A carregar...
Publicação
Flora Consumed in Accra, Ghana, in the 16th Century and Today
| Nome: | Descrição: | Tamanho: | Formato: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 443.34 KB | Adobe PDF |
Autores
Orientador(es)
Resumo(s)
Contacts between Western African peoples
and Europeans were closer from the second
half of the 15th century onwards. The presence
of valuable mineral resources gave
Ghanaian territory the name of Gold Coast,
which is more abundant of indentations, and
natural ports than the remaining African
coastline. Freshwater resources are widely
available, even though littoral areas, where
Accra was founded, only register 806.8 millimetres
of rainfall per annum (WMO, 2018).
The main water body that feeds electricity to
the capital city is the Akosombo dam built
“across the Volta River (…) blamed for the erosion
of the Volta delta near Keta and the nearby
coast of Togo”. Besides, “harbour works
at Tema, constructed in about 1955, ten years
before the dam was complete may be responsible
for the erosion (…) of Accra” coastline
(Grove, 1994, p. 12).
These were the places that the three masts’
Portuguese caravels explored in 1471. Portuguese
sailors reached Fernado Pó and S. Tomé
islands, and crossed the Equator soon after,
giving way to slavery and rich tropical commodities
trade from Western Africa to Europe,
and later to the Americas (Goes, 1567,
Nguah and Kugbey, 2015). On 19th January
1482, king Afonso V ordered a Castle be built
(S. Jorge da Mina or St. George) which today
is the so-called Elmina Heritage Site, located
west of Accra, a project given to Diogo of
Azambuja (Resende, 1770).
The Portuguese inhabited the gold trading
post for 155 years; in 1637, the Dutch West
Indies Company captured St. George’s Castle,
replacing the former settlers; in 1672, the English
created the Royal African Company to
control the coastal areas spreading from the
Sahara to the Cape of Good Hope. It was during
the 17th century that trade definitely
shifted from gold to slaves. In 1872, due to a
decline in profits, the Dutch sold Elmina to
the British, who dominated Ghanaian coastline
until 1957 (Nghuah and Kugbey, 2015),
year of independence.
Descrição
Palavras-chave
Flora Accra Ghana
Contexto Educativo
Citação
Madaleno, Isabel (2020). Flora Consumed in Accra, Ghana, in the 16th Century and Today. Urbanistica Informazioni, 289 (Special Issue), 61-63. ISSN: 2239-4222. Disponível em: http://www.urbanisticainformazioni.it/-289-s-i-.html