The Savannah Region is one of the newest

regions of Ghana The regions of Ghana are the first level of subnational government administration within the Republic of Ghana. As of 2020, there are 16 regions, which are further divided for administrative purposes into 260 local Districts of Ghana, metropo ...

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 signed and presented the Constitutional Instrument (CI) 115 to the Yagbonwura in the Jubilee House,

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

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 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, Damongo, 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 generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

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 (Ghana), Northern Region to the south, and Burkina Faso to the west and north. The Upper West regional ...

, on the west by the Ghana-Côte d'Ivoire international border, on the south by the

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by the nickname Bono ( ), is an Irish singer-songwriter and activist. He is a founding member, the lead vocalist, and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Bono is known for his impassioned voca ...

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

Health facilities

* West Gonja Hospital * St. Anne’s Catholic Hospital * Salaga District Hospital * Bole District Hospital * Sawla-Tuna Kalbe District Hospital * Central Gonja District Hospital

Climate and vegetation

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

Sahel The Sahel region (; ), or Sahelian acacia savanna, is a Biogeography, biogeographical region in Africa. It is the Ecotone, transition zone between the more humid Sudanian savannas to its south and the drier Sahara to the north. The Sahel has a ...

, and the

Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

. The vegetation consists predominantly of grassland, especially

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

with clusters of drought-resistant trees such as baobabs or

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

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 t ...

. 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 ...

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 * Salaga slave market and wells * Bui National Park ''(now defunct due to Bui National Dam)'' * Larabanga Historic Mosque *Wechiau Hippo Sanctuary

Business and Investment

It is one of the main grain and tuber producing areas in Ghana. Harnessing these particularly will help to create employment and reduce poverty. The Region has about 2.69 million hectares of land under cropping and livestock rearing. It has unique climatic and soil characteristic making the area ideal for growing of pineapples (number one non- traditional export crop in Ghana), yams (second most important non-traditional export crop) cassava and maize.

Demographics

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

official language An official language is defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary as, "the language or one of the languages that is accepted by a country's government, is taught in schools, used in the courts of law, etc." Depending on the decree, establishmen ...

of English, 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 or Dagbanle, is a Gur language spoken in Ghana and Northern Togo. Its native speakers are estimated around 1,170,000. Dagbani is the most widely spoken language in northern Ghana, specifically among ...

, Mamprusi and Tampulma.

Economy

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 * Salaga T.I Ahmediyya senior high school * Sawla Senior High School * Daboya Community Day Senior High School * Kpembe Nurses and midwifery college *Damongo Health Assistant college

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:

Famous citizens

References

External links

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