Tema is a city on the

Bight of Benin The Bight of Benin, or Bay of Benin, is a bight in the Gulf of Guinea area on the western African coast that derives its name from the historical Kingdom of Benin. Geography The Bight of Benin was named after the Kingdom of Benin. It extends ea ...

and

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

coast 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 is located east of the capital city;

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 ...

, in the region of

Greater Accra The Greater Accra Region has the smallest area of Ghana's 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of 3,245 square kilometres. This is 1.4 per cent of the total land area of Ghana. It is the most populated region, with a popul ...

, and is the capital of the

Tema Metropolitan District Tema Metropolitan Assembly is one of the twenty-nine districts in Greater Accra Region, Ghana. Originally created as a municipal district assembly in 1988 when it was known as Tema Municipal District, which was created from the former Tema Distric ...

. As of 2013, Tema is the eleventh most populous settlement in Ghana, with a population of approximately 161,612 people – a marked decrease from its 2005 figure of 209,000.Tema
. GhanaWeb.com. Retrieved 9 March 2013. The

Greenwich Meridian The Greenwich meridian is a prime meridian, a geographical reference line that passes through the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, in London, England. From 1884 to 1974, the Greenwich meridian was the international standard prime meridian, ...

(00

Longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east- west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lett ...

) passes directly through the city.Greater Accra » Tema Metropolitan
. GhanaDistricts.com. Retrieved 9 March 2013. Tema is locally nicknamed the "Harbour City" because of its status as Ghana's largest

seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manc ...

. It consists of 25 different communities which are numbered accordingly with each of them having easy access to the basic amenities. Tema is a city constructed on the site of a small fishing village. Tema was commissioned by Ghana's first president,

Kwame Nkrumah Francis Kwame Nkrumah (, 21 September 1909 – 27 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He served as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast from 1952 until 1957, when it gained ...

, and grew rapidly after the construction of a large harbor in 1961. The Tema

metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

was designed, planned and developed by the award-winning

urban planner An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, tow ...

and Ghana's first

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, Theodore S. Clerk. The design team included a number of architects trained in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

at the

Architectural Association The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest private school of architecture in the UK. The AA hosts exhibitions, lectures, symposia and publications. History The Architectura ...

. It is now a major trading center, home to an

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial processes, industrial process Factory, plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refining, refined into products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, Bitumen, asphalt base, ...

and numerous factories, and is linked to Accra by a highway and railway. Tema is one of Ghana's two deep seaports, the other being

Sekondi-Takoradi Sekondi-Takoradi ( ) is a city in Ghana comprising the Twin cities (geographical proximity), twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi. It is the capital of Sekondi Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly, Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan District and the Weste ...

. Tema became an Autonomous Council in 1974 and was elevated to the status of a Metropolitan Assembly in December 1990. Tema metropolitan forms part of the sixteen Metropolis, Municipalities and Districts in the

Greater Accra Region The Greater Accra Region has the smallest area of Ghana's Regions of Ghana, 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of 3,245 square kilometres. This is 1.4 per cent of the total land area of Ghana. It is the List of Ghanaian re ...

. The Metropolitan shares boundaries with

Ashaiman Municipal Ashaiman Municipal District is one of the twenty-nine districts in Greater Accra Region, Ghana. Originally it was formerly part of the then-larger Tema Municipal District, which was created from the former Tema District Council, until two parts ...

Adenta Municipal District Adenta Municipal Assembly is one of the twenty-nine districts in Greater Accra Region, Ghana. Originally it was formerly part of the then-larger Tema Municipal District, which was created from the former Tema District Council, until two parts o ...

, and

Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal District Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal Assembly is a former district that was located in Greater Accra Region, Ghana. Originally it was formerly part of Accra Metropolitan Assembly in 1988 (later as a sub-metropolitan district council on 2003), until the far ...

to the west respectively, to the east with

Kpone Katamanso District Kpone-Katamanso Municipal District is one of the twenty-nine districts in Greater Accra Region, Ghana. Originally it was part of the then-larger Tema Municipal District, which was created from the former Tema District Council, until the easter ...

, to the North with

Dangme West District Dangme West District is a former district that was located in Greater Accra Region, Ghana. Originally created as an ordinary district assembly in 1988, which was created from the former Dangme District Council. However on 28 June 2012, it was spl ...

and to the South with the Gulf of Guinea.

History

Tema was built on the site of a small fishing village called Torman, named for the local name of the

calabash Calabash (; ''Lagenaria siceraria''), also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, birdhouse gourd, New Guinea bean, New Guinea butter bean, Tasmania bean, and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvest ...

plant, Tor, which was cultivated there. "Tema" is derived from a corruption of "Torman". The government identified the site before

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

, and in 1952 acquired of land north of the harbor, which was entrusted to the Tema Development Corporation for the new industrial and residential development. The villagers of Torman migrated to a new fishing ground around away, which they called Newtown."Poverty In The Mist of Riches"
. GhanaWeb.com. Retrieved 9 March 2013. The main Tema Township was constructed, and the Tema Harbour officially opened, in 1962. Over the following decades, Tema grew into the industrial hub of Ghana, with a carefully constructed road layout featuring landscaping and street lights. It boasted modern recreational centres and other social amenities rare among African cities at the time. President Nkrumah appointed Theophilus Asiaw Mills as the first District Commissioner. The importance of Tema as a port and industrial hub is reflected by the fact that the

Ghana Police Service The Ghana Police Service (GPS) is the main law enforcement agency of Ghana. The service is under the control of the Ghanaian Ministry of the Interior, and employs over 30,000 officers across its 651 stations. Organisational structure The Ghana P ...

maintains a special policing region devoted entirely to the city. A large population influx began in the 1960s owing to the town's employment opportunities, but the Tema Development Corporation was unable to construct housing and provide other services to meet the needs of the migrants.Tema
. OT Africa Line. Retrieved 9 March 2013. The Tema Newtown district was overwhelmed by the sudden population growth, and became the poor cousin of Tema Township, receiving none of the latter's improved housing, geometrically laid roads, or social amenities. Moreover, royalties paid by Tema Newtown's companies to evicted villagers have not been used due to a chieftaincy dispute. The area's fishing potential was thus not fully exploited.

Climate

Tema is characterised by a

hot semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...

(''BSh'' under the

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 ...

). It lies in the driest part of southern Ghana, experiencing average annual rainfall of about . Average temperatures are very warm to hot year-round, typically exceeding every day of the year, whilst minima never typically fall under .

Economy

Industry

The town's chief industrial products include aluminium, steel, processed fish, refined petroleum, textile, chemicals, food products, and cement. Major companies operating in Tema include Volta Aluminium (VALCO), Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), Nestlé Ghana Ltd., Wahome Steel Ltd, Tema Shipyard. There is also a free zone enclave in Tema.

Seaport

Tema Port, which was opened in 1962, is the biggest of the two seaports in Ghana. In 2020 a $1.5 billion expansion project to increase container output to 3 million TEU was completed. The port is currently one of the largest container ports in Africa. It has a water-enclosed area of and a total land area of . Apart from handling Ghanaian imports and exports, it is also a traffic junction, dealing with transit cargo destined for the landlocked countries of

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

and

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

. The port of Tema handles 80% of Ghana's import and export cargo, including the country's chief export, cacao. The port has of

breakwaters A breakwater is a permanent structure constructed at a coastal area to protect against tides, currents, waves, and storm surges. Breakwaters have been built since antiquity to protect anchorages, helping isolate vessels from marine hazards ...

, 12 deepwater berths, an outsize

oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk cargo, bulk transport of petroleum, oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quant ...

berth, a dockyard, warehouses, and transit sheds. The port has open and covered areas for the storage of cargo, including a paved area for the storage of containers, steel products and other conventional cargo. The port's container yard is capable of holding over 8,000 TEUs at any given time. The closed storage area, which is about in area, consists of six sheds with a total storage capacity of 50,000 tonnes of cargo. The port also includes a 100,000 dwt dry dock and slipway facility.Tema
. Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority. Retrieved 9 March 2013. The harbour is operated by the

Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) is the national port authority of Ghana. Between the 16th and 18th centuries foreign trade in the then Gold Coast was undertaken from about 40 landing points scattered around the Gold Coast. By the 19 ...

Fishing harbor

Ghana has a long history of fishing. The Tema fishing harbour is at the eastern end of the town's commercial harbour. It comprises the Inner Fishing Harbour, the

Canoe A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using paddles. In British English, the term ' ...

Basin, the Outer Fishing Harbour, and a commercial area with marketing and cold storage facilities. The Inner Fishing Harbour was constructed along the Tema Main Port in 1962 to provide a handling facility for semi-industrial and industrial fishing vessels, and to encourage the development of the local

fishing industry The fishing industry includes any industry or activity that takes, cultures, processes, preserves, stores, transports, markets or sells fish or fish products. It is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization as including recreational, sub ...

. In 1965, the Outer Fishing Harbour was constructed for bigger industrial vessels such as

trawlers Trawler may refer to: Boats * Fishing trawler, used for commercial fishing * Naval trawler Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the World War I, Fir ...

tuna A tuna (: tunas or tuna) is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bul ...

vessels, and deep-sea carriers. The trawlers operating in the area are long and are able to land 55–65 tonnes of fish (usually

redfish Redfish is a common name for several species of fish. It is most commonly applied to certain deep-sea rockfish in the genus ''Sebastes'', red drum from the genus ''Sciaenops'' or the reef dwelling snappers in the genus ''Lutjanus''. It is also app ...

and club and scad

mackerel Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment. ...

) per fishing trip. The tuna vessels range from smaller boats around in length, able to land 200–250 tonnes of catch, to larger versions with a length of and the ability to land up to 650 tonnes per fishing trip. The largest fishing vessels, the deep-sea carriers (with lengths of ), are mostly chartered vessels. Since 1984, the national catch has averaged about 200,000 to 300,000 metric tonnes per annum. Ghana's tuna catch has maintained a stable level of 30,000 tonnes per annum since 1981. The Canoe Basin caters for the

artisanal An artisan (from , ) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art, sculpture, clothing, food ite ...

fishermen A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishermen may be professional or recr ...

. The basin is normally occupied by about 400

canoe A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using paddles. In British English, the term ' ...

s. These are mainly two types: wooden vessels, locally called "Legelege", and metallic vessels. The wooden canoes have lengths over all (

LOA , also called loa, are spirits in the African diaspora religions, African diasporic religion of Haitian Vodou and Dominican Vudú. They have also been incorporated into some revivalist forms of Louisiana Voodoo. Many of the lwa derive their iden ...

) ranging between , mainly owned and operated by

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

Ghanaians. Their operations peak during the months of June–September. Artisanal canoe fishing is responsible for about 70% of the catch.

Development

The Tema Development Corporation (TDC) is a

public entity A statutory corporation is a government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, but they are corporations owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in ...

tasked with the planning and

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped * Photographic development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting * Development hell, when a proje ...

of the entire city of Tema. Affordable public housing was developed by the government in conjunction with TDC and the State Housing Corporation. The corporation has been instrumental in developing the harbour area of Tema in particular, with modern housing. The corporation was set up in 1952 with the sole aim to develop and manage the township of Tema. In 1963, the ''Tema Development Corporation Act'' was passed. In recent years the corporation has had much investment from

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, including plans, as of 2013, to build a new stadium, an idea which proved unpopular with squatters. The first chief executive officer of the corporation was Theodore S. Clerk, the first Ghanaian architect and award-winning

who served in the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

position from 1963 after the enactment of the statute, until 1965.

Transportation

There are Public Transports from Tema to major cities such as

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 ...

;

Mim, Ahafo Mim is a city in the Asunafo North Municipal District in the Ahafo Region of Ghana. It is a nodal town between Sunyani and Goaso on the N12 road (Ghana), N12 Highway. The distance from Mim to Sunyani is 64 km whiles that of Mim to Goaso is ...

;

Cape Coast Cape Coast is a city and the capital of the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly, Cape Coast Metropolitan District and the Central Region (Ghana), Central Region of Ghana, Ghana. It is located about from Sekondi-Takoradi and approximately from Ac ...

Sunyani Sunyani () is a city and the capital of the Sunyani Municipal District and the Bono Region of Ghana. The city is located about northwest of Kumasi and away from Accra. It is the sixth largest city in the country as of the 2010 census, with ...

;

Takoradi 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 ...

;

Tamale A tamale, in Spanish language, Spanish , is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of ''masa'', a dough made from nixtamalization, nixtamalized maize, corn, which is steaming, steamed in a corn husk or Banana leaf, banana leaves. The wrapping ...

; Ho; Wa;

Bolgatanga Bolgatanga (Frafra language, Frafra: ''Bɔlegataŋa''), colloquially known as ''Bolga'', is a town and also the capital of the Bolgatanga Municipal District, Bolgatanga Municipal and the Upper East Region of Ghana. It shares a Burkina Faso–Gh ...

;

Elubo Elubo is a town in the Jomoro district, a district in the Western Region of Ghana, and is located near the border with the Ivory Coast. 2021 census indicate that, Elubo have a settlement population of 23,952 people. The current '' Omanhene'' ...

;

Aflao Aflao is a border town in the Ketu South District in the Volta Region of Ghana on the Ghana–Togo border, border with Togo. Aflao is the twenty-eighth most populous Human settlement, settlement in Ghana, in terms of population, with a populat ...

Techiman Techiman (Akan language, Akan: ''Takyiman'') is a city and the capital of the Techiman Municipal District, Techiman Metropolitan District and the Bono East Region of Ghana. The city is located about from Sunyani and about away from Kumasi. I ...

Education

SOS-Hermann Gmeiner International College (SOS-HGIC), a private mixed

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

catering to the 10th through 13th grades, is located in Tema. It previously used the

International General Certificate of Secondary Education The International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) is an English language based secondary qualification similar to the GCSE and is recognised in the United Kingdom as being equivalent to the GCSE for the purposes of recognisin ...

(IGCSE) for the 10th and 11th grades and the

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), more commonly known as the International Baccalaureate (IB), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the I ...

(IB) for the 12th and 13th grades, but currently runs the full IB Diploma program for all four grades. The school was headed by Margaret Nkrumah for over 15 years, and is now headed by Mr Israel Titi Ofei and Nii Amaa Akita. Tema also has an

international school International schools are private schools that promote education in an international environment or framework. Although there is no uniform definition or criteria, international schools are usually characterised by a multinational student body an ...

Tema International School Tema International School is an international school based in Tema, Ghana, West Africa. Classes are offered from primary through to IB Diploma. The school year is divided into 2 semesters (August–December & January–June). The school was establis ...

(TIS), which is second to HGIC, and a senior high school, Tema Secondary School (TSS or Temasco), which was built on 22 September 1961. Tema has a number of public secondary schools such as Chemu Senior High School in Community 4, Tema Methodist Day School, Mahean Senior High School,

Our Lady of Mercy Senior High School Our or OUR may refer to: * The possessive form of " we" Places * Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany * Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium * Our, Jura, a commune in France Other uses * Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a governm ...

and Tema Technical Institute. Private preparatory schools include Creator Schools, St Paul Methodist Primary and JHS, Marbs Preparatory School, Datus Complex, Deks Educational Institute, Naylor SDA School, Tema Christian Centre, Tema Parents Association, First Baptist School, Tema Regular Baptist School, Queen Esther School, Dorsons School, Adwenie Memorial, Creator School, New Covenant School, St Alban's School, Lorenz Wolf School, Bexhill School Complex, Life International School, Mazon Grace Academy, Santabarbera School, Angels Specialist School, First Star Academy, Pentecost School, Star School Complex, Tema Ridge, St John Bosco School and Rosharon Montessori School. Public primary and junior high schools in Tema include Twedaase Primary School, Star School, Aggrey Road School, Republic Road School, Padmore School, Mante Din Drive, Amen Basic, Manhean SDA School, and Bethel Methodist School.

Twin cities

Notable people

* Jewel Ackah - musician *

Freddy Adu Fredua Koranteng "Freddy" Adu (born June 2, 1989) is an American former professional soccer player who played as an attacking midfielder. From before the time of his signing with D.C. United at the age of 14, Adu was spoken of as "the next Pel� ...

- footballer * Mary Ghansah - gospel musician *

Nii Okai Nii Okai (Ernest Nii-Okai Okai, born September 19, 1977) is a Ghanaian Contemporary gospel singer and a choir leader. Early life and education Nii Okai had his Secondary School education at Mfantsipim School in Cape Coast, Central Region, Ghana, ...

- gospel musician * Sarkodie - rapper * Eric Ocansey, footballer

References

External links

Ghana-pedia webpage – Tema

Latest Tema Ghana News
{{Authority control Populated places in the Greater Accra Region 1952 establishments in Gold Coast (British colony) Towns in Ghana Towns in Africa