British Gold Coast

British Gold Coast was a colony in West Africa coast and forest (North and West Africa) that lasted from 1821 to 1957 CE, about 136 years. Its people spoke Germanic languages (Gothic, Frankish, English, German, Dutch, Norse).

British colony that absorbed Danish and Dutch forts and then the Ashanti lands. It became the world's largest cocoa producer before independence as Ghana in 1957.

See British Gold Coast on the interactive timeline

Facts

Dates

1821 to 1957 CE

Duration

136 years

Type

Colony

Region

West Africa coast and forest, North and West Africa

Language family

Germanic

Capital

Cape Coast, later Accra

Came from

• Dutch Gold Coast 1612 to 1872 CE
• Ashanti Empire 1701 to 1901 CE

Became

• Ghana 1957 CE to the present

Events in North and West Africa during its time

• 1869 Suez Canal opens
• 1884 Berlin Conference
• 1896 Battle of Adwa
• 1954 Algerian War begins
• 1956 Suez Crisis
• 1957 Ghana wins independence

Neighbours in North and West Africa

• Ethiopian Empire (Solomonic dynasty) 1270 to 1974 CE
• Kingdom of Benin c. 1180 to 1897 CE
• Bornu Empire c. 1387 to 1893 CE
• Oyo Empire c. 1400 to 1836 CE
• Funj Sultanate of Sennar 1504 to 1821 CE
• Regency of Algiers 1516 to 1830 CE
• Alaouite Sultanate of Morocco 1666 to 1912 CE
• Ashanti Empire 1701 to 1901 CE
• French Algeria 1830 to 1962 CE
• Muhammad Ali dynasty (Khedivate) 1805 to 1914 CE

Elsewhere in the world at the same time

• Ottoman Empire 1299 to 1922 CE, Europe
• Ottoman Empire 1299 to 1922 CE, Middle East
• Portuguese Empire 1415 to 1999 CE, Europe
• Kingdom of Kongo c. 1390 to 1914 CE, Central and Southern Africa
• Mughal Empire 1526 to 1857 CE, South Asia
• New Spain 1521 to 1821 CE, Mesoamerica and Caribbean
• Viceroyalty of Peru 1542 to 1824 CE, South America
• Qing dynasty 1636 to 1912 CE, East Asia
• United States 1776 CE to the present, North America
• United Kingdom 1801 CE to the present, Europe

Questions