Gold Coast (British colony)

The Gold Coast was a British colony in what is today Ghana. It was formed in 1821 when the British government took over the privately held lands along the coasts. Gold Coast had long been a name for the region used by Europeans, due to the large gold resources to be found in the area. The colony was steadily expanded by wars with local tribes, the Ashanti Confederacy, and other European countries which hand colonies in the region. In 1946 British Togoland, the Ashanti protectorate, and the Fante protectorate were merged with the Gold Coast into one colony usually referred to as the Gold Coast. In 1957 the colony became the independent state of Ghana.