50 free Ghana trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Ghana trivia quiz covers the first sub-Saharan colony to win independence: the Asante Empire and its Golden Stool, the slave castles of Elmina and Cape Coast, Kwame Nkrumah's Pan-African republic, the coups and Jerry Rawlings, and the peaceful elections of the Fourth Republic. It also takes in what Ghana gives the world, from cocoa and gold to kente and Adinkra, highlife and hiplife, jollof and fufu, Kofi Annan and the Black Stars who came within a handball of a World Cup semi-final. The first questions suit anyone who has seen the black star on the flag; the last ones test people who know why the country is named after an empire hundreds of miles away and where the canopy walkway is. Every question is multiple choice with a short explanation after you answer. Every answer has been checked against a primary source, and each question links to the page that confirms it.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is the capital and most populous city of Ghana?
Accra
The wider metropolitan area holds about 4 million people, and the Prime Meridian passes through nearby Tema.
Q 02On 6 March 1957 Ghana became the first colony in sub-Saharan Africa to do what?
Achieve sovereignty
It united the Gold Coast, Ashanti, the Northern Territories and British Togoland as one dominion.
Q 03By what name was Ghana known as a British colony?
Gold Coast
The name Ghana was borrowed from a medieval empire that lay hundreds of kilometres away in the Sahel.
Q 04Who led Ghana to independence and served as its first prime minister and president?
Kwame Nkrumah
He founded the Convention People's Party in 1949 with the motto 'self-government now' and was overthrown in 1966.
Q 05The title Kaya Maghan, held by rulers of the empire Ghana is named after, is thought to mean what?
Ruler of gold
The empire of Wagadu flourished from the 3rd to the 12th centuries far to the north-west of modern Ghana.
Q 06The black star on Ghana's flag symbolises what?
African emancipation and unity against colonialism
Artist Theodosia Okoh designed the red, gold and green flag in 1957; it inspired the flags of Guinea-Bissau and São Tomé and Príncipe.
Q 07Ghana's national football team is nicknamed what?
The Black Stars
The name comes from the black star on the flag; the team has won four Africa Cups of Nations.
Q 08Whose goal-line handball denied Ghana a late winner in the 2010 World Cup quarter-finals?
Luis Suárez
Asamoah Gyan missed the resulting penalty and Uruguay won the shoot-out.
Q 09How many times has Ghana won the Africa Cup of Nations?
Four
The titles came in 1963, 1965, 1978 and 1982; the team has been runner-up five times.
Q 10Ghana ranks where among the world's cocoa producers?
Second
Only Ivory Coast produces more; oil and gold are the other big earners.
Q 11Ghana overtook which country to become the continent's largest gold producer?
South Africa
It produced about 140 tonnes in 2019, seventh in the world.
Q 12Lake Volta, formed by the Akosombo Dam, holds what world record?
Largest reservoir by surface area
It covers 8,502 square kilometres and ranks third by volume; the dam was completed in 1965.
Q 13The Asante Golden Stool is said to have fallen from the sky onto the lap of which first king?
Osei Tutu
The high priest Okomfo Anokye conjured it as the sole unifying symbol of the empire founded in 1701.
Q 21Jerry Rawlings, who ruled Ghana in 1979 and from 1981 to 2001, came to power holding what military rank?
Flight lieutenant
The air force officer's 1992 election win under a new constitution launched the Fourth Republic.
Q 22The 1966 coup that overthrew Nkrumah was code-named what?
Operation Cold Chop
It was led by Colonel Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka and Brigadier Akwasi Afrifa on 24 February 1966.
Q 23Ghana's currency is called what?
Cedi
The name comes from the Akan word for cowry shell; it was redenominated at 10,000 to 1 in 2007.
Q 14The 1900 War of the Golden Stool began after Governor Frederick Hodgson demanded what?
To sit on it
Yaa Asantewaa, Queen Mother of Ejisu, led the Asante against the British in response.
Q 15Yaa Asantewaa, who commanded the Asante in the 1900 war against the British, held which position?
Queen Mother of Ejisu
The Ashanti had won several battles in a century of Anglo-Ashanti wars before finally losing in 1900.
Q 16Elmina Castle, begun by the Portuguese in 1482, holds what distinction?
Oldest European building in sub-Saharan Africa
The Dutch seized it in 1637 and later took over the whole Portuguese Gold Coast.
Q 17Which nation's company first built Cape Coast Castle as a timber fort in 1653?
Sweden
It was named Carolusborg after King Charles X Gustav and traded timber and gold before slaves.
Q 18By Asante tradition, kente cloth originated in which town?
Bonwire
It was historically worn toga-style by the Asante, Akan and Ewe.
Q 19Adinkra symbols, printed on cloth once reserved for royalty, each derive their meaning from what?
A proverb or historical event
The art of adinkra printing dates back to the 13th century.
Q 20Ghanaian diplomat Kofi Annan served as which secretary-general of the United Nations?
Seventh
He held the post from 1997 to 2006 and shared the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize with the UN.
Q 24Ghana lies on which body of water?
Gulf of Guinea
It borders Ivory Coast to the west, Burkina Faso to the north and Togo to the east.
Q 25The Prime Meridian passes through which Ghanaian port town, near the capital?
Tema
That makes Ghana the country closest to the point where 0° longitude meets the Equator, offshore in the Atlantic.
Q 26Which is the largest ethnic group in Ghana, at about 47% of the population?
Akan
The Asante are the best-known Akan people; the Mole-Dagbani are second at about 18%.
Q 27Roughly what share of Ghanaians are Christian?
71%
Almost a fifth are Muslim, concentrated in the north where Hausa is widely spoken.
Q 28Highlife, the guitar-and-horn genre that spread across the region, originated where in the 19th century?
Ghana's coastal cities
The 1990s fusion of highlife with hip-hop and dancehall became hiplife.
Q 29The trickster Anansi of Akan folklore is most commonly depicted as what creature?
A spider
His name literally means spider, and his tales travelled to the Caribbean with enslaved Akan.
Q 30Ghana's highest point, Mount Afadja, rises to about what height?
885 m
It stands in the Akwapim-Togo Range on the eastern border.