is a city and the capital of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and the Ashanti Region of Ghana. with a population of 443,981 as of the 2021 census. and is located about from Accra. The city experiences a tropical savanna climate, with two rainy seasons which range from minor to major. Major ethnic groups who live in Kumasi are the Asante, Dagombas, Mole-Dagbon and Ewe.
The city was the capital of the Asante Empire, which at its peak covered large parts of present-day Ghana and the Ivory Coast. Additionally, it is also due to the abundance of gardens and forestry in the city.
Kumasi is a commercial, economic, and trading hub in Ghana, home to the biggest market in West Africa: the Kejetia Market. The city is the centre of Asante culture, hence also being nicknamed "Osei-Krom" or simply "Oseikrom", along with attracting many visitors. Various accounts exist on the formation of the city. One states that Osei Tutu negotiated for the land under a Kum Tree, providing the origin of the name Kumasi. Other traditions indicate that Oti built Kwaman and it was his son Nana Obiri Yeboa who created Kumasi instead. The majority of oral sources attribute the choice of site to Okomfo Anokye who was said to have planted two Kum seeds; one in Kwaman and another in Kumawu as he decreed that the one which grew would be designated as the capital of Osei Tutu's empire. Kumasi was built over the eastern slopes of a ridge, rising from the marshes of the Nsuben rivers.
Ashanti Empire
thumb|230px|left|[[Thomas Edward Bowdich|Bowdich's sketch of Kumasi ]]
The city rose to prominence in 1695, when it became the capital of the Ashanti Empire due to the activities of its ruler, Osei Tutu. The ruler of Kumasi, known as the Asantehene, also served as the ruler of the empire. With their 1701 victory over Denkyira, the Ashanti empire became the primary state among the Ashantis. In 1718–19, Aowin King Ebirimoro invaded Kumasi and sacked the capital. Asantehene Opoku Ware I was able to "beat back" this invasion.
European sources in the late 19th century mentioned the city's neatness such as the account of F. Boyle in 1874 who stated that Kumasi's smells "are never those of sewage", as well as Brackenbury, who wrote around 1873 that "the streets are generally very broad and clean, and ornamented with many beautiful banyan-trees affording grateful shade from the powerful rays of the sun." In contrast, William Butler described the city as "a filthier and far more blood-stained collection of mud and wattle hovels than any other village in the forest." Parts of the city, including the then royal residence, were burnt by the British in the Third Anglo-Ashanti War of 1874.
thumb|230px|Burning of Kumasi in 1874 depicted by [[Henry Morton Stanley]]
In 1888, R. Austin Freeman was disappointed with the ruins of Kumasi following the British destruction in 1874 and the Ashanti civil war before 1888.
Kumasi's population during the time of the Ashanti Empire varied. In the early 19th century, Ashanti sources estimated a populace of 100,000, while European sources gave a figure around 12–15,000.
Lady Mary Alice Hodgson, the first English lady to visit Ashanti, wrote "The Siege of Kumasi", an account of the siege of the fort by the nationals of Ashanti and of the subsequent march to the coast.)
Colonial era
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In 1926, following the return of the Ashanti King Prempeh I after 30-year in exile in the Seychelles Island, Kumasi was vested with ceremonial control over the Ashanti sub-states. The full role of king was restored by the colonial administration in 1935. The city holds an important place in the history of the Ashanti people, as legend claims that it was here Okomfo Anokye received the golden stool, an embodiment of the soul of Athe Ahanti nation.
Present era
Geography
Metropolitan area
thumb|right|230px|Satellite view of [[Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly|Kumasi Metropolitan taken during ISS Expedition 16]]
Kumasi is located in the Kumasi Metropolitan, one of more than thirty districts in the Ashanti Region. It covers a land area of and is elevated above sea level. The metropolitan borders the Kwabre East Municipal District and Afigya Kwabre North District to the north, the Atwima Kwanwoma District and Atwima Nwabiagya Municipal District to the west, the Ejisu Municipal District and Asokore Mampong Municipal District towards the east and the Bosomtwe District to the south.
Climate
Kumasi has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classification Aw), with two distinct rainy seasons, major and minor. The major season usually occurs from March to July whilst the minor season is from September to November. The annual rainfall clocks in at around while the relative humidity ranges around 53% to 93%. The average monthly mean temperatures are around while the monthly minimum temperatures are about .
Cityscape
Urban planning
thumb|right|220px|A [[detached house in Kumasi]]
Historically, the city was planned based on traditional land settlement patterns and land use systems of the Asante Empire. Although the city was not "formally" planned, it was considered to be well-organized with physical structures complying to the local culture and architecture. At the time of Bowdich's visit in 1817, Kumasi was documented to have contained 27 streets. Another source in the mid-1880s identified 50 streets.