Asante

Mary Carol Hopkins

The Asante (or Ashanti) are a Ghanaian people numbering about 1.5 million (about 15% of the population of Ghana) and centered in the city of Kumasi but also occupying the entire Ashanti region, which is bordered by Brong-Ahafo, western, central, and eastern regions. The Asante are members of the Akan language and cultural group (about 45% of the population of Ghana) which occupies much of central and southern Ghana and includes, in addition to the Asante, the Adansi, the Agnyi, the Agona, Akim, the Akwamu, the Akwapem, the Bono, the Denkyira, the Fante, the Kwahu (all in Ghana), and the Baoulé of Côte d'Ivoire. Although these peoples have dialectic differences and some cultural differences, their strong cultural and linguistic similarities (Twi, of the Kwa language family) point to common ethnic origins, which have been strengthened by occasional political unities over the centuries. Asante territory is primarily rain forest, lying just ...

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