Northern Region (Ghana)
| Northern region | |
|---|---|
  |
|
| country |
 Ghana
|
| Capital | Tamale |
| District number | 16 |
| surface | 25,448 km² |
| population | 1,905,600 (2019) |
| Population density | 75 Ew. / km² |
| ISO 3166-2 | GH-NP |
The Northern Region (dt. "Northern Region") is a region of Ghana with the capital Tamale . Climatically, religiously, linguistically and culturally, the region differs significantly from the politically and economically dominant regions of central and southern Ghana. When the Savannah Region and the North East Region split off on February 12, 2019, it lost 63.84% of its area and 37.78% of its population.
geography
The region is located in the north of the country and borders the North East Region in the north, Togo in the east, the Oti Region in the southeast and the Savannah Region in the southwest . It is traversed by the White Volta and its tributaries Nasia and Daka as well as the Oti .
Climate and vegetation
The northern region is much drier than the south adjoining parts of Ghana. The vegetation consists mainly of grassland, which is occasionally interrupted by savannah with a loose population of drought-resistant trees such as the baobab or acacia . There is a rainy season between May and October (average annual rainfall between 750 and 1,050 mm). A dry season follows from November to March / April . The highest temperatures are reached at the end of the dry season, the lowest in December and January. Between December and the beginning of February, however, the hot Harmattan often blows from the Sahara. Temperatures can vary between 14 ° C at night and 40 ° C during the day.
history
Until the founding of Ghana
In the 15th century, most of the Northern Region was ruled by the Kingdom of Dagomba . In the 16th century, the Dagomba empire in the western part of the region became a competitor through the empire of the Gonja . It was not until 1900 that most of the region became a British protectorate as the so-called Northern Territories . The easternmost part of the region, on the other hand, became part of the German colony Togoland at the end of the 19th century , part of British Togoland in 1919 and finally part of independent Ghana in 1957. This history also clearly distinguishes the region from the center and especially the south of Ghana, which was exposed to British influence for centuries.
The Northern Region by 2019
Until the separation of the Savannah Region and the North East Region, the Northern Region was the largest region in Ghana with 70,383 km², but was only in the middle of the range in terms of population.
The spin-off was the result of an election promise by the New Patriotic Party in the 2016 election to create new regions. In a referendum on December 27, 2018, 99.52% of the voters in the Savannah region and 99.67% in the North East region were in favor of the formation of the new regions, so that they were established on February 12, 2019.
Population development
| Census year | population |
|---|---|
| 1960 | 531.573 |
| 1970 | 727.618 |
| 1984 | 1,164,583 |
| 2000 | 1,820,806 |
| 2010 | 2,479,461 |
Culture and ethnic conflicts
The region is much more traditional than the south. Four of the nine so-called Paramount Chiefs , i.e. traditional heads with special rights parallel to the institutions of the modern state of Ghana, have their sphere of influence in the Northern Region. The most powerful of them is the king of the Dagomba, the Yaa Na , who has his seat in the old royal city of Yendi . In 2002, the importance of the old Dagomba kingdom became evident in the form of severe riots and the murder of the Dagomba king and at least 17 other people as a result of a succession dispute in the city of Yendi.
The relationship between the ethnic groups in the Northern Region is not always unaffected. In particular between the Dagomba and Nanumba on the one hand and the acephalic (“non-hierarchically organized”), supposedly nomadic Konkomba on the other hand, there have been simmering conflicts for a long time. In the eyes of many of the dominant Dagomba, the Konkomba are landless invaders and bandits who only invaded the land of the Dagomba during colonial times. However, they themselves do not share this view of the origins and history of the Konkomba in this area of Ghana and are also not supported by scientific research on this subject, in particular by none of the scientific works that were carried out before the armed conflict of 1994 about the Konkomba or Dagomba were published. Rather, there is agreement among these works that the Konkomba are among the oldest settlement groups living in the area of today's northern Ghana. In the present day the Konkomba in the official Ghanaian system of traditionally legitimized political leadership and representation are subordinate to the above mentioned Dagomba king. In February 1994 this conflict erupted in the worst armed conflict the state of Ghana has ever experienced. The conflict spread to other ethnic groups and killed several thousand.
Tourist sights
Culturally, some very old mosques, e.g. For example, the Larabanga mosque in the Sudanese style from the 13th century, some remains of German colonial architecture in Yendi and several sacred groves that have arisen around traditional shrines are worth seeing .
Administrative structure
The region is divided into 16 districts :
Web links
- Northern Region on ghanadistricts.gov.gh
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kweku Zurek: Confirmed: Results of the 2018 referendum on now regions , www.graphic.com.gh of December 28, 2018, accessed on December 18, 2019
- ↑ Savannah Region on ghanadistricts.gov.gh, accessed December 18, 2019
- ↑ Northeast Region on ghanadistricts.gov.gh, accessed on 18 December 2019
- ↑ 2010 Population & Housing Census. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on July 12, 2018 ; accessed on September 4, 2018 .
- ↑ District list on ghanadistricts.gov.gh, accessed December 18, 2019
