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TheGreater Accra Metropolitan Area(GAMA) is ametropolitan region centered inGhana's capitalAccra. With around five million inhabitants, the metropolitan area is one of the 90 largest agglomerations in the world.[1] The GAMA is largely continuous, but not identical with theGreater Accra Region.
The metropolitan region comprises 25 of the total 29 districts within theGreater Accra Region. It borders theCentral Region to the west, theEastern Region to the north, theShai Osudoku District to the northeast and theNingo Prampram District to the east.
Included in the metropolitan region are the following districts:
| District | Population (2010)[2] | Population (2021)[2] |
|---|---|---|
| Ablekuma Central Municipal | 233,220 | 169,145 |
| Ablekuma North Municipal | 184,731 | 159,208 |
| Ablekuma West Municipal | 59,708 | 153,490 |
| Accra Metropolitan | 440,946 | 284,124 |
| Adenta Municipal | 78,215 | 237,546 |
| Ashaiman Municipal | 190,972 | 208,060 |
| Ayawaso Central Municipal | 142,322 | 94,831 |
| Ayawaso East Municipal | 83,721 | 53,004 |
| Ayawaso North Municipal | 99,777 | 63,386 |
| Ayawaso West Municipal | 70,667 | 75,303 |
| Ga Central Municipal | 117,220 | 332,232 |
| Ga East Municipal | 147,742 | 283,379 |
| Ga North Municipal | 103,965 | 235,292 |
| Ga South Municipal | 234,191 | 350,121 |
| Ga West Municipal | 101,386 | 314,299 |
| Korle-Klottey Municipal | 121,723 | 68,633 |
| Kpone Katamanso Municipal | 109,864 | 417,334 |
| Krowor Municipal | 102,059 | 143,012 |
| La Dade Kotopon Municipal | 183,528 | 140,264 |
| La Nkwantanang Madina Municipal | 111,926 | 244,676 |
| Ledzokuku Municipal | 125,873 | 217,304 |
| Okaikwei North Municipal | 228,271 | 160,446 |
| Tema Metropolitan | 168,932 | 177,924 |
| Tema West Municipal | 123,841 | 196,224 |
| Weija Gbawe Municipal | 191,623 | 213,674 |
| Greater Accra Metropolitan Area | 3,756,423 | 4,992,911 |
Before the relocation of the capital of theBritishcrown colonyGold Coast fromCape Coast to Accra in 1877, the region was predominantly rural and consisted of fishing and farming settlements. By 1891, the new capital had developed into an urban area with a population of 20,000. With an area of 300 square kilometers within the official city limits, the capital could not absorb the rapid growth in population and economic activity, so urban development spread to the areas located in the surrounding countryside. In these areas, one could subsequently observe a corresponding increase in demand for land, improved infrastructure and jobs, allowing thesuburban areas to gradually merge with the capital. At the same time, this led to a rapid change in the geographic and socioeconomic characteristics of these areas. The areas functionally linked to the capital are currently in various stages of urban transformation, with rural settlements on the one hand, whose residents live mainly fromagriculture, and "townships" on the other, from which a significant proportion of residentscommute to the capital.[3]
The Greater Accra Metropolitan Area is by far the most important economic center in Ghana and accounts for more than half of the nation'seconomic output and more than a quarter of the nationalworkforce.[4]