Regions of Ghana

The regions of Ghana are the first level of subnational government administration within the Republic of Ghana. As of 2020, there are 16 regions, which are further divided for administrative purposes into 260 local metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (or MMDA's).

Current regions

{| class="wikitable sortable"

!Region

!Capital

!Population

(2021) [https://www.citypopulation.de/en/ghana/admin/]

!Area (km²)

|Ahafo

|Goaso

|564,668

|5,196

|Ashanti

|Kumasi

|5,440,463

|24,389

|Bono

|Sunyani

|1,208,649

|11,113

|Bono East

|Techiman

|1,203,400

|23,248

|Central

|Cape Coast

|2,859,821

|9,826

|Eastern

|Koforidua

|2,925,653

|19,323

|Greater Accra

|Accra

|5,445,692

|3,245

|North East Region

|Nalerigu

|658,946

|9,070

|Northern

|Tamale

|2,310,939

|26,534

|Oti

|Dambai

|747,248

|11,066

|Savannah

|Damongo

|653,266

|34,790

|Upper East

|Bolgatanga

|1,301,226

|8,842

|Upper West

|Wa

|901,502

|18,476

|Volta

|Ho

|1,659,040

|9,504

|Western

|Takoradi

|2,060,585

|13,842

|Western North

|Sefwi Wiawso

|880,921

|10,079

The ten former regions were officially established in 1987, when the Upper West Region was inaugurated as the state's newest administrative region, although it had already functioned as an administrative unit since the break-up of the Upper Region in December 1982, prior to the 1984 national census. A referendum on the creation of six new regions was held on 27 December 2018, where all proposed new regions were approved.

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Former region !! Capital !! New region !! Capital

| Ashanti || Kumasi || Ashanti || Kumasi

| rowspan="3" | Brong-Ahafo

| rowspan="3" | Sunyani

| Bono || Sunyani

| Bono East

| Techiman

| Ahafo ||Goaso

| Central || Cape Coast || Central || Cape Coast

| Eastern || Koforidua || Eastern || Koforidua

| Greater Accra || Accra || Greater Accra || Accra

| rowspan="3" | Northern

| rowspan="3" | Tamale

|Northern || Tamale

| Savannah || Damongo

| North East || Nalerigu

| Upper East || Bolgatanga || Upper East || Bolgatanga

| Upper West || Wa || Upper West || Wa

| rowspan="2" | Volta

| rowspan="2" | Ho

| Volta || Ho

| Oti || Dambai

| rowspan="2" | Western

| rowspan="2" |Sekondi-Takoradi

| Western || Takoradi

| Western North || Wiawso

300px|right|thumb|Map of ten former regions

Previous regional configurations

Independence - 6 March 1957

At independence in March 1957, the Northern Territories, Ashanti, Trans-Volta Togoland and the Gold Coast came together to form Ghana. There were initially five regions. The Trans-Volta Togoland was combined with part of the Eastern Region and Northern Territories to form the Volta Region.

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"

! width=150 | Former region

! width=100 | Capital

! width=100 | New region

! width=100 | Capital

| Ashanti || Kumasi ||Ashanti Region ||Kumasi

| rowspan=2|Eastern Province || Koforidua || Eastern Region || Koforidua

| (Keta) ||rowspan=3|Volta Region || rowspan=3|Ho

|Trans-Volta Togoland || Ho

| rowspan=2|Northern Territories || (Saboba)

| Tamale || Northern Region || Tamale

|Western Province || Sekondi || Western Region || Sekondi

Post-independence and First Republic

On 4 April 1959, the Ashanti Region was split into the Ashanti and Brong-Ahafo regions as a result of the Brong Ahafo Region Act No. 18 of 1959. This was in line with what the Brong Kyempem movement had been campaigning for, which was the recognition of the Bono people as a separate ethnic group from the Ashantis with their own region.