6 Facts You Didn’t Know About Ghana’s Independence

The independence of a country is a very big deal, so it comes as no surprise that Ghana’s Independence anniversary on March 6th each year is such a patriotic and joyous occasion.

Here are 6 facts about the history of Ghana you may not know.

Ghana was colonised for over a century by The British Empire, who named the country The Gold Coast due to the abundance of Gold it had. The Gold Coast was also attractive to The British due to the wealth of natural and valuable resources to trade such as diamonds, timber and ivory. 

The Big Six

The transition from colonialism to Independence for the Gold Coast should be attributed to not only the leader, Dr Kwame Nkrumah but also the others that are referred to as the “Big Six” (Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey, Mr Ako Adjei, Mr Edward Akuffo-Addo, Dr J. B. Danquah, Mr William Ofori Atta) for their earlier brave and selfless actions for the cause.

Modern Ghana

Kwame Nkrumah led the Gold Coast into Independence and re-named the nation Ghana. Ghana was named after The Empire of Ancient Ghana which was located 500 miles north of modern Ghana and occupied the area between Rivers Senegal and Niger existing around 830-1235. The kingdom was known for its political power and extreme wealth gained from the gold trade. Dr Nkrumah and J.B Danquah have documented research that reports modern Ghana descended from Ancient Ghana.

Republic status

Ghana became an independent state on March 6, 1957, but July 1st 1960 is the date Ghana achieved full Republic status.

First to be independent

Ghana was the first Sub-Saharan African country to gain its Independence.

Flag Inspiration

Kwame Nkrumah got inspiration for the colours of the Ghana flag from Ethiopia as he believed that Ethiopia was never colonised and the only African country not to be, showing true strength.