Journey To The Center of The Earth

Since we’re all going to Ghana we thought it might be good to periodically post some information about this wonderful country so that everyone can get to know it and the people of Ghana a little better before we get there. We’ll start from a macro level and work our way down. The first question you might ask is, “Where in the world is Ghana?”

Well, if you travel southand east across the globe from the United States you’ll eventually come to Africa.

Ghana is located on the coastline of Sub-Saharan West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea (part of the Atlantic Ocean). Ghana lies between Togo to the east, Burkina Faso to the north, and Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) to the west. (It's the yellow country near the center of the pic below).

In Acts 1:8 Jesus tells his disciples they will be his witnesses “to the ends of the earth.” We aren’t going quite that far, only about half-way. According to one source I recently read, Ghana is the closest country to the center of the world. Now this claim may seem a little dubious given the fact that on a round globe any place you point your finger could layclaim to being the “center” of the ball at any given moment, but in terms of the map of the earth Ghana really can make this claim because it lies very close to the point where the Prime Meridian crosses the Equator. The Prime Meridian actually runs right through Ghana. The “notional center” of the earth (0°, 0°)is about 400 miles or so south of Accra, Ghana.

The country has a tota larea of 92,100 square miles making it about the size of Oregon. Within that space live some 24 million people of various ethnic backgrounds. (More on the people in a later post).

I’ve been looking at Ghana on the map lately and wondering just how hot it is. I’m originally from Florida so I understand heat and humidity, but Florida isn’t that close to the equator. The climate in Florida is somewhat subtropical but Ghana is definitely tropical. I just checked the weather in Accra (the capital) and the highs this week range from 87-89 degrees with lows in the mid70’s. That actually sounds kinda nice,but Accra has a sea breeze all day. In Kumasi (the second largest city in Ghana and close to where we’ll be) it is a little warmer with highs ranging from 91-97 degrees. That doesn’t sound too bad, but as we say in Florida, it isn’t the heat it’s the humidity. We’ll have to see just how hot it feels. It might take a while to re-acclimate to warm weather after living inKentucky for four years. In the meantime Manny promises his dad’s missionary guesthouse has air-conditioning.