GHANA INDEPENDENCE DAY MARCH 6

As history has it, before March 1957, Ghana was called the Gold Coast. During the 15th Century the Portuguese visited the coast of Ghana. They discovered that the land between the rivers Ankobra and the Volta was full of gold that they named the land Mina- meaning Mine. The Portuguese built a castle at Elmina in 1482 to trade in gold, ivory and slaves. The Dutch also joined them in 1598 and built forts at Komenda and Kromantsil. Other European traders from Britain, Denmark and Sweden also joined in by mid-18th Century. However, many of them withdrew later and Britain colonized the Gold Coast by 1874. The British made the North and the Ashanti a protectorate by 1901. Independence 59 years ago