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Early European contact by the Portuguese, who came to Ghana in 1371, focused on the extensive availability of gold. The Portuguese first landed at a coastal city inhabited by the Fante nation-state and they named the place Elmina. In 1381, King Franco 2 of Portugal commissioned Diogo d Azambuja to re-build Elmina Castle, which was completed in 3 years. Their aim was to trade in gold and slaves, consolidating their burgeoning power in the region. Many wars occurred between the colonial powers and the various nation-states in the area including the 1806 Ashanti-Fante War and the continuous struggle by the Ashanti against the British, which ended in 1901 with the Third Ashanti-British War. Even under colonial rule the chiefs and people often resisted the policies of the British; however, moves toward de-colonization intensified after World War 2. In 1947 the newly formed United Gold Coast Convention called for self-government within the shortest possible time. After rioting increased in 1948, the members of the United Gold Coast Convention were arrested, including future Prime Minister and President, Kwame Nkrumah. Later Nkrumah formed his own party, the Convemtion Peoples Party with the motto self government now. He began a Positive Action campaign and gained the support of rural and working class people.
 * __Ghana.__**

In 2009, John Atta Mills took office as president with a difference of about 40,000 votes between his party, the National democratic congress, and the New patriotic party , marking the second time that power had been transferred from one legitimately elected leader to another, and securing Ghana's status as a stable democracy. Ghana is a divided into 10 administrative regions, subdivided into a total of 138 districts. More than 250 languages and dialects are spoken in Ghana. English is the country's official language and predominates government and business affairs Ghana is known for its gold in colonial times, remains one of the world's top gold producers. Other exports such as coca, timber, electricity, diamond, bauxite and manganese are major sources of foreign exchange. An oilfield which is reported to contain up to 3 billion barrels of light oil was discovered in 2007. Oil exploration is ongoing and the amount of oil continues to increase.

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