st coast;
hot and humid in southwest; hot and dry in north

Terrain: mostly low plains with dissected plateau in south-central
area

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Afadjato 880 m

Natural resources: gold, timber, industrial diamonds, bauxite,
manganese, fish, rubber, hydropower

Land use:
arable land: 12%
permanent crops: 7%
permanent pastures: 22%
forests and woodland: 35%
other: 24% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 60 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: dry, dusty, harmattan winds occur from January to
March; droughts

Environment - current issues: recent drought in north severely
affecting agricultural activities; deforestation; overgrazing; soil
erosion; poaching and habitat destruction threatens wildlife
populations; water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban,
Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical
Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation

Geography - note: Lake Volta is the world's largest artificial lake;
northeasterly harmattan wind (January to March)

@Ghana:People

Population: 19,533,560
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the
effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life
expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population
and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age
and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2000 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 42% (male 4,120,240; female 4,063,960)
15-64 years: 55% (male 5,290,675; female 5,391,175)
65 years and over: 3% (male 318,890; female 348,620) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.87% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 29.81 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 10.22 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.89 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.91 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 57.43 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 57.42 years
male: 56.07 years
female: 58.82 years (2000 est.)

Total f