Overview

The traditional name of Cape Coast ‘Oguaa’ originates from the Fante word ‘gua’ meaning market. It was named Cabo Corso by the Portuguese meaning Short Cape and later on changed to Cape Coast by the British. The Cape Coast Metropolitan Area is one of the oldest districts in Ghana. It was raised to the status of municipality in 1987 by LI 1373 and upgraded to metropolitan status in 2007 by LI 1927.

Location

The Metropolis is bounded to the South by the Gulf of Guinea, to the West by the Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem Municipality (at Iture bridge), to the East by the Abura Asebu Kwamankese District, and to the North by the Hemang Lower Denkyira District. It is located on longitude 1° 15ˈW and latitude 5°06ˈN. It occupies an Area of approximately 122 square kilometers, with the farthest point at Brabedze located about 17 kilometers from Cape Coast,

Climate

The soils are primarily from the Biri formation, supporting both industrial and food crops like cocoa, coffee, oil palm, and maize. The geology is significant for Ghana’s mineral exports, including gold, diamonds, bauxite, and manganese.

Relief and Drainage

The landscape of the Cape Coast Metropolis is generally undulating with batholiths as a dominant feature. The rock type of the Metropolis is of the Birimian formation and consists of schist and introduced granites and pegmatite. The hills are generally overlain by sandy and clayey silts while the valleys are overlain by clayey gravel with lateritic soils exposed in a number of areas. In between the batholiths and the few hills are valleys of various shapes, some occupied by rivers and streams including the Kakum – the major steam in the Metropolis.

It is the main source of water for domestic and industrial purposes. Many of the minor streams end up in wetlands, with the largest draining into the Fosu Lagoon at Bakaano. The landscape in the northern parts of the Metropolis is however, generally low-lying and is suitable for crop cultivation. Relief and Drainage

Climate

The Cape Coast Metropolis experiences high temperatures throughout the year. The hottest months are February and March, just before the main rainy season, while the coolest months are June, July and August. The variability in climate in the Metropolis is influenced more by rainfall that temperature. The Metropolis has a double maximal rainfall, with annual rainfall total between 750 and 1,000mm.

Vegetation

The present vegetation of the Metropolis consists of shrubs of about 1.5 meters high, grasses and a few scattered trees. The original vegetation of dense scrub, which the rainfall supported, has been replaced by secondary vegetation as a result of clearing for farming, charcoal burning, bush fires and other human activities. Presently, trees are less dense in the area compared with the interior forest areas. The northern parts of the Metropolis are an exception to what has been described above. In these areas, secondary forest can be found, and has survived mainly due to lower population densities and relatively little disturbance of the ecosystem.

Political Administration

Cape Coast Metropolis is one of the six Metropolis in Ghana and the only among the 20 districts in the Central Region. It has 67 assembly members, comprising the Metropolitan Chief Executive, 45 elected members, two members of parliament and 19 members appointed by the President in consultation with traditional authorities and other interest groups in the Metropolis. The Assembly is divided into two Sub Metros: The Cape Coast South Sub Metro and the Cape Coast North Sub Metro. It has two constituencies which are coterminous with the Sub Metros.

Historical Perspective

A major social consequence of its long and intensive interaction with the European traders was that Cape Coast became a center for the spread of elements of European culture and civilization to the rest of the country. It was the center of secondary education, and hence the training ground of catechists and teachers for most of the country before the Catholic and the Basel/Presbyterian missions established themselves in the present Eastern, Volta, Ashanti, Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions. It was the breeding-ground of the Ghanaian intelligentsia, the birth-place of the earliest newspapers in the country and of the first nationalist associations and societies. It was in the vanguard of nationalist agitation in the Gold Coast and its dependencies: The Fanta Confederation of 1870-72 and the Aborigines’ Rights Protection Society, founded in 1897, were the prototypes of the United Gold Coast Convention (U.G.C.C.), 1947, and its offshoot, the Convention Peoples’ Party. It was equally the home of the earliest experiments in Municipal government, which began in the 1850’s. Cape Coast was also one of the earliest centres of Ghanaian entrepreneurship. It is in this light that it is suggested that “anybody interested in a study of commercial ventures among the people of the Gold Coast, in the latter half of the nineteenth century, and why they failed to be

transformed into industrial concerns, will have to start with the papers of the merchant princes of Cape Coast”.

Ethnicity Religion And Culture

Education

Cape Coast is endowed with many schools across the length and breadth of the Metropolis, ranging from basic to tertiary institutions. These schools attract people from all over the country and the West Africa Sub-region, who pursue various levels of academic and professional education.

Health

The Metropolis is endowed with a number of health facilities. These include Teaching Hospital, a Quasi-Government Hospital, a Public Hospital and a Private Hospital. Also, there is a Polyclinic, 16 Clinics, 2 Health centre and 16 CHPs compounds. The Teaching hospital in the region, one of four such facilities in the country serves as a referral centre for the region.