Greater Accra metropolitan area


The Greater Accra metropolitan area '' is a metropolitan region centered in Ghana's capital Accra. With around five million inhabitants, the metropolitan area is one of the 90 largest agglomerations in the world. The GAMA is largely continuous, but not identical with the Greater Accra Region.

Geography

The metropolitan region comprises 25 of the total 29 districts within the Greater Accra Region. It borders the Central Region to the west, the Eastern Region to the north, the Shai Osudoku District to the northeast and the Ningo Prampram District to the east.
Included in the metropolitan region are the following districts:
DistrictPopulation
Population
Ablekuma Central Municipal233,220169,145
Ablekuma North Municipal184,731159,208
Ablekuma West Municipal59,708153,490
Accra Metropolitan440,946284,124
Adenta Municipal78,215237,546
Ashaiman Municipal190,972208,060
Ayawaso Central Municipal142,32294,831
Ayawaso East Municipal83,72153,004
Ayawaso North Municipal99,77763,386
Ayawaso West Municipal70,66775,303
Ga Central Municipal117,220332,232
Ga East Municipal147,742283,379
Ga North Municipal103,965235,292
Ga South Municipal234,191350,121
Ga West Municipal101,386314,299
Korle-Klottey Municipal121,72368,633
Kpone Katamanso Municipal109,864417,334
Krowor Municipal102,059143,012
La Dade Kotopon Municipal183,528140,264
La Nkwantanang Madina Municipal111,926244,676
Ledzokuku Municipal125,873217,304
Okaikwei North Municipal228,271160,446
Tema Metropolitan168,932177,924
Tema West Municipal123,841196,224
Weija Gbawe Municipal191,623213,674
Greater Accra Metropolitan Area3,756,4234,992,911

History

Before the relocation of the capital of the British crown colony Gold Coast from Cape Coast to Accra in 1877, the region was predominantly rural and consisted of fishing and farming settlements. By 1891, the new capital had developed into an urban area with a population of 20,000. With an area of 300 square kilometers within the official city limits, the capital could not absorb the rapid growth in population and economic activity, so urban development spread to the areas located in the surrounding countryside. In these areas, one could subsequently observe a corresponding increase in demand for land, improved infrastructure and jobs, allowing the suburban areas to gradually merge with the capital. At the same time, this led to a rapid change in the geographic and socioeconomic characteristics of these areas. The areas functionally linked to the capital are currently in various stages of urban transformation, with rural settlements on the one hand, whose residents live mainly from agriculture, and "townships" on the other, from which a significant proportion of residents commute to the capital.

Economy

The Greater Accra metropolitan area is by far the most important economic center in Ghana and accounts for more than half of the nation's economic output and more than a quarter of the national workforce.