Aflao

Aflao is a town in Ketu South District in the Volta Region on Ghana's border with Togo. Aflao is the twenty-eighth most populous settlement in Ghana, in terms of population, with a population of 96,550 people.[1]

Aflao
Town
Aflao is located in Ghana
Aflao
Aflao
Location in Ghana
Coordinates: 06°08′48.4″N 01°10′47.6″E
Country Ghana
Region Volta Region
DistrictKetu South District
Population
 (2012)
 • Total66,546[1]
 Ranked 28th in Ghana
Time zoneGMT
 • Summer (DST)GMT
Area code+233 (3625)

In the 18th century, Aflao served as one of the major markets for the slave trade. Aflao is shared by Ghana and Togo, causing the land to be split into Aflao of Ghana and Aflao of Togo. The culture of this land is based on their clothes, called Kente or kete. Their local music is Agbadja and Brekete. Ghanaian authorities plan to create a common post at Aflao.

History

Aflao people were war refugees of Phla extraction from Grand Popo in Benin. The exodus from Grand Popo was the result of the Wars by the Kingdom of Dahomey for access to the Atlantic seaboard and European trading forts along the coast of Benin and Togo. Other war refugees who were of GaDangme extraction and displaced by the Akwamu wars also settled in Aflao. The GaDangme settled in the suburbs of Teshie, Gbugbla and Batorme. Constant skirmishes with the Bes of Togo for land and fishing rights compelled some of the Ga Dangme to relocate to Agortime area to join their kinsmen there.

Etymology

Ewe Fla:wo Phla/ Phera people

Phla/Phera belongs to the Gbe (Tadoid) language cluster [2]

Geography
Aflao - Ghana.

Aflao is located on the eastern coast of Ghana and is the major border town with neighboring Togo.

Chieftaincy

Aflao - Ghana as a traditional area has Togbui Amenya Fiti V as its Paramount Chief.[3] He is the traditional ruler of the land and performs traditional administrative and ceremonial functions in the area. Aflao - Togo has a different chief because of the different villages on this land. Aflao has an education school on the border of Lomé that teaches Ewe, the local language of Aflao.[4]

Industry

The Diamond Cement Ghana Limited factory is located at Aflao.[5][6]

In early 2014, a 2.5 km rail siding was completed to connect the cement works to the port of Lomé.[7] This siding crosses the border from Togo to Ghana and is of the 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) gauge.

Transportation

There is public transportation from Aflao to major cities such as Accra, Kumasi, Techiman, Mim, Ahafo, Sunyani, Takoradi, Tema, Ho, Wa, Bolgatanga, and Elubo.

Notable people

See also

References
  1. "World Gazetteer online". World-gazetteer.com. Archived from the original on 2012-01-11.
  2. "Le Ghana travaille un poste commun à Aflao". Republic of Togo. Archived from the original on 2013-07-03.
  3. Togbui, Fiti. "Togbui Fiti Appeals For Gov't Intervention In Aflao Dispute". Spyghana. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  4. "Language Ideology and Practice on the Aflao-Lome Borderland: The Case of two Border School". Archived from the original on 2011-06-17.
  5. "Production slumps at Diamond Cement". ghanaweb.com. 12 November 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  6. "Railpage".
  7. Cement siding opened.
  • Dickson, K. B. "Trade Patterns in Ghana at the Beginning of the Eighteenth Century." Geographical Review 56.3 (1966): 417–431.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Aflao.
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