Ghana

Another swap card, from the lovely Helen in the USA.



Helen told me she was supposed to go with her college friend to Ghana, but decided against it at the last minute as she's already used up so many vacation days. I wish I could say the same personally... *sigh* I'd really love to travel more and see a bit more of the world, but there's no way I could afford that. Postcards are a nice substitute, though (and books!).

I don't know anything about the place shown on this card, except that it's quite obviously an open air market. Looks really nice, too! A little bit about the country...:

The Republic of Ghana is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. Ghana was inhabited in pre-colonial times by a number of ancient predominantly Akan Kingdoms, including the Akwamu on the eastern coast, the inland Ashanti Empire and various Fante and non-Akan states, like the Ga and Ewe, along the coast and inland. Trade with European states flourished after contact with the Portuguese in the 15th century, and the British established the Gold Coast Crown colony in 1874.

The Gold Coast achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1957, becoming the first sub-Saharan African nation to do so and the name Ghana was chosen for the new nation to reflect the ancient Empire of Ghana, which once extended throughout much of west Africa. Ghana is a member of the South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Economic Community of West African States, the African Union, and an associate Member of La Francophonie. Ghana is the second largest producer of cocoa in the world and is also home to Lake Volta, the largest artificial lake in the world by surface area.



This postcard was mailed from the USA, too. Here are two more stamps from the "Sunday Funnies" issue from earlier this year, and a definitive stamp "American Clock".