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Accra is the capital and largest city of Ghana, with an estimated urban population of 2.27 million . It is also the capital of the Greater Accra Region and of the Accra Metropolitan District, with which it is coterminous.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title =Accra Metropolitan )〕 Accra is furthermore the anchor of a larger metropolitan area, the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA),〔(【引用サイトリンク】title =Environmental and Structural Inequalities in Greater Accra )〕 which is inhabited by about 4 million people, making it the second-largest metropolitan conglomeration in Ghana by population,〔 and the eleventh-largest metropolitan area in Africa. Accra stretches along the Ghanaian Atlantic coast and extends north into Ghana's interior. Originally built around a port, it served as the capital of the British Gold Coast between 1877 and 1957. Once merely a 19th-century suburb of Victoriaborg, Accra has since transitioned into a modern metropolis; the city's architecture reflects this history, ranging from 19th-century architecture buildings to modern skyscrapers and apartment blocks. Accra serves as the Greater Accra region's economic and administrative hub. It is furthermore a centre of a wide range of nightclubs, restaurants, and hotels.〔(【引用サイトリンク】Accra )〕 Since the early 1990s, a number of new buildings have been built, including the multi-storey French-owned Novotel hotel. The city's National Theatre was built with Chinese assistance. In 2010, the Globalization and World Cities Research Network designated Accra a Gamma-minus-level world city, indicating a growing level of international influence and connectedness. The central business district of Accra contains the city's main banks and department stores, and an area known as the Ministries, where Ghana's government administration is concentrated. Economic activities in Accra include the financial and agricultural sectors, Atlantic fishing, and the manufacture of processed food, lumber, plywood, textiles, clothing, and chemicals. == History == The main Ga group known as the Tumgwa We led by Ayi Kushie arrived by sea. When the Guan (Lartehs) on the coast saw them on their canoes at sea, they looked like ants. Hence, the Lartehs refer to them as Nkran (ants). Nkran was later corrupted by the Danes to Akra, then to present-day Accra. ''Nkran'' in the Ga language is ''Gaga'', thus they also started calling themselves Ga. Due to their sheer numbers, the indigenous Lartehs thus relocated to the Akuapem ridge. The Ga are also part of the main Guan group that started the initial migration from the Nubia Empire.〔(【引用サイトリンク】The Larteh Story )〕 Initially, Accra was not the most prominent trading centre; the trade hubs of the time were the ports at Ada and Prampram, along with the inland centres of Dodowa and Akusa. The Dutch built the nearby outposts of James Fort and Ussher Fort. By the 17th century, Portugal, followed by the Sweden, the Netherlands, France, Britain, and Denmark, had constructed forts in the city. Britain gradually acquired the interests of all other countries beginning in 1851, when Denmark sold Christiansborg and their other forts to the British. The Netherlands was the last to sell out, in 1871. In 1873, after decades of tension between the British and Akans of south Ghana, the British attacked and virtually destroyed the Ashanti Region capital of Kumasi. The British then captured Accra in 1874, and in 1877, at the end of the second Anglo-Asante War, Accra replaced Cape Coast as the capital of the British Gold Coast. This decision was made because Accra had a drier climate relative to Cape Coast. Until this time, the settlement of Accra was confined between Ussher Fort to the east and the Korle Lagoon to the west.〔(【引用サイトリンク】History of Accra )〕 As the Gold Coast's administrative functions were moved to Accra, an influx of British settlers began, and the city began to expand to accommodate the new residents. Victoriaborg was formed in the late 19th century as an exclusive European residential neighbourhood, located to the east of the city limits of the time. The boundaries of Accra were further stretched in 1908. This expansion entailed the creation of a native-only neighbourhood, intended to accommodate members of the native population as a means of relieving congestion problems in the overcrowded city centre. Adabraka was thus established to the north of the city.〔(【引用サイトリンク】History of Accra )〕 One of the most influential decisions in the history of the city was that of building the Accra-Kumasi railway in 1908. This was to connect Accra, the country's foremost port at that time, with Ghana's main cocoa-producing regions. In 1923, the railway was completed, and by 1924, cocoa was Ghana's largest export. The British Gold Coast heavily influenced the shape that Accra took during this period. For example, racial segregation of neighbourhoods was mandated by law until 1923, and all new buildings were required to be built out of stone or concrete. Despite these regulations, British settlers of the Gold Coast were very hesitant to invest any large amount of money into the city to maintain its infrastructure or improve public works. This did not change until the governorship of Sir Frederick Gordon Guggisberg. Among the achievements of Guggisberg was the building of a bridge across the Korle Lagoon in 1923, which opened the land west of the lagoon for settlement. Guggisberg also oversaw the building of hospitals and schools. Such improvements led to an increase in Accra’s population due to the migration of rural dwellers into the city, and the immigration of increasing numbers of British businessmen and administrators. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Accra」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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