Like almost all African countries, Ghana is a colonial creation that was forged by the British in a piecemeal process that culminated with the defeat of the Asante kingdom in the early 1900s. That process brought together people of different ethnicities and cultures into a political entity called the Gold Coast. The colonial state existed from 1874 until independence in 1957, when the country’s name changed to Ghana. Among the different ethnicities that formed the Gold Coast were the Akan people, whose main location has been in the forested regions in the middle of the country. The Akan were and continue to be the largest ethnic group in Ghana, currently forming about 46% of the total population. They are divided into subgroups comprising the Asante, Akyem, Akwapim, Bono, Fante, and Kwahu. These groups are bound together by common traditions, beliefs, mores, and dialects of the same language, Twi. They are also the only matrilineal descent group in the country. Other major ethnic groups in Ghana include the Mole-Dagbani to the north, the Ewe in the southeast, and the Ga in the south. Thus, Ghana is multiethnic and multicultural, and any generalizations made throughout the book should be understood against the background of the country’s cultural diversity.