Timeline: Ghana

A chronology of key events:

1482 - Portuguese set up trading settlement.

GHANA'S MOST FAMOUS SON
Kofi Annan: recognised the world over as the public face of the UN

Profile: UN chief 1997 - 2006

1874 - British proclaim coastal area a crown colony.

1925 - First legislative council elections take place.

1957 March - Ghana becomes independent with Kwame Nkrumah as prime minister.

1960 - Ghana proclaimed a republic; Nkrumah elected president.

1964 - Ghana becomes a one-party state.

1966 - Nkrumah overthrown in military coup; Russian and Chinese technicians expelled.

1969 - New constitution facilitates transfer of power to civilian government led by Kofi Busia.

AFRICAN TRAIL BLAZER
Kwame Nkrumah triggered a wave of liberation movements

• Hailed as hero when he led Ghana to independence in 1957
• Fell from grace as economy collapsed and he became ever more authoritarian
• Ousted in 1966

On This Day 1957

Story of Africa - Independence

1972 - Busia ousted in military coup led by Colonel Ignatius Acheampong.

1978 - Acheampong forced to resign; General Frederick Akuffo takes over.

Rawlings era

1979 - Akuffo deposed in coup led by Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings. Acheampong and Akuffo tried and executed on charges of corruption.

1979 September - Rawlings hands over power to an elected president, Hilla Limann.

1981 - Limann ousted in military coup led by Rawlings after two years of weak government and economic stagnation.

1983 - Rawlings adopts conservative economic policies, abolishing subsidies and price controls, privatising many state enterprises and devaluing the currency.

1992 - Referendum approves new constitution introducing a multiparty system. Rawlings elected president.

1994 - One thousand people are killed and a further 150,000 are displaced in the Northern Region following ethnic clashes between the Konkomba and the Nanumba over land ownership.

COUP LEADER
Airforce pilot Jerry Rawlings ruled for two decades

• 1979 - Ousted military, handed power to elected president
• 1981 - Seized power. Won elections in 1992 and 1996
• Stood down in 2001
• Leads main opposition party

2000: Rawlings - The legacy

1994 June - Seven ethnic groups involved in violence in Northern Region sign peace agreement.

1995 - Government imposes curfew in Northern Region as renewed ethnic violence results in a further 100 deaths.

1996 - Jerry Rawlings re-elected president.

Kufuor elected

2000 - December - John Kufuor beats Vice-President John Atta Mills in the presidential election.

2001 February - Petrol prices rise by 60% following the government's decision to remove fuel subsidies.

2001 April - Ghana accepts debt relief under a scheme designed by the World Bank and the IMF.

2001 May - National day of mourning after football stadium stampede leaves 126 dead. Inquiry blames police for overreacting to crowd trouble.

2001 June - Government scraps public holiday celebrating Rawling's military coup in an effort to wipe out the legacy of his rule.

Cape Coast, once a centre of the slave trade

2004: UN opens slavery remembrance year

2001 June - Floods hit Accra, causing 10 deaths and forcing 100,000 to flee their homes.

2002 April - State of emergency is declared in the north after a tribal chief and more than 30 others are killed in clan violence. State of emergency is lifted in August 2004.

2002 May - President Kufuor inaugurates reconciliation commission to look into human rights violations during military rule.

2003 October - Government approves merger of two gold-mining firms, creating new gold-mining giant.

2004 February - Former President Jerry Rawlings testifies at commission investigating human rights offences during the early years of his rule.

Accra, the capital, is renowned for its beaches, nightlife

• 1877: Becomes capital of Britain's Gold Coast colony
• Population: 1 million

2004 October - Group of current and former military personnel detained on suspicion of planning to destabilise government ahead of elections.

2004 December - Presidential poll: Incumbent John Kufuor wins a second term.

2005 April-May - Thousands of Togolese refugees arrive, fleeing political violence in their home country.

2006 April - A boat capsizes on Lake Volta reservoir; more than 100 passengers are feared drowned.

2006 June - Visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao promises to lend Ghana about $66m to fund development projects. He is on an African tour aimed at opening new export markets for China's booming economy and at securing energy and mineral supplies.

2007 March - Ghana celebrates 50 years of independence from Britain.

2007 June - Major off-shore oil discovery announced. President Kufuor says oil will turn Ghana into an "African tiger".

2007 September - The worst floods for more than 30 years cause widespread devastation, destroying much of the annual harvest.

2007 December - President Kufuor says off-shore oil reserves total 3 billion barrels.

2008 December - John Atta Mills elected president.

2009 July - US President Barack Obama visits.

Ghana secures a $600m three-year loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).