement.[2] Here, several large mansions of lumber-trading magnates and other businessmen remain from the late 19th century and period of the British empire.[2] Axim is governed by a political District Executive of the Nzema East Municipality.[2]

Economy

Fort Santo Antonio in Axim

The economy is based mainly on Axim's fishing fleet, but the area also has two tourist beach resorts as well as coconut and rubber plantations.[2] The scenic and fertile terrain features many palm trees. Local artisanal miners pan for gold in streams inland from Axim.[2]

Axim has a transport station, two major bank branches, and some rural banks.[2]

Culture

Every August, the major festivals of Kundum takes place, coinciding with the best fishing-catch of the year; people come to Axim for the festivities and to fish and trade.[2]

Miscellany

A native of Axim, Anton Wilhelm Amo (1703–1756), qualifies as the first Western black philosopher, that is, specifically, the first black African to receive a philosophical education in Europe and to publish philosophical works there and in Germany, he published "The Rights of Moors" (among other works) and taught philosophy at the University of Jena.[3]

Kwame Nkrumah, first President of Ghana and a prominent intellectual of his era, was born in the small village of Nkroful, located just west of Axim and in the 1930s, Nkrumah worked as headmaster of a Catholic school in Axim and led an intellectual circle there.[4][5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "World Gazetteer online". World-gazetteer.com.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Nzema East Municipal District
  3. ↑ Hochkeppel, Willy (2012). "Der schwarze Philosoph" [The black Philosopher]. Damals (in German). No. 12. pp. 66–69.
  4. ↑ "Kwame Nkrumah Biography". Ghana to Ghana The Place for Ghana News and Entertainment. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  5. ↑ Yaw Owusu, Robert (2005). Kwame Nkrumah's Liberation Thought: A Paradigm for Religious Advocacy in Contemporary Ghana. p. 97.

External links

Media related to Axim at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 4°52′N 2°14′W / 4.867°N 2.233°W / 4.867; -2.233

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, February 09, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.