The Savannah Region is one of the newest

regions of Ghana The Regions of Ghana constitute the first level of subnational government administration within the Republic of Ghana. As of 2020, there are currently sixteen regions, which are further divided for administrative purposes into 260 local metro ...

and yet the largest region in the country. The creation of the Region follows presentation of a petition by the Gonja Traditional Council, led by the Yagbonwura Tumtumba Boresa Jakpa I. Upon receiving favourable responses from all stakeholders in the Northern Region (the region it was broken off from), the Brobbey Commission (the Commission tasked with the creation of the new regions), a referendum was conducted on the 27th December 2018. The result was a resounding yes of 99.7%. The

President of the Republic 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 Nana Akufo-Addo, who won the 2020 presidential elec ...

signed and presented the Constitutional Instrument (CI) 115 to the Yagbonwura in the Jubilee House, Accra on 12 February 2019. The launch was well attended by sons and daughters of Gonjaland including all current and past Mps, MDCEs and all appointees with Gonjaland descent.

Damongo Damongo is a town and the capital of West Gonja Municipal, a municipal in the Savannah Region of northern Ghana. On 12 February 2019, Damongo was declared the capital of the newly created Savannah Region; With the coming into force of the Cons ...

was declared the capital of the new Savannah Region. It is located in the north of the country. The Savannah Region is divided into 7 districts; Bole, Central Gonja, North Gonja, East Gonja, Sawla/Tuna/Kalba, West Gonja, North East Gonja and 7 Constituencies; Bole/Bamboi,

, Daboya/Mankarigu, Salaga North, Salaga South, Sawla/Tuna/Kalba and Yapei/Kusawgu. The capital of Bole district is Bole; East Gonja municipal is Salaga; West Gonja district is Damango; Sawla Tuna Kalba district is Salwa; Central Gonja is Buipe; North Gonja is Daboya; and North East Gonja is Kpalbe

History

A referendum on 27 December 2018 approved the creation of Savannah Region, with 206,350 (99.52%) votes in favour on a turnout of 81.77%. CI 115 establishing the Region signed and presented on 12 February 2019.

Geography and climate

Location and size.

The Savannah Region is

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political bo ...

ed on the north by the

Upper West region The Upper West Region of Ghana is located in the north-western corner of Ghana and is bordered by Upper East region to the east, Northern region to the south, and Burkina Faso to the west and north. The Upper West regional capital and largest se ...

, on the west by the Ghana-Côte d'Ivoire

international border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ...

, on the south by the

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Born and raised in Dublin, he attended ...

and Bono East regions, and on the west by the North East and Northern regions. Savannah region is made up of 7 districts.

Climate and vegetation

The Savannah Region is much drier than southern areas of Ghana, due to its proximity to the

Sahel The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid c ...

, and the

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

. The vegetation consists predominantly of grassland, especially

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

with clusters of drought-resistant trees such as

baobab ''Adansonia'' is a genus made up of eight species of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs ( or ). They are placed in the Malvaceae family, subfamily Bombacoideae. They are native to Madagascar, mainland Africa, and Australia.Trop ...

s or

acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus n ...

s. Between December and April is the

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The ...

. The

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the se ...

is between about July and November with an average annual rainfall of 750 to 1050 mm (30 to 40 inches). The highest temperatures are reached at the end of the dry season, the lowest in December and January. However, the hot

Harmattan The Harmattan is a season in West Africa that occurs between the end of November and the middle of March. It is characterized by the dry and dusty northeasterly trade wind, of the same name, which blows from the Sahara over West Africa into th ...

wind from the Sahara blows frequently between December and the beginning of February. The temperatures can vary between 14 °C (59 °F) at night and 40 °C (104 °F) during the day.

Tourism & Parks

Mole National Park Mole National Park is Ghana's largest wildlife refuge. The park is located in the Savannah region of Ghana on savanna and riparian ecosystems at an elevation of 50 m, with a sharp escarpment forming the southern boundary of the park. The par ...

Bui National Park The Bui National Park is found in Ghana. It was established in 1971. This site is 1821km². It is located in a typical woodland savanna zone. The reserve is notable for its large Hippopotamus population in the Black Volta. The endangered black ...

''(now defunct due to Bui National Dam)'' * Larabanga Historic Mosque *Wechiau Hippo Sanctuary

Demographics

The Savannah Region has a low population density, and along with the

official language An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

, most inhabitants speak a language of the Oti–Volta subfamily in the Niger–Congo language family, such as Gonja, Vagla,

Dagbani Dagbani (or Dagbane), also known as Dagbanli and Dagbanle, is a Gur language spoken in Ghana and Northern Togo. Its native speakers are estimated around 3,160,000. It is a compulsory subject in primary and junior high school in the Dagbon Kingdo ...

, Mamprusi, or Tamprusi.

Religion

A majority of residents in the Savanna Region identify as Muslim.

Educational institutions

* Bole Senior High School * Buipe Senior High School * Damongo Senior High School * Salaga Senior High School * Sawla Senior High School * Daboya Community Day Senior High School

Administrative divisions

The political administration of the region is through the local government system. Under this administration system, the region is divided into seven MMDA's (made up of 0 Metropolitan, 2 Municipal and 5 Ordinary Assemblies). Each District, Municipal or Metropolitan Assembly, is administered by a Chief Executive, representing the central government but deriving authority from an Assembly headed by a presiding member elected from among the members themselves. The current list is as follows: Districts of the Savannah Region (2018)

Famous citizens

References

External links

GhanaDistricts.com – Northern Region
*
GhanaDistricts.com
{{Authority control Savannah Region (Ghana) Regions of Ghana