Lying north of the great belt of primeval forest which extends parallel to the Guinea coast, the greater part of the protectorate consists of open country, well timbered, and much of it presenting a park-like appearance. There are also large stretches of grassy plains, and in the south-east an area of treeless steppe. The flora and fauna resemble those of Ashanti. The country is well watered, the Black Volta forming the west and southern frontier for some distance, while the White Volta traverses its central regions. Both rivers, and also the united stream, contain rapids which impede but do not prevent navigation (see [Volta]). The climate is much healthier than that of the coast districts, and the fever experienced is of a milder type. The rainfall is less than on the coast; the dry season lasts from November (when the harmattan begins to blow) to March. The mean temperature at Gambaga is 80° F., the mean annual rainfall 43 in. The inhabitants were officially estimated in 1907 to number “at least 1,000,000.” The Dagomba, Dagarti, Grunshi, Kangarga, Moshi and Zebarima, Negro or Negroid tribes, constitute the bulk of the people, and Fula, Hausa and Yoruba have settled as traders or cattle raisers. A large number of the natives are Moslems, the rest are fetish worshippers. The tribal organization is maintained by the British authorities, who found comparatively little difficulty in putting an end to slave-raiding and gaining the confidence of the chiefs. Trained by British officers, the natives make excellent soldiers.
Agriculture and Trade.—The chief crops are maize, guinea-corn, millet, yams, rice, beans, groundnuts, tobacco and cotton. Cotton is grown in most parts of the protectorate, the soil and climate in many districts being very suitable for its cultivation. Rubber is found in the north-western regions. When the protectorate was assumed by Great Britain the Territories were singularly destitute of fruit trees. The British have introduced the orange, citron, lime, guava, mango and soursop, and among plants the banana, pine-apple and papaw. A large number of vegetables and flowers have also been introduced by the administration.
Stock-raising is carried on extensively, and besides oxen and sheep there are large numbers of horses and donkeys in the Territories. The chief exports are cattle, dawa-dawa (a favourite flavouring matter for soup among the Ashanti and other tribes) and shea-butter—the latter used in cooking and as an illuminant. The principal imports are kola-nuts, salt and cotton goods. A large proportion of the European goods imported is German and comes through Togoland. The administration levies a tax on traders’ caravans, and in return ensures the safety of the roads. This tax is the chief local source of revenue. The revenue and expenditure of the Territories, as well as statistics of trade, are included in those of the Gold Coast.
Gold exists in quartz formation, chiefly in the valley of the Black Volta, and is found equally on the British and French sides of the frontier.
Towns.—The headquarters of the administration are at Tamale (or Tamari), a town in the centre of the Dagomba country east of the White Volta and 200 m. N.E. of Kumasi. Its inhabitants are keen traders, and it forms a distributing centre for the whole protectorate. Gambaga, an important commercial centre and from 1897 to 1907 the seat of government, is in Mamprusi, the north-east corner of the protectorate and is 85 m. N.N.E. of Tamale. A hundred and forty miles due south of Gambaga is Salaga. This town is situated on the caravan route from the Hausa states to Ashanti, and has a considerable trade in kola-nuts, shea-butter and salt. On the White Volta, midway between Gambaga and Salaga, is the thriving town of Daboya. On the western frontier are Bole (Baule) and Wa. They carry on an extensive trade with Bontuku, the capital of Jaman, and other places in the Ivory Coast colony. In all the towns the population largely consists of aliens—Hausa, Ashanti, Mandingos, &c.
Communications.—Lack of easy communication with the sea hinders the development of the country. The ancient caravan routes have been, however, supplemented by roads built by the British, who have further organized a service of boats on the Volta. Large cargo boats, chiefly laden with salt, ascend that river from Addah to Yeji and Daboya. From Yeji, the port of Salaga, a good road, 150 m. long, has been made to Gambaga. There is also a river service from Yeji to Longoro on the Black Volta, the port of Kintampo, in northern Ashanti. There is a complete telegraphic system connecting the towns of the protectorate with Kumasi and the Gold Coast ports.
History.—It was not until the last quarter of the 19th century that the country immediately north of Ashanti became known to Europeans. The first step forward was made by Monsieur M. J. Bonnat (one of the Kumasi captives, see [Ashanti]) who, ascending the Volta, reached Salaga (1875-1876). In 1882 Captain R. La Trobe Lonsdale, an officer in British colonial service, went farther, visiting Yendi in the north and Bontuku in the west. Two years later Captain Brandon Kirby made his way to Kintampo. In 1887-1889 Captain L. G. Binger, a French officer, traversed the country from north to south. Thereafter the whole region was visited by British, French and German political missions. Prominent among the British agents was Mr George E. Ferguson, a native of West Africa, who had previously explored northern Ashanti. Between 1892 and 1897 Ferguson concluded several treaties guarding British interests. In 1897 Lieutenant Henderson and Ferguson occupied Wa, where they were attacked by the sofas of Samory (see [Senegal], § 3). Henderson, who had gone to the sofa camp to parley, was held prisoner for some time, while Ferguson was killed. Meantime negotiations were opened in Europe to settle the spheres of influence of the respective countries. (The Anglo-French agreement of 1889 had fixed the boundaries of the hinterlands of the French colony of the Ivory Coast and the British colony of the Gold Coast as far as 9° N. only.) A period of considerable tension, arising from the proximity of British and French troops in the disputed territory, was ended by the signature of a convention in Paris (14th of June 1898), in which the western and northern boundaries were defined. The British abandoned their claim to the important town and district of Wagadugu in the north. In the following year (14th of November 1899) an agreement defining the eastern frontier was concluded with Germany. Previously a square block of territory to the north of 8° N. had been regarded as neutral, both by Britain and Germany. This was in virtue of an arrangement made in 1888. By the 1899 convention the neutral zone was parcelled out between the two powers. The delimitation of the frontiers agreed upon took place during 1900-1904.
In 1897 the Northern Territories were constituted a separate district of the Gold Coast hinterland, and were placed in charge of a chief commissioner. Colonel H. P. Northcott (killed in the Boer War, 1899-1902) was the first commissioner and commandant of the troops. He was succeeded by Col. A. H. Morris. In 1901 the Territories were made a distinct administration, under the jurisdiction of the governor of the Gold Coast colony. The government was at first of a semi-military character, but in 1907 a civilian staff was appointed to carry on the administration, and a force of armed constabulary replaced the troops which had been stationed in the protectorate and which were then disbanded. The prosperity of the country under British administration has been marked.
Bibliography.—A good summary of the condition and history of the colony to the close of the 19th century will be found in vol. 3, “West Africa,” of the Historical Geography of the British Empire by C. P. Lucas (2nd ed., Oxford, 1900). For current information see the Gold Coast Civil Service List (London, yearly), the annual Blue Books published in the colony, and the annual Report issued by the Colonial Office, London. For fuller information consult the Report from the Select Committee on Africa (Western Coast) (London, 1865), a mine of valuable information; The Gold Coast, Past and Present, by G. Macdonald (London, 1898); History of the Gold Coast and Ashanti, by C. C. Reindorf, a native pastor (Basel, 1895); A History of the Gold Coast, by Col. A. B. Ellis (London, 1893); Wanderings in West Africa (London, 1863) and To the Gold Coast for Gold (London, 1883), both by Sir Richard Burton. Of the earlier books the most notable are The Golden Coast or a Description of Guinney together with a relation of such persons as got wonderful estates by their trade thither (London, 1665), and A New and Accurate Description of the Coast of Guinea written (in Dutch) by Willem Bosman, chief factor for the Dutch at Elmina (Eng. trans., 2nd ed., 1721). For a complete survey of the Gold Coast under Dutch control see “Die Niederländisch West-Indische Compagnie an der Gold-Küste” by J. G. Doorman in Tijds Indische Taal-, Land- en Volkenk, vol. 40 (1898). For ethnography, religion, law, &c., consult The Land of Fetish (London, 1883) and The Tshi-speaking Peoples of the West Coast of Africa (London, 1887), both by Col. A. B. Ellis; Fanti Customary Law (2nd ed., London, 1904) and Fanti Law Report (London, 1904), both by J. M. Sarbah. The Sketch of the Forestry of West Africa by Sir Alfred Moloney (London, 1887) contains a comprehensive list of economic plants. See also Report on Economic Agriculture on the Gold Coast (Colonial Office Reports, No. 110, 1890), and Papers relating to the Construction of Railways in ... the Gold Coast (London, 1904). The best map is that of Major F. G. Guggisberg, over 70 sheets, scale 1 : 125,000 (London, 1907-1909). There is a War Office map on the scale 1 : 1,000,000 in one sheet. See also the works quoted under [Ashanti].
For the Northern Territories see L. G. Binger, Du Niger au Golfe de Guinée (Paris, 1892), a standard authority; H. P. Northcott, Report on the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast (War Office, London, 1899), a valuable compilation summarizing the then available information. Annual Reports on the protectorate are issued by the British Colonial Office. A map on the scale of 1 : 1,000,000 is issued by the War Office.