Obuasi is a

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

mining town A mining community, also known as a mining town or a mining camp, is a community that houses miners. Mining communities are usually created around a mine or a quarry. Historical mining communities Australia * Ballarat, Victoria * Bendig ...

and is the capital of the

Obuasi Municipal District Obuasi Municipal Assembly is one of the forty-three districts in Ashanti Region, Ghana. Originally it was formerly part of the then-larger Adansi West District in 1988, until part of the district was split off to create Obuasi Municipal District ...

in the

Ashanti Region The Ashanti Region is located in the southern part of Ghana and is the third largest of Regions of Ghana, 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of and making up 10.2 percent of the total land area of Ghana. It is the List of ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

. It lies in the southern part of the Obuasi Municipal and is located about from

Kumasi Kumasi is a city and the capital of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is the second largest city in the country, with a population of 443,981 as of the 2021 census. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region ...

. As of 2012, the town has a population of 175,043 people. The current mayor (executive chief) of the town is Hon. Elijah Adansi-Bonah. Obuasi is home to the

Obuasi Gold Mine The Obuasi Gold Mine is an underground gold mine situated near Obuasi, in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It was at one time one of the world's ten largest gold mines. The mine is in Obuasi Municipal District, southwest of the regional capital Ku ...

, one of the largest known gold deposits on Earth. The Gold Coast region was named after the large amount of gold mined, historically at Obuasi and the bordering Ashanti Region.

History

The area which makes up Obuasi have historically been mined for multiple centuries. The town became an important economic center after the discovery of a large gold deposit in 1897 and the building of a railway from

Sekondi Sekondi-Takoradi ( ) is a city in Ghana comprising the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi. It is the capital of Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan District and the Western Region of Ghana. Sekondi-Takoradi is the region's largest city as well as ...

in 1902.

Administration

Obuasi has a mayor–council form of government. The mayor, or executive chief, is appointed/approved by the town council, the

Obuasi Municipal Assembly Obuasi Municipal Assembly is one of the forty-three districts in Ashanti Region, Ghana. Originally it was formerly part of the then-larger Adansi West District in 1988, until part of the district was split off to create Obuasi Municipal District ...

and the

president of Ghana The president of the Republic of Ghana is the elected head of state and head of government of Ghana, as well as commander-in-chief of the Ghana Armed Forces. The current president of Ghana is John Mahama, who won the 2024 presidential elect ...

. The current mayor of the town is Hon. Elijah Adansi-Bonah.

Demographics

About 81.7% of the population is Christian, of which 33.2% are Pentecostal/Charismatic, 19.7% are Protestant, 14% is Catholic while 14.8% are other Christians. This is followed by Islam (13.3%), traditional religions (0.2%), other religions (0.7%), and people who don't reside with any religion (4.1%).

Economy

Obuasi is known for the

, one of the largest underground gold mines in the world. It is operated by

AngloGold Ashanti AngloGold Ashanti Limited is a South African gold mining company, with global operations. With a diverse portfolio of cooperation, projects, and exploration activities, AngloGold Ashanti was formed in 2004 by the merger of AngloGold and the ...

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

has been mined on the site since the late 19th century. Most of the production at the mine stopped in 2014 after being placed under care and maintenance. In 2018, a redevelopment project began to help increase production at the site. It is currently in its 3rd phase and is expected to be completed by late-2024. Other major economic sectors in the town include

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

, blacksmithing, and

small-scale agriculture A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technolo ...

Transportation

Obuasi train station is on the Ashanti

railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

to and from

( or 1 hour 2 minutes south-west of Kumasi). The only airport in the town is the

Obuasi Airport Obuasi Airport is a private airport serving the town of Obuasi in Obuasi Municipal District of the Ashanti Region of Ghana. History Obuasi Airport is a private airfield developed by Anglo Gold Ashanti to service their operations at the Obua ...

. It has a runway length of and was developed from a former airstrip. It was inaugurated on 30 August 2012 and is operated by Gianair on behalf of the owners.

Geography

Location

Obuasi is located in the Obuasi Municipal which has a total land mass of . The municipal is bordered by Adansi South to the south, Amansie West to the west and northwest, and to the east and northeast, Adansi North.

Climate

Obuasi has a semi-equatorial

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry "winter") and ''As'' (for a dry "summer"). The driest month has less than ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Aw'') with two rainy seasons. The main rainy season is from March to July, with May and June being typically the year's wettest months, whilst a lighter rainy season occurs from September to November. The average annual rainfall in Obuasi is around and the average temperature with highs of and lows of . Relative

humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, dew, or fog t ...

is around 75% - 80% in the

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the rainy season or monsoon season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Generally, the season lasts at least one month. The term ''green season'' is also sometimes used a ...

Human resources

Education

Obuasi is the site of

Obuasi Senior High Technical School Obuasi Senior High Technical School is a co-educational second-cycle public high school institution in Obuasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The school is located in between the two towns, Gausu and Koffikrom. Established by Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkr ...

, a

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

second cycle

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

high school. Christ the King Catholic Senior High School, St. Margaret Senior High School, and the College of Integrated Health Care are other schools that can be found in the town.

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), commonly known as UST, Tech or Kwame Tech, is a public university located in Kumasi, Ashanti region, Ghana. The university focuses on science and technology. It is the second public uni ...

also has a campus in the town.

Health

The town is home to numerus healthcare facilities, such as the AGA Hospital, owned and operated by AngloGold Ashanti, and St. Jude Hospital, owned by Dr George Owusu-Asiedu.

Sports

Obuasi has a

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

, which hosts the annual Obuasi Captain's Golf Tournament. The Ashanti Gold Sporting Club, a professional

football club In association football, a football club (or association football club, alternatively soccer club) is a sports club that acts as an entity through which association football teams organise their sporting activities. The club can exist either as ...

, is located in the town and is based at

Len Clay Stadium Len Clay Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Obuasi, Ghana. It was opened on 10 May 1990 and renovated on 17 April 2005 and is home to Ashanti Gold Sporting Club. It has capacity for 20,000 people. History Len Clay Stadium was opened on 10 May 1 ...

Notable people

* Sam E. Jonah (

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

) (born 1949), the former CEO of Ashanti Goldfields Company *

Jonathan Mensah Jonathan Mensah (born 13 July 1990), commonly known simply as Jonathan, is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a defender. He previously played for Ashanti Gold, Free State Stars, Granada, Evian, Anzhi Makhachkala, Columbus Cre ...

(born 1982), Ghanaian footballer *

John Mensah John Mensah (born November 29, 1982) is a former Ghanaian professional footballer who last played as a defender for AFC United in the Swedish second-tier . Born in Obuasi, Ashanti, Mensah is a product of the scouting system in Ghana, which ...

(born 1990), Ghanaian footballer.

Sister cities

Obuasi

sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is International relations, a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there ar ...

is of the following: * Riverside,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Populated places in the Ashanti Region