Ghana

Formerly the Gold Coast, British west African colony and protectorate. British traders became interested in the Gold Coast in the second half of the 17th cent., attracted by the trade in gold and, increasingly, in slaves for the Americas. It was decided to establish a crown colony in 1874. The development of cocoa as an export crop brought prosperity to the country and made possible the expansion of European education there. The Gold Coast then became the leader in the nationalist movement in British African dependencies and gained its independence, as Ghana, in 1957.