title: Scorched earth

text: After the Battle of Bussaco, André Masséna's army marched on to Coimbra, where much of the city's old university and library were vandalised. Houses and furniture were destroyed, and the few civilians who did not seek refuge farther south were murdered. While there were instances of similar behavior by British soldiers, since Portugal was their ally, such crimes were generally investigated and those found punished. Coimbra's sack made the populace even more determined to leave nothing, and when the French armies reached the Lines of Torres Vedras on the way to Lisbon, French soldiers reported that the country "seemed to empty ahead of them". When Massená reached the city of Viseu, he wanted to replenish his armies' dwindling food supplies, but none of the inhabitants remained, and all there was to eat were grapes and lemons that if eaten in large quantities would be better laxatives than sources of calories. Low morale, hunger, disease and indiscipline greatly weakened the French army and compelled the forces to retreat the next spring. That method was later recommended to Russia when Napoleon made his move.


title: Scorched earth

text: In 1812, Emperor Alexander I was able to render Napoleon's invasion of Russia useless by using a scorched-earth retreat policy, similar to that of Portugal. As Russians withdrew from the advancing French army, they burned the countryside (and allegedly Moscow) over which they passed, leaving nothing of value for the pursuing French army. Encountering only desolate and useless land Napoleon's Grande Armée was prevented from using its usual doctrine of living off the lands that it conquered. Pushing relentlessly on despite dwindling numbers, the Grand Army met with disaster as the invasion progressed. Napoleon's army arrived in a virtually-abandoned Moscow, which was a tattered starving shell of its former self, largely because of scorched-earth tactics by the retreating Russians. Having conquered essentially nothing, Napoleon's troops retreated, but the scorched-earth policy came into effect again because even though some large supply dumps had been established on the advance, the route between them had both been scorched and marched over once already. Thus, the French army starved as it marched along the resource-depleted invasion route.


title: Scorched earth

text: In August 1812, Argentine General Manuel Belgrano led the Jujuy Exodus, a massive forced displacement of people from what is now Jujuy and Salta Provinces to the south. The Jujuy Exodus was conducted by the patriot forces of the Army of the North, which was battling a Royalist army.


title: Scorched earth

text: Belgrano, faced with the prospect of total defeat and territorial loss, ordered all people to pack their necessities, including food and furniture, and to follow him in carriages or on foot together with whatever cattle and beasts of burden that could endure the journey. The rest (houses, crops, food stocks and any objects made of iron) was to be burned to deprive the Royalists of resources. The strict scorched-earth policy made him ask on 29 July 1812 the people of Jujuy to "show their heroism" and to join the march of the army under his command "if, as you assure, you want to be free". The punishment for ignoring the order was execution, with destruction of the defector's properties. Belgrano labored to win the support of the populace and later reported that most of the people had willingly followed him without the need of force.


title: Scorched earth

text: The exodus started on 23 August and gathered people from Jujuy and Salta. People travelled south about 250 km and finally arrived at the banks of the Pasaje River, in Tucumán Province in the early hours of 29 August. They applied a scorched-earth policy and so the Spaniards advanced into a wasteland. Belgrano's army destroyed everything that could provide shelter or be useful to the Royalists.


title: Scorched earth

text: In 1827, Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt led an Ottoman-Egyptian combined force in a campaign to crush Greek revolutionaries in the Peloponnese. In response to Greek guerrilla attacks on his forces in the Peloponnese, Ibrahim launched a scorched earth campaign which threatened the population with starvation and deported many civilians into slavery in Egypt. He also allegedly planned to bring in Arab settlers to replace the Greek population. The fires of burning villages and fields were clearly visible from Allied ships standing offshore. A British landing party reported that the population of Messinia was close to mass starvation. Ibrahim's scorched-earth policy caused much outrage in Europe, which was one factor for the Great Powers (United Kingdom, the Kingdom of France and the Russian Empire) decisively intervening against him in the Battle of Navarino.


title: Scorched earth

text: The Philippine–American War often included scorched-earth campaigns in the countryside. Entire villages were burned and destroyed, with torture ("water cure") and the concentration of civilians into "protected zones." Many civilian casualties were caused by disease and famine.


title: Scorched earth

text: In the hunt for guerrilla leader Emilio Aguinaldo, American troops also poisoned water wells to try to force out the Filipino rebels.


title: Scorched earth

text: In the American Civil War, Union forces under Philip Sheridan and William Tecumseh Sherman used the policy widely. General Sherman used that policy during his March to the Sea.


title: Scorched earth

text: Sherman's tactics were an attempt to destroy the enemy's will and logistics through burning or destroying crops or other resources that might be used for the Confederate force. Later generations of American war leaders would use similar total war tactics in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Iraq war, and the Afghanistan War, largely through the use of air power. During Sherman's campaign, his "men piled all deed books in front of the courthouse and burned them. The logic was that the big plantations would not be able to prove land ownership. These actions are the bane of Georgia and South Carolina genealogists.”


title: Scorched earth

text: Another event, in response to William Quantrill's raid on Lawrence, Kansas and the many civilian casualties, including the killing of 180 men, Brigadier General Thomas Ewing Jr., Sherman's brother-in-law, issued US Army General Order No. 11 (1863) to order the near-total evacuation of three-and-a-half counties in western Missouri, south of Kansas City, which were subsequently looted and burned by US Army troops. Under Sherman's overall direction, General Philip Sheridan followed that policy in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and then in the Indian Wars of the Great Plains.


title: Scorched earth

text: When General Ulysses Grant's forces broke through the defenses of Richmond, Virginia, Confederate President Jefferson Davis ordered the destruction of Richmond's militarily-significant supplies. The resulting conflagration destroyed many buildings, most of which were commercial, as well as Confederate warships docked on the James River. Civilians in panic were forced to escape the fires that had been started.


title: Scorched earth

text: During the wars with Native American tribes of the American West, Kit Carson, under James Henry Carleton's direction, instituted a scorched-earth policy, burning Navajo fields and homes and stealing or killing their livestock. He was aided by other Indian tribes with long-standing enmity toward the Navajos, chiefly the Ute tribe. The Navajo were forced to surrender because of the destruction of their livestock and food supplies. In the spring of 1864, 8000 Navajo men, women, and children were forced to march 300 miles to Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Navajos call it "The Long Walk." Many died along the way or during their four years of internment.


title: Scorched earth

text: A military expedition, led by Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie, was sent to the Texas Panhandle and the Oklahoma Territory Panhandle in 1874 to remove the Indians to reservations in Oklahoma. The Mackenzie expedition captured about 1,200 of the Indians' horses, drove them into Tule Canyon, and shot all of them. Denied their main source of livelihood and demoralized, the Comanche and the Kiowa abandoned the area (see Palo Duro Canyon).


title: Scorched earth

text: During the Second Boer War (1899–1902), British forces applied a scorched-earth policy in the occupied Boer republics under the direction of General Lord Kitchener. Numerous Boers, refusing to accept military defeat, adopted guerrilla warfare despite the capture of both of their capital cities. As a result, under Lord Kitchener's command British forces initiated a policy of the destruction of the farms and the homes of civilians in the republics to prevent the Boers who were still fighting from obtaining food and supplies. Boer noncombatants inhabiting the republics (mostly women and children) were interned in concentration camps to prevent them from supplying guerillas still in the field.


title: Scorched earth

text: The existence of the concentration camps was exposed by English activist Emily Hobhouse, who toured the camps and began petitioning the British government to change its policy. In an attempt to counter Hobhouse's activism, the British government commissioned the Fawcett Commission, but it confirmed Hobhouse's findings. The British government then claimed that it perceived the concentration camps to be humanitarian measure and were established to care for displaced noncombatants until the war's end, in response to mounting criticism of the camps in Britain. A number of factors, including outbreaks of infectious diseases, a lack of planning and supplies for the camps, and overcrowding led to numerous internees dying in the camps. A decade after the war, historian P. L. A. Goldman estimated that 27,927 Boers died in the concentration camps, 26,251 women and children (of whom more than 22,000 were under the age of 16) and 1,676 men over the age of 16, with 1,421 being above the age of 16.


title: Scorched earth

text: In 1868, the Tūhoe, who had sheltered the Māori leader Te Kooti, were thus subjected to a scorched-earth policy in which their crops and buildings were destroyed and the people of fighting age were captured.


title: Scorched earth

text: On the Eastern Front of World War I, the Imperial Russian Army created a zone of destruction by using a massive scorched-earth strategy during their retreat from the Imperial German Army in the summer and the autumn of 1915. The Russian troops, retreating along a front of more than 600 miles, destroyed anything that might be of use to their enemy, including crops, houses, railways and entire cities. They also forcibly removed huge numbers of people. In pushing the Russian troops back into Russia's interior, the German army gained a large area of territory from the Russian Empire that is now Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia and Lithuania.


title: Scorched earth

text: On the Western Front on 24 February 1917, the German army made a strategic scorched-earth withdrawal from the Somme battlefield to the prepared fortifications of the Hindenburg Line to shorten the line that had to be occupied. Since a scorched-earth campaign requires a war of movement, the Western Front provided little opportunity for the policy as the war was mostly a stalemate and was fought mostly in the same concentrated area for its entire duration.


title: Scorched earth

text: During the Greco-Turkish War (1919–22), the retreating Greek Army carried out a scorched-earth policy while it was fleeing from Anatolia in the final phase of the war. The historian Sydney Nettleton Fisher wrote, "The Greek army in retreat pursued a burned-earth policy and committed every known outrage against defenceless Turkish villagers in its path".


title: Scorched earth

text: Norman Naimark noted that "the Greek retreat was even more devastating for the local population than the occupation".


title: Scorched earth

text: During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Imperial Japanese Army had a scorched-earth policy, known as "Three Alls Policy", which caused immense environmental and infrastructure damage to be recorded. It contributed to the complete destruction of entire villages and partial destruction of entire cities.


title: Scorched earth

text: The Chinese National Revolutionary Army destroyed dams and levees in an attempt to flood the land to slow down the advancement of Japanese soldiers, which further added to the environmental impact and resulting in the 1938 Yellow River flood. In the 1938 Changsha fire, the city of Changsha was put on fire by the Kuomintang to prevent any wealth from falling into enemy hands.


title: Scorched earth

text: At the start of the Winter War in 1939, the Finns used the tactic in the vicinity of the border in order to deprive the invading Soviet Red Army's provisions and shelter for the forthcoming cold winter. In some cases, fighting took place in areas that were familiar to the Finnish soldiers who were fighting it. There were accounts of soldiers burning down their very own homes and parishes. One of the burned parishes was Suomussalmi.


title: Scorched earth

text: When Germany attacked the Soviet Union in June 1941, many district governments took the initiative to begin a partial scorched-earth policy to deny the invaders access to electrical, telecommunications, rail, and industrial resources. Parts of the telegraph network were destroyed, some rail and road bridges were blown up, most electrical generators were sabotaged through the removal of key components, and many mineshafts were collapsed. The process was repeated later in the war by the German forces of Army Group North and Erich von Manstein's Army Group Don, which stole crops, destroyed farms, and razed cities and smaller settlements during several military operations. The rationale for the policy was that it would slow pursuing Soviet forces by forcing them to save their own civilians, but in Manstein's postwar memoirs, the policy was justified as to have prevented the Soviets from stealing food and shelter from their own civilians. The best-known victims of the German scorched-earth policy were the people of the historic city of Novgorod, which was razed during the winter of 1944 to cover Army Group North's retreat from Leningrad.


title: Scorched earth

text: Near the end of the summer of 1944, Finland, which had made a separate peace with the Allies, was required to evict the German forces, which had been fighting against the Soviets alongside Finnish troops in northern Finland. The Finnish forces, under the leadership of General Hjalmar Siilasvuo, struck aggressively in late September 1944 by making a landfall at Tornio. That accelerated the German retreat, and by November 1944, the Germans had left most of northern Finland. The German forces, forced to retreat because of an overall strategic situation, covered their retreat towards Norway by devastating large areas of northern Finland by using a scorched-earth strategy. More than a third of the area's dwellings were destroyed, and the provincial capital Rovaniemi was burned to the ground. All but two bridges in Lapland Province were blown up, and all roads were mined.


title: Scorched earth

text: In northern Norway, which was also being invaded by Soviet forces in pursuit of the retreating Wehrmacht in 1944, the Germans also undertook a scorched-earth policy of destroying every building that could offer shelter and thus interposing a belt of "scorched earth" between themselves and the allies.


title: Scorched earth

text: In 1945, Adolf Hitler ordered his minister of armaments, Albert Speer, to carry out a nationwide scorched-earth policy, in what became known as the Nero Decree. Speer, who was looking to the future, actively resisted the order, just as he had earlier refused Hitler's command to destroy French industry when the Wehrmacht was being driven out of France. Speer managed to continue doing so even after Hitler became aware of his actions.


title: Scorched earth

text: During the Second World War, the railroad plough was used during retreats in Germany, Czechoslovakia and other countries to deny enemy use of railways by partially destroying them.


title: Scorched earth

text: Britain was the first nation to employ herbicides and defoliants (chiefly Agent Orange) to destroy the crops and the bushes of Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) insurgents in Malaya during the Malayan Emergency. The intent was to prevent MNLA insurgents from utilizing rice fields to resupply their rations and using them as a cover to ambush passing convoys of Commonwealth troops.


title: Scorched earth

text: In response to India's invasion of Portuguese Goa in December 1961 during the annexation of Portuguese India, orders delivered from Portuguese President Américo Tomás called for a scorched-earth policy for Goa to be destroyed before its surrender to India.


title: Scorched earth

text: However, despite his orders from Lisbon, Governor General Manuel António Vassalo e Silva took stock of the superiority of the Indian troops and of his forces' supplies of food and ammunition and took the decision to surrender. He later described his orders to destroy Goa as "a useless sacrifice" ("um sacrifício inútil")".


title: Scorched earth

text: The United States used Agent Orange as a part of its herbicidal warfare program Operation Ranch Hand to destroy crops and foliage to expose possible enemy hideouts during the Vietnam War. Agent Blue was used on rice fields to deny food to the Viet Cong.


title: Scorched earth

text: During the 1990 Persian Gulf War, when Iraqi forces were driven out of Kuwait, they set more than 600 Kuwaiti oil wells on fire. That was done as part of a scorched-earth policy during the retreat from Kuwait in 1991 after Iraqi forces had been driven out by Coalition military forces. The fires were started in January and February 1991, and the last one was extinguished by November 1991.


title: Scorched earth

text: Efraín Ríos Montt used the policy in Guatemala's highlands in 1981 and 1982, but it had been used under the previous president, Fernando Romeo Lucas García. Upon entering office, Ríos Montt implemented a new counterinsurgency strategy that called for the use of scorched earth to combat the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity rebels. Plan Victoria 82 was more commonly known by the nickname of the rural pacification elements of the strategy, "Fusiles y Frijoles" (Bullets and Beans). Ríos Montt's policies resulted in the death of thousands, most of them indigenous Mayans.


title: Scorched earth

text: The Indonesian military used the method during Indonesian National Revolution when the British forces in Bandung gave an ultimatum for Indonesian fighters to leave the city. In response, the southern part of Bandung was deliberately burned down in an act of defiance as they left the city on 24 March 1946. This event is known as the Bandung Sea of Fire ("Bandung Lautan Api").


title: Scorched earth

text: The Indonesian military and pro-Indonesia militias also used the method in the 1999 East Timorese crisis. The Timor-Leste scorched-earth campaign was around the time of East Timor's referendum for independence in 1999.


title: Scorched earth

text: The method was used during the Yugoslav Wars, such as against the Serbs in Krajina by the Croatian Army, and by Serbian paramilitary groups.


title: Scorched earth

text: During the 2009 Sri Lankan Civil War, the United Nations Regional Information Centre accused the government of Sri Lanka of using scorched-earth tactics.


title: Scorched earth

text: During the 2011 Libyan Civil War, forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi planted a large number of landmines within the petroleum port of Brega to prevent advancing rebel forces from utilizing the port facilities. Libyan rebel forces practiced scorched-earth policies when they completely demolished and refused to rebuild critical infrastructure in towns and cities that had been loyal to Gadhafi such as Sirte and Tawargha.


title: Scorched earth

text: Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022 under the guise of a "Special Military Operation." Russia is using a scorched earth policy to destroy the Ukrainian economy to cause panic within the civilian population and to destroy the civil infrastructure of cities and villages.


title: International Baccalaureate

text: The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB Diploma Programme and the IB Career-related Programme for students aged 15 to 19, the IB Middle Years Programme for students aged 11 to 16, and the IB Primary Years Programme for children aged 3 to 12. To teach these programmes, schools must be authorized by the International Baccalaureate.


title: International Baccalaureate

text: The organization's name and logo were changed in 2007 to reflect new structural arrangements. Consequently, "IB" may now refer to the organization itself, any of the four programmes, or the diploma or certificates awarded at the end of a programme.


title: International Baccalaureate

text: When Marie-Thérèse Maurette wrote "Educational Techniques for Peace. Do They Exist?" in 1948, she created the framework for what would eventually become the IB Diploma Programme (IBDP). In the mid-1960s, a group of teachers from the International School of Geneva (Ecolint) created the International Schools Examinations Syndicate (ISES), which would later become the International Baccalaureate Office (IBO), followed by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) and then the International Baccalaureate (IB).


title: International Baccalaureate

text: The IB headquarters were officially established in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1968 for the development and maintenance of the IB Diploma Programme. The objective of this programme was to "provide an internationally acceptable university admissions qualification suitable for the growing mobile population of young people whose parents were part of the world of diplomacy, international and multinational organizations" by offering standardized courses and assessments for students aged 16 to 19.


title: International Baccalaureate

text: International Baccalaureate North America (IBNA) was established in 1975 by Peter Nehr, International Baccalaureate Africa, Europe and Middle-East (IBAEM) in 1986, and International Baccalaureate Asia Pacific (IBAP) during the same period. The International Baccalaureate now functions as a global organization with global centers in Geneva, Washington DC, The Hague, Cardiff and Singapore.


title: International Baccalaureate

text: The IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) was first offered in 1994. Within five years, 51 countries had MYP schools. A revised MYP programme, referred to as the IB Middle Years Programme New chapter was introduced in September 2014.


title: International Baccalaureate

text: The IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) was piloted in 1996 in 30 primary schools on different continents, and the first PYP school was authorized in 1997, with 87 authorized schools in 43 countries within five years.


title: International Baccalaureate

text: Alec Peterson was IB's first director general (1968–1977), followed by Gérard Renaud (1977–1983), Roger Peel (1983–1998), Derek Blackman (1998–1999), George Walker (1999–2005), Jeffrey Beard (2006–2013) and Dr. Siva Kumari (2013-2021).


title: International Baccalaureate

text: As of May 2021, Olli-Pekka Heinonen, Finnish politician and director of the Finnish National Agency of Education was selected by the board of directors to serve as director general, replacing Dr. Siva Kumari.


title: International Baccalaureate

text: The IB is a nonprofit organization, selling its products and services to schools in a system analogous to a franchise network. Schools buy products and services from the IB - assessments, publications, the right to use branding - and in turn schools act as distributors, reselling the products and services to families.


title: International Baccalaureate

text: The IB maintains its head office in Geneva, Switzerland. Assessment and grading services are located in Cardiff, Wales and the curriculum centre moved in 2011 to The Hague, Netherlands. Two other offices are located in Bethesda, Maryland and Singapore.


title: International Baccalaureate

text: The organization is divided into three regional centres: IB Africa, Europe and Middle East (IBAEM), administered from The Hague; IB Americas (IBA), administered from Bethesda; and IB Asia-Pacific (IBAP), administered from Singapore.


title: International Baccalaureate

text: Sub-regional associations "are groups formed by and for IB school practitioners to assist IB schools, teachers and students in their communities—from implementing IB programmes to providing a forum for dialogue." There are currently fifty-six (56) sub-regional associations, including:


title: International Baccalaureate

text: In 2003, the IB established the IB Fund, incorporated in the United States, for the purpose of enhancing fundraising and keeping funds raised separate from operational funds. In 2004, the IB approved a strategic plan to "ensure that programmes and services are of the highest quality" and "to provide access to people who are socio-economically disadvantaged." In 2010 and 2015 the strategic plans were updated after substantial consultation. The vision for the next five years was to more consciously establish the IB as a leader in international education and the Board outlined a vision and four strategic goals with key strategic objectives.


title: International Baccalaureate

text: Access remains fundamental to the mission of the IB and a variety of initiatives and projects are helping to take it forward in Ecuador, Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Spain, Philippines, Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea.


title: International Baccalaureate

text: The United States has the largest number of IB programmes (2,010 out of 5,586) offered in both private and public schools.


title: International Baccalaureate

text: The IB works with governments and nongovernmental organizations across the world and has consultative status as a nongovernmental organization (NGO) at United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and has collaborative relationships with the Council of Europe and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF).


title: International Baccalaureate

text: The IB governance is composed of an IB Board of Governors and six committees (access and advancement, audit, education, finance, human resources and governance). The Board of Governors appoints the Director General, sets the strategic direction of the organization, adopts a mission statement, makes policy, oversees the IB's financial management, and ensures autonomy and integrity of the IB Diploma Programme examinations and other student assessment. The structure of its different committees are based on respect, representation and collaboration.


title: International Baccalaureate

text: The Board of Governors can comprise between 15 and 25 members. Members are elected by the Board on the recommendation of the governance committee, and from nominations presented from the Heads Council, Regional Councils and the Board. To encourage diversity of gender, culture and geography, there are only three ex officio positions: Director General (non-voting), the chair of the Examining Board and the chair of the Heads Council.


title: International Baccalaureate

text: Some schools in the United States have eliminated the IBDP due to budgetary reasons and low student participation. In Utah in 2008, funding for the IBDP was reduced from $300,000 to $100,000 after State Senator Margaret Dayton objected to the IB curriculum, stating, "First, I have never espoused eliminating IB ... I don't want to create 'world citizens' nearly as much as I want to help cultivate American citizens who function well in the world." Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago, meanwhile, believes that IB should be an option for students in Chicago Public Schools. Elizabeth Brackett, reporting on her own experience of studying the IB in Chicago, found that it made for a stressful school experience but subsequently eased the pressures of university study. A further report by the University of Chicago concluded that Chicago Public School students who completed the IB curriculum were 40% more likely to attend a four-year college, 50% more likely to attend a selective four-year college, and significantly more likely to persist in college than their matched peers outside the IB. The City of Miami Beach Commission entered into an education compact with Miami-Dade County Public Schools with one of the initiatives of the compact to implement the IB curriculum throughout Miami Beach feeder schools.


title: International Baccalaureate

text: In some other parts of the world, the International Baccalaureate has been well received. In 2013, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan and the IB announced a plan that will expand the opportunities for Japanese students to complete the IB curriculum in Japanese. In Malaysia a project has been developed in response to interest expressed by the Malaysia Ministry of Education (MoE) in working with the IB to implement the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) in select secondary state schools.


title: International Baccalaureate

text: The Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) signed an agreement with the IB in efforts to widen the options offered for parents and to meet the different needs of students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In April 2014 The King Faisal Foundation in Saudi Arabia and the IB signed a memorandum of understanding to develop IB programmes, including the IBDP, in up to forty primary and secondary schools, with the goal of developing these schools as centres of excellence as IB World Schools. In Peru President Ollanta Humala has committed to building a high performing schools network (COAR) made up of IB World Schools. In early 2016 thirteen new schools were authorized by the IB as part of this programme. In Ecuador, President Rafael Correa has also committed to improving education in state schools by implementing IB programmes and by January 2016 there were over 200 state schools. With support from local organizations, there are thirteen state IB schools in Russia. In Spain, various models have been implemented (3 types of schools in Spain: public schools, private schools and state funded-private or ‘concerted’ schools) and led to extensive growth with 140 schools.


title: International Baccalaureate

text: Internationally the IB continues to be recognized as innovative, and in 2014 the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) announced the IB Career-related Certificate as a finalist for their annual WISE Awards. However, the IB came under heavy criticism around the world in 2020 for controversial estimated grades, set when COVID-19 precautions obstructed examinations.


title: International Baccalaureate

text: According to tertiary educational agency 7Acad, the diploma mean grade stands at a 4 year low of 4.54 points, total points at a 5 year low of 28.51 pts as of 2019.


title: International Baccalaureate

text: A study published by the University of Cambridge showed that a Cambridge student, who had obtained a score of 41 or more, achieved above-average success while at Cambridge. Students who had received 38 or less, were receiving grades below the average of all Cambridge students. Those that had the IB score of 38 or 39, obtained above average grades in science, and below average grades in social studies and humanities.


title: International Baccalaureate

text: In March 2020, the IB announced that exams for the May 2020 session had been canceled as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It claimed that the final grades would instead be calculated based on course work, students' teacher-predicted grades, and historic school data. "Prior to the attribution of final grades, this process was subjected to rigorous testing by educational statistical specialists to ensure our methods were robust. It was also checked against the last five years’ sets of results data," an IB spokesman said. In July 2020, the IB released its results for Diploma Programme and Career-related Programme candidates enrolled in the May 2020 session. Over 17,000 signatories signed an online petition calling for a clarification of the grading methodology, and for free remarking and retesting. Several educators have criticized IB's approach to the 2020 grading. The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation stated it would "scrutinize" the grades. The Norwegian Data Protection Authority asked the IB to provide data under the General Data Protection Regulation.


title: International Baccalaureate

text: Some argued that using a school's historical data to produce grades was unfair to black or low-income students, or students from smaller schools. Others complained about the lack of transparency and fair process of the grades' appeal process.


title: International Baccalaureate

text: In August 2020, amidst the continuing coronavirus pandemic, the IB announced a series of comprehensive amendments to its scheduled examinations in May 2021. They were inclusive of a few assessment components being discounted (for select subjects), and others being revised in length or syllabi. On 4 February 2021, the IB announced a dual exam route for the May 2021 examination: examinations were expected to take place in regions where a written assessment could be "administered safely", while candidates in other regions follow a non-exam "alternative route" based on coursework and predicted grades. This decision was met with stiff backlash as students taking the IB Diploma Programme protested against perceived injustice. Students argued that exams will have a negative impact on student mental health and wellbeing as well as possible consequences for university admissions. The IB's dual system approach has also been criticised as exam boards such as Cambridge, who cancelled their IGCSE and international A-levels exams.


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: Christiane Maria Heideh Amanpour (; ; born 12 January 1958) is a British-Iranian journalist and television host. Amanpour is the Chief International Anchor for CNN and host of CNN International's nightly interview program "Amanpour". She is also the host of "Amanpour & Company" on PBS.


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: Amanpour was born in the West London suburb of Ealing, the daughter of Mohammad Taghi and Patricia Anne Amanpour ("née" Hill). Her father was Iranian, from Tehran. Amanpour was raised in Tehran until the age of 11. Her father was Shi'ite Muslim and her mother was Roman Catholic.


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: After completing the larger part of her primary school education in Iran, she was sent to a boarding school in England by her parents when she was 11. She attended Holy Cross Convent, an all-girls school in Chalfont Saint Peter, Buckinghamshire, and then, at the age of 16, she attended New Hall School, a Roman Catholic school in Chelmsford, Essex. Christiane and her family returned to England not long after the Islamic Revolution began. She has stressed the fact that they were not forced to leave the country, instead, they were returning to England due to the Iran–Iraq War. The family ultimately remained in England, finding it difficult to return to Iran.


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: After leaving New Hall, Amanpour moved to the United States to study journalism at the University of Rhode Island. During her time there, she worked in the news department at WBRU-FM in Providence, Rhode Island. She also worked for NBC affiliate WJAR in Providence as an electronic graphics designer. In 1983, Amanpour graduated from the university "summa cum laude" and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. degree in journalism.


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: In 1983, she was hired by CNN on the foreign desk in Atlanta, Georgia, as an entry-level desk assistant. During her early years as a correspondent, Amanpour was given her first major assignment covering the Iran–Iraq War, which led to her being transferred in 1986 to Eastern Europe to report on the fall of European communism. In 1989, she was assigned to work in Frankfurt am Main, West Germany, where she reported on the democratic revolutions sweeping Eastern Europe at the time. Through this position, she was able to move up in the company and by 1990 served as a correspondent for CNN's New York bureau.


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: Following Iraq's occupation of Kuwait in 1990, Amanpour's reports of the Persian Gulf War brought her wide notice while also taking CNN to a new level of news coverage. Thereafter, she reported from the Bosnian war and other conflict zones. While in Bosnia, she interviewed Serb general Ratko Mladic, who would later be convicted of genocide. Because of her emotional delivery from Sarajevo during the Siege of Sarajevo, viewers and critics questioned her professional objectivity, claiming that many of her reports were unjustified and favoured the Bosnian Muslims, to which she replied, "There are some situations one simply cannot be neutral about, because when you are neutral you are an accomplice. Objectivity doesn't mean treating all sides equally. It means giving each side a hearing." Amanpour gained a reputation for being fearless during the Gulf and Bosnian wars and for reporting from conflict areas.


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: From 1992 to 2010, Amanpour was CNN's chief international correspondent as well as the anchor of "Amanpour", a daily CNN interview program that aired 2009–2010. Amanpour has reported on major crises from many of the world's hotspots, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, Somalia, Rwanda, and the Balkans and from the United States during Hurricane Katrina. She has secured exclusive interviews with world leaders from the Middle East to Europe, Africa and beyond, including Iranian presidents Mohammad Khatami and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as well as the presidents of Afghanistan, Sudan, and Syria, among others. After 9/11, she was the first international correspondent to interview British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Jacques Chirac, and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. Other interviewees have included Hillary Clinton, Nicolás Maduro, Hassan Rouhani, Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel, John Kerry, the Dalai Lama, Robert Mugabe and Moammar Gadhafi.


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: She has also conducted interviews with Constantine II of Greece, Reza Pahlavi, Ameera al-Taweel and actors Angelina Jolie, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep.


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: From 1996 to 2005, she was contracted by "60 Minutes" creator Don Hewitt to file four to five in-depth international news reports a year as a special contributor. These reports garnered her a Peabody Award in 1998 (she had earlier been awarded one in 1993). Hewitt's successor Jeff Fager was not a fan of her work and terminated her contract.


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: She has had many memorable moments in her television career, one of them in a live telephone interview with Yasser Arafat during the siege on his compound in March 2002, in which Arafat gave tough responses: "Are you asking me why am I under complete siege? You're a wonderful journalist. You have to respect your profession." and "You have to be accurately [sic] when you are speaking with General Yasser Arafat. Be quiet!", and finished by hanging up on her.


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: On 9 October 1994, Stephen Kinzer of "The New York Times" criticised Amanpour's coverage, in general, of the Bosnian War. Kinzer quoted a colleague's description of Amanpour as she reported on a terrorist bombing in the Markale marketplace of the Bosnian city of Sarajevo:


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: [Christiane Amanpour] was sitting in Belgrade when that marketplace massacre happened, and she went on the air to say that the Serbs had probably done it. There was no way she could have known that. She was assuming an omniscience which no journalist has.


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: Amanpour has responded to the criticism leveled on her reporting from the war in the former Yugoslavia for "lack of neutrality", stating:


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: Some people accused me of being pro-Muslim in Bosnia, but I realized that our job is to give all sides an equal hearing, but in cases of genocide you can't just be neutral. You can't just say, "Well, this little boy was shot in the head and killed in besieged Sarajevo and that guy over there did it, but maybe he was upset because he had an argument with his wife." No, there is no equality there, and we had to tell the truth.


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: In 2019, retired commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Saeed Qassemi spoke of his and his comrades' participation as combatants in the Bosnian War, with him having been disguised as staff of the Iranian Red Crescent Society. Shortly after, in April 2019, Qassemi claimed that Amanpour had uncovered their deception.


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: On 18 March 2010, Amanpour announced she would leave CNN for ABC News, where she would anchor "This Week". She said, "I'm thrilled to be joining the incredible team at ABC News. Being asked to anchor "This Week" in the superb tradition started by David Brinkley is a tremendous and rare honor, and I look forward to discussing the great domestic and international issues of the day. I leave CNN with the utmost respect, love, and admiration for the company and everyone who works here. This has been my family and shared endeavor for the past 27 years, and I am forever grateful and proud of all that we have accomplished." She hosted her first broadcast on 1 August 2010.


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: During her first two months as host, the ratings for "This Week" reached their lowest point since 2003. On 28 February 2011, she interviewed Muammar Gaddafi and his sons Saif al-Islam and Al-Saadi Gaddafi.


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: On 13 December 2011, ABC announced Amanpour would be leaving her post as anchor of ABC News' "This Week" on 8 January 2012, and returning to CNN International, where she had previously worked for 27 years, and maintaining a reporting role at ABC News.


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: A day later on 14 December 2011, in statements by ABC and CNN, it was announced that, in a "unique arrangement", Amanpour would begin hosting a program on CNN International in 2012, while continuing at ABC News as a global affairs anchor.


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: It was later revealed that in the spring of 2012, CNN International would refresh its line-up, putting the interview show "Amanpour" back on air. On-air promotions said she would return to CNN International on 16 April. Her 30-minute New York-recorded show – to be screened twice an evening – would mean that the US parent network's "Piers Morgan Tonight" interview show would be "bumped" out of its 9:00 p.m. (Central European Time) slot to midnight (CET).


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: On 9 September 2013, the show and staff were moved to the CNN International office and the show is currently being produced and broadcast from London.


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: On 7 January 2015, Amanpour made headlines during a "Breaking News" segment on CNN by referring to the Islamic extremists who murdered the 12 journalists at "Charlie Hebdo" as "activists": "On this day, these activists found their targets, and their targets were journalists. This was a clear attack on the freedom of expression, on the press, and on satire".


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: On 12 November 2020, Amanpour compared the Trump administration to the Nazis and Kristallnacht, saying "It was the Nazis' warning shot across the bow of our human civilization that led to genocide against a whole identity, and in that tower of burning books, it led to an attack on fact, knowledge, history and truth. After four years of a modern-day assault on those same values by Donald Trump, the Biden-Harris team pledges a return to norms, including the truth." The Israeli government, along with some Jewish groups, called for Amanpour to apologize for this comparison. Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Omer Yankelevich urged an "immediate and public apology" for "belittling of the immense tragedy of the Holocaust."


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: In September 2022, Amanpour axed a scheduled interview with President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi in New York City during the seventy-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly, following a last-minute demand that she wear a headscarf while filming. Amanpour responded that she could not agree to the "unprecedented and unexpected condition" and later reflected on the situation, saying that "Here in New York, or anywhere else outside of Iran, I have never been asked by any Iranian president ― and I have interviewed every single one of them since 1995 ― either inside or outside of Iran, never been asked to wear a head scarf".


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: In late 2013, Amanpour raised the argument for intervention in Syria against the Assad government, which has been fighting against Syrian opposition forces. She has appeared on several news programmes in the UK in which she has criticized the Obama administration for its non-interventionist approach to Syria. Her advocacy of intervention was criticized in "The Huffington Post" by Michael S. Lofgren.


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: In May 2018, it was announced that Amanpour would permanently replace Charlie Rose on PBS after he was fired due to allegations of sexual misconduct. Her new program, "Amanpour & Company", premiered on PBS on 10 September 2018. From the time of Charlie Rose's departure from PBS until the new show premiered, "Amanpour" was aired on PBS stations, as "Amanpour on PBS".


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: In 2020, Christiane Amanpour has been doing the PBS daily program, "Amanpour & Company", from her home in England, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Her program continues to be seen on television on PBS at many stations in various areas of the US, including at least 4 TV stations in the greater Los Angeles region of southern California.


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: Amanpour is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the board of directors of the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Center for Public Integrity, the International Women's Media Foundation, and the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. Since April 2015 she has served as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Freedom of Expression and journalist safety.


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: From 1998 to 2018, Amanpour was married to American James Rubin, a former US Assistant Secretary of State and spokesman for the US State Department during the Clinton administration and an informal adviser to former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and to former President Barack Obama. Their son, Darius John Rubin, was born in 2000. Having lived in London since 2000, they moved to New York City in 2010, where they rented an apartment in Manhattan's Upper West Side. In May 2013, Rubin announced that the family would return to London to work on several projects, and in October of the same year, Amanpour stated that she and her husband would be relocating to London permanently: "Right now I'd have to say that London is my home... My family are in England, and my husband and I are loving reacquainting ourselves with all the friends we left behind".


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: Amanpour is a relative by marriage of General Nader Jahanbani, who commanded the Imperial Iranian Air Force for nearly 20 years until he was executed by Islamic Revolutionaries in 1979, and of his younger brother Khosrow, who was married to Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi. Amanpour's uncle, Captain Nasrollah Amanpour, was married to the younger sister of Khosrow and Nader.


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: In June 2021, Amanpour announced that she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, had "major successful surgery to remove it", and would undergo several months of chemotherapy.


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: Amanpour appeared in "Gilmore Girls" as herself in the show's series finale, "Bon Voyage". Throughout the series, Amanpour was an inspiration to one of the main characters, aspiring journalist Rory Gilmore. In July 2009 she appeared in a "Harper's Bazaar" magazine article entitled "Christiane Amanpour Gets a High-Fashion Makeover".


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: Amanpour played herself in newscasts in the films "Iron Man 2" and "Pink Panther 2". In "", she voiced Enheduanna in the episode "".


title: Christiane Amanpour

text: In 2016 Amanpour was a castaway on the BBC radio programme "Desert Island Discs". As her luxury item she chose a guitar previously owned by Bruce Springsteen.


title: Accra

text: Accra (; ; ; or "Gaga") is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of 284,124 inhabitants, and the larger Greater Accra Region, , had a population of 5,455,692


title: Accra

text: inhabitants. In common usage, the name "Accra" often refers to the territory of the Accra Metropolitan District as it existed before 2008, when it covered . This territory has since been split into 13 local government districts: 12 independent municipal districts (total area: 179.0 km²) and the reduced Accra Metropolitan District (20.4 km²), which is the only district within the capital to be granted city status. This territory of 199.4 km² contained 1,782,150 inhabitants at the 2021 census, and serves as the capital of Ghana, while the district under the jurisdiction of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly proper (20.4 km²) is distinguished from the rest of the capital as the "City of Accra".


title: Accra

text: Formed from the merger of distinct settlements around British Fort James, Dutch Fort Crêvecoeur (Ussher Fort), and Danish Fort Christiansborg as Jamestown, Usshertown, and Christiansborg respectively, Accra served as the capital of the British Gold Coast between 1877 and 1957 and has since transitioned into a modern metropolis. The capital's architecture reflects this history, ranging from 19th-century colonial architecture to modern skyscrapers and apartment blocks.


title: Accra

text: Accra is the Greater Accra Region's economic and administrative hub, and serves as the anchor of the larger Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA), which is inhabited by about 4 million people, making it the thirteenth-largest metropolitan area in Africa. In 2020, the Globalization and World Cities Research Network think tank designated Accra as a "Gamma −" level global city, indicating a growing level of international influence and connectedness.


title: Accra

text: The word "Accra" is derived from the Akan word "Nkran" meaning "ants", a reference to the numerous anthills seen in the countryside around Accra. The name specifically refers to soldier ants, and was applied to both the town and people by the Twi speakers.


title: Accra

text: The name of Accra in the local Ga language is "Ga" or "Gaga", the same name as that of the Ga people and a cognate with "Nkran". The word is sometimes rendered with the nasalised vowels as "Gã" or "Gãgã". Historian Carl Christian Reindorf confirmed this etymology, proposing a link between the martial qualities and migratory behaviour of the local ants and those of the Ga people. The link between the ethnonym and ants was explicitly reflected in the recognition of anthills as sacred places. Often ringed by sacred fences ("aklabatsa"), the tall red mounds dotting Accra's hinterland were seen as microcosms of human community and as nodal points between the known world and the world of the dead.


title: Accra

text: While the Ga used the reference to the invasive species of dark-red swarming ants to connote military prowess and their ancient conquest of Guang speakers residing in the Accra Plains, the Akan-speaking appropriation and translation of this metaphor had a less than generous meaning. Instead of viewing Ga speakers as a formidable military force, the Akan-speaking term ""Nkran"" cast Ga peoples as pests or nuisances to be controlled or exterminated.


title: Accra

text: The name "Ga" is actually a cognate of the name "Akan", one of a few words in which corresponds to in Akan. "Ga" also gave its name to the Ga districts surrounding Accra.


title: Accra

text: The spelling "Accra" was given to "Nkran" by Europeans. An earlier spelling used by the Danes was "Akra."


title: Accra

text: The main Ga group known as the Tumgwa Were led by Ayi Kushie arrived by sea. When the Guan (Lartehs) on the coast saw them on their canoes at sea, they looked like ants. Hence, the Lartehs refer to them as Nkran (ants). Nkran was later corrupted by the Danes to Akra, then to present-day Accra. "Nkran" in the Ga language is "Gaga", thus they also started calling themselves Ga. Due to their sheer numbers, the indigenous Lartehs thus relocated to the Akuapem ridge.


title: Accra

text: Initially, Accra was not the most prominent trading centre; the trade hubs of the time were the ports at Ada and Prampram, along with the inland centres of Dodowa and Akuse. The Dutch built the nearby outposts of Ussher Fort while the British and the Swedes built James Fort and Christiansborg castles, respectively. By the 17th century, Portugal, France and Denmark, had constructed forts in the city.


title: Accra

text: Britain gradually acquired the interests of all other countries beginning in 1851, when Denmark sold Christiansborg (which they had acquired from the Swedes) and their other forts to the British. The Netherlands was the last to sell out, in 1871. In 1873, after decades of tension between the British and Ashantis, the British captured Kumasi, destroying portions of the city. The British then captured Accra in 1874, and in 1877, at the end of the second Anglo-Asante War, Accra replaced Cape Coast as the capital of the British Gold Coast. This decision was made because Accra had a drier climate relative to Cape Coast. Until this time, the settlement of Accra was confined between Ussher Fort to the east and the Korle Lagoon to the west.


title: Accra

text: As the newly established Gold Coast's administrative functions were moved to Accra (1877), an influx of British colonial administrators and European settlers grew around the Christiansborg (modern Osu, Ministries, Ridge, Labone, and Cantonments) began, and the city began to expand to accommodate the new residents. Victoriaborg was formed in the late 19th century as an exclusively European residential neighbourhood, located to the east of the city limits of the time. The boundaries of Accra were further stretched in 1908. This expansion entailed the creation of a native-only neighbourhood, intended to accommodate members of the native population as a means of relieving congestion problems in the overcrowded city centre. Adabraka was thus established to the north of the city.


title: Accra

text: One of the most influential decisions in the history of the city was that of building the Accra-Kumasi railway in 1908. This was to connect Accra, the country's foremost port at that time, with Ghana's main cocoa-producing regions. In 1923, the railway was completed, and by 1924, cocoa was Ghana's largest export.


title: Accra

text: The colonial era heavily influenced the shape that Accra took during this period. For example, the segregation of European and African neighbourhoods was mandated by law until 1923, and all new buildings were required to be built out of stone or concrete. Despite these regulations, European settlers in the Gold Coast were very hesitant to invest any large amount of money into the city to maintain its infrastructure or improve public works. This did not change until the governorship of Sir Frederick Gordon Guggisberg during which period the three separate settlements (Osu, La and Jamestown) merged to become modern Accra. Guggisberg's administration laid out the present grid networked neighborhoods of Tudu, Adabraka and Asylum Down.


title: Accra

text: Among the achievements of Guggisberg was the building of a bridge across the Korle Lagoon in 1923, which opened the land west of the lagoon for settlement. Guggisberg also oversaw the building of a major hospital (Korle-Bu) and secondary school (Achimota). Such improvements led to an increase in Accra's population due to the migration of rural dwellers into the city, and the immigration of increasing numbers of British businessmen and administrators.


title: Accra

text: In the years following World War II, the neighbourhoods of Ridge and Cantonments were planned as low-density developments for Europeans, while many rural migrants settled in neighbourhoods which had not yet been incorporated into Accra's municipal boundary, such as Nima and surrounding areas. Thus, the development of these neighbourhoods was unregulated by the government, creating a crowded and jumbled shanty-town landscape.


title: Accra

text: Another area of Accra that took shape at this time was the central business district (CBD). More administrative buildings were built on High Street, forming a massive judicial/administrative complex. Additionally, the expansion of the economy led to many more commercial buildings being built in the CBD.


title: Accra

text: In 1944, Accra's city planner Maxwell Fry devised a town plan, which was revised in 1958 by B.D.W. Treavallion and Alan Flood. Although the Fry/Trevallion plan was never followed through, it illustrated the British vision of how Accra should develop.


title: Accra

text: In the Fry/Treavallion plan, a reorganisation of the CBD was called for, as well as the development of the coastal region of the city. To reorganise the CBD, the planners decided to superimpose a tight street grid north of Fort Ussher.


title: Accra

text: To the east of this newly organised CBD, the planners hoped to preserve a broad, open space for a restaurant, country club, and polo and cricket fields. Additionally, the British planners intended to build large numbers of public squares, fountains, and ornamental pools and statues throughout the city, as well as a vast Parliament Complex in the city centre. Lastly, the Fry/Treavallion plan included plans to make the coastal region an extension of the exclusive European neighbourhood of Victoriaborg, and to create a recreational preserve for the elite. However, the British Gold Coast ended before the Fry/Treavallion plan was enacted.


title: Accra

text: When Kwame Nkrumah became Ghana's first postindependence Prime Minister in 1957, he created his own plan for Accra's development. Instead of creating spaces to serve the elite, Nkrumah sought to create spaces to inspire pride and nationalism in his people and people throughout Africa.


title: Accra

text: Rather than creating ornamental fountains and a large Parliament complex, Nkrumah decided to build landmarks such as Independence Square, the State House, and the Organisation of African Unity building, and to refurbish Christianborg Castle. Nkrumah decided to leave the Atlantic coastal region undeveloped, so as to not detract attention from the Community Centre or Independence Square, lending both spaces symbolic significance. The Nkrumah plan did not emphasise order nearly as much as the Fry/Treavallion plan did; whereas the British plan strove to lessen crowding in the commercial district and help relieve the overcrowding of neighbourhoods bordering the CBD, the Nkrumah plan allowed for continued compression of commercial establishments into the CBD, as well as increased migration into Jamestown.


title: Accra

text: The modern city is centred on the original British, Danish, and Dutch forts and their surrounding communities: Jamestown near the British James Fort, Osu near the Danish fort of Christiansborg (now Osu Castle), and Ussherstown near the Dutch Ussher fort.


title: Accra

text: Tourist attractions include the National Museum of Ghana, the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Archives of Ghana and Ghana's central library, the National Theatre, the Accra Centre for National Culture, and the Jamestown Lighthouse.


title: Accra

text: The Parliament, Supreme Court of Ghana, Black Star Square and the Bank of Ghana are also located in Accra.


title: Accra

text: The city is also a transportation hub, home to the Kotoka International Airport, and railway links to Tema, Sekondi-Takoradi and Kumasi. Accra has become a location for national and international business conferences, such as the BarCamp Ghana series, organised by GhanaThink Foundation.


title: Accra

text: Owing to its location in the Dahomey Gap, where the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean coast runs parallel to the prevailing moist monsoonal winds, Accra features a very marginal hot semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification: BSh) that borders on a tropical wet and dry climate (Köppen climate classification: Aw/As). The average annual rainfall is about 730 mm, which falls primarily during Ghana's two rainy seasons. The chief rainy season begins in April and ends in mid-July, whilst a weaker second rainy season occurs in October. Rain usually falls in short intensive storms and causes local flooding in which drainage channels are obstructed.


title: Accra

text: Very little variation in temperature occurs throughout the year. The mean monthly temperature ranges from in August (the coolest) to in March (the hottest), with an annual average of . The "cooler" months tend to be more humid than the warmer months. As a result, during the warmer months and particularly during the windy harmattan season, the city experiences a breezy "dry heat" that feels less warm than the "cooler" but more humid rainy season.


title: Accra

text: As a coastal city, Accra is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and sea level rise, with population growth putting increasing pressure on the coastal areas. Drainage infrastructure is particularly at risk, which has profound implications for people's livelihoods, especially in informal settlements. Inadequate planning regulation and law enforcement, as well as perceived corruption in government processes, lack of communication across government departments and lack of concern or government co-ordination with respect to building codes are major impediments to progressing the development of Accra's drainage infrastructure, according to the Climate & Development Knowledge Network.


title: Accra

text: As Accra is close to the equator, the daylight hours are practically uniform during the year. Relative humidity is generally high, varying from 65% in the midafternoon to 95% at night. The predominant wind direction in Accra is from the WSW to NNE sectors. Wind speeds normally range between 8 and 16 km/h. High wind gusts occur with thunderstorms, which generally pass in squalls along the coast.


title: Accra

text: The maximum wind speed record in Accra is 107.4 km/h (58 knots). Strong winds associated with thunderstorm activity often cause damage to property by removing roofing material. Several areas of Accra experience microclimatic effects. Low-profile drainage basins with a north–south orientation are not as well ventilated as those oriented east–west.


title: Accra

text: Air is often trapped in pockets over the city, and an insulation effect can give rise to a local increase in air temperature of several degrees. This occurs most notably in the Accra Newtown sports complex areas.


title: Accra

text: The administration of Accra occurs at two levels. Strategic initiatives, such as the urban transportation project, are coordinated between district authorities, while local administration is carried out by local government authorities, which are responsible for most local services, such as local planning, local roads and refuse collection within their area of jurisdiction.


title: Accra

text: The former territory of the Accra Metropolitan District, , as it existed before 2008, is now divided into 13 separate local government districts, all governed as municipal assemblies with their own town hall and a municipal executive appointed by the president of the republic. Each municipal assembly is responsible for most local services, such as local planning and refuse collection. The reduced Accra Metropolitan District (also referred to as City of Accra), , once comprised the entirety of Accra until the Ledzokuku, Krowor, La Dadekotopon, Ablekuma North, Ablekuma Central, Ablekuma West, Ayawaso East, Ayawaso North, Ayawaso Central, Ayawaso West, Okaikwei North, and Korley Kottey districts were carved out as separate municipal districts between 2008 and 2019.


title: Accra

text: The Accra Metropolitan District is one of the 13 local government districts that contains the historic center and the primary central business district (CBD) of Accra. To promote efficiency in the administrative machinery and also meet the ever pressing demands for amenities and essential services, the district is divided into the Ashiedu Keteke, Okaikoi South, and Ablekuma South sub-metropolitan districts.


title: Accra

text: The Accra Metropolitan Assembly, which governs the City of Accra within the boundaries of the Accra Metropolitan District, is led by a Metropolitan Chief Executive who is appointed by the President of the Republic of Ghana. The Mayor of Accra is Mohammed Adjei Sowah, who was appointed by President Nana Akufo-Addo and approved unanimously by the AMA on 23 March 2017.


title: Accra

text: The Ablekuma South sub-metropolitan district covers an area of and is bordered by the Ablekuma Central and Ablekuma North Municipal Assemblies, and the Ashiedu Keteke sub-metropolitan district. It includes 5 electoral areas: Korle Gonno, Korlebu, Chorkor, Mamprobi, and New Mamprobi.


title: Accra

text: Communities within the Okaikoi South sub-metropolitan district include Darkuman, New Fadama, Kaneshie, Bubiashie, and Avenor. The sub-metro has 8 electoral areas namely Awudome, Goten, Kaatsean, Mukose, Bubuashie, Bubui, Avenor and Kaneshie.


title: Accra

text: The Ashiedu Keteke sub-metropolitan district covers the Central Business District (CBD) and as such the hub of major commercial activities within the Metropolis. Majr markets include Makola, Agbogbloshie, and Kwasiodwaso. There are 8 electoral areas namely Ngleshie, Mudor, Kinka, Nmlitsagonno, Amamomo, Korle Wonkon, and Korle Dudor.


title: Accra

text: The Ledzekuku Municipal District, with its administrative capital at Teshie, covers an estimated area of .


title: Accra

text: The Krowor Municipal District was carved out of the Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal District in 2018. Its administrative capital is Nungua.


title: Accra

text: The La Dadekotopon Municipal District, with its administrative capital at La, was carved out of the Accra Metropolitan District in 2012. The Kotoka International Airport, Airport City, Accra Mall, and the US Embassy are located within the district, which covers an area of Other communities within this district include Cantonments, Labone, and Burma Camp.


title: Accra

text: The Ablekuma North Municipal District was carved out of the Accra Metropolitan District in 2018 with an administrative capital at Darkuman Kokompe.


title: Accra

text: The Ablekuma Central Municipal District covers a total land area of . Its administrative capital is Lartebiokorshie.


title: Accra

text: The Ablekuma West Municipal District was carved out of the Accra Metropolitan District in 2018 and its administrative capital is Dansoman.


title: Accra

text: The Ablekuma East Municipal District was carved out of the Accra Metropolitan District in 2018 and its administrative capital is Nima.


title: Accra

text: The Ablekuma North Municipal District was carved out of the Accra Metropolitan District in 2018 and its administrative capital is Accra Newtown.


title: Accra

text: The Ayawaso Central Municipal District was carved out of the Accra Metropolitan District with an administrative capital being Kokomlemle.


title: Accra

text: The Ayawaso Central Municipal District was carved out of the Accra Metropolitan District and its administrative capital is Dzorwulu.


title: Accra

text: The Korley Klottey Municipal District was carved out of the Accra Metropolitan District in 2019 and covers an area of Some of the communities within the district include Osu, Ringway Estates, Asylum Down, North Ridge, West Ridge, Ministries, Gold Coast City, North Adabraka, and Tudu. There are 9 electoral areas namely Osu Doku, Ringway Estates, Kinkawe, Osu Alata, Asylum Down, North Adabraka, Tudu, Odorna/Sahara, and Official Town.


title: Accra

text: The Ring Road, extending from the Korle Lagoon in the west, north to Kwame Nkrumah Circle, following east to the juncture of Independence Avenue, and continuing on to Osu, forms a ring around the oldest districts of Accra, and separates central Accra from the outlying suburbs.


title: Accra

text: Central Accra includes the CBD, which consists of the historic districts of Usshertown, Tudu, Victoriaborg, West Ridge, and East Ridge, as well as the historic residential districts of Jamestown, Adabraka, Asylum Down, North Ridge and Christiansborg/Osu.


title: Accra

text: Although satellite business districts such as the Airport City have been established across the city, Central Accra remains the administrative and cultural centre of Accra, hosting government ministries, hotels, businesses, and financial institutions.


title: Accra

text: Central Accra's principal attractions include the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum, the National Museum, Independence Square, the National Theatre, and the Ohene Djan Stadium.


title: Accra

text: Northern Accra is a residential and business district. The area contains the "37" Military Hospital, The Flagstaff House, several foreign embassies, Achimota School, Achimota Golf Park, and the University of Ghana's Legon campus, which serves as Accra's northern boundary.


title: Accra

text: Geographically, the areas north of Ring Road West and Central, east of Winneba/Graphic Road, west of Liberation Road, and the districts just north and south of the Kwame Nkrumah motorway are regarded as Northern Accra. Some areas North of Accra include, Ashongnman, Madina, Haatso, North and West Legon and others


title: Accra

text: Eastern Accra is largely residential and geographically north of Ring Road East, stretching as far north as Kwame Nkrumah Motorway; the district is bordered to the west by Liberation Road.


title: Accra

text: Western Accra is largely a residential and business area. Whilst geographically less expansive than the northern and eastern reaches of the city as a result of the large saltponds of Tettegu and Aplaku, it nonetheless boasts one of Accra's most important landmarks, the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.


title: Accra

text: Geographically, the areas west of Ring Road West, extending as far west as the saltponds and south of Graphic Road, are considered Accra West.


title: Accra

text: The period between 1960 and 1970 saw rapid industrialisation and expansion in Accra's manufacturing and commercial sectors. This contributed to high rural-urban migration to the city, and consequently a high population growth rate. The stagnation of the Ghanaian economy during the 1970s slowed the growth of Accra's population, as shown by the falling growth rate of the 1970–1984 intercensal years. Later, however, the decline in agriculture in rural communities in Ghana and rising industrialisation in urban regions, coupled with the late-1980s boom in the service sector, once again propelled immigration to Accra. The primacy of the Accra Metropolitan Area as the Greater Accra region's administrative, educational, industrial and commercial centre continues to be the major force for its population growth, with immigration contributing to over 35% of the Accra's population growth.


title: Accra

text: The gross density of population for the Accra Metropolitan Area in 2000 was 10.03 persons per hectare, compared to 6.23 per hectare in 1970. The highest densities were recorded in the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, with an overall average of 69.3 persons per hectare. At the community level, densities exceeding 250 persons per hectare occurred mostly in the immigrant and depressed areas in the oldest parts of Accra, such as Accra New Town, Nima, Jamestown and Usshertown. In higher-income areas, densities ranged between 17.5 and 40 persons per hectare.


title: Accra

text: Accra's population is a very youthful one, with 56% of the population being under 24 years of age. This predominance of young people is not expected to decline in the foreseeable future. Fifty-one percent (51%) of the population are females, and the remaining 49% males. This gives a males-to-females ratio of 1:1.04. The greater number of females is a reflection of the nationwide trend, where the estimated ratio of males to females is 1:1.03.


title: Accra

text: Decentralisation is expected to reduce the migration rates in Accra. An assessment of the extent of migration to Accra, based on present locality and gender, reveals that 45% of residents in Accra are African immigrants from countries across the African continent.


title: Accra

text: Parts of Central Accra comprise a mixture of very low-density development with under-used service infrastructure on the one hand, high-density development and overstretched infrastructure services on the other. The growth of Accra has led to the neglect of some of the old settlements, whilst efforts are being made to provide the newly developing suburban areas with services and infrastructure to cater for the needs of the middle-income earners. Peripheral residential development in Accra barely has sufficient infrastructure to support it. There are also large numbers of uncompleted houses, interspersed with pockets of undeveloped land, which are often subject of litigation, due to the inability of organisations and individuals who own them to complete or develop them due to lack of funds. Housing can be grouped into three broad categories: the low-income, middle-income and high-income areas. The low-income housing areas comprise Osu, Jamestown, Adedenkpo, Chorkor, La, Teshie, Nungua, Sukura, Kwashieman, Odorkor, Bubiashie, Abeka, Nima, Maamobi and Chorkor. Altogether, these areas accommodate about 58% of Accra's total population. Most of Accra's informal businesses are located in low-income areas.


title: Accra

text: Almost all low-income areas are built up with little room for expansion. This is particularly so in the areas of the inner city. The middle-income areas of Accra are predominantly populated by Ghanaian citizens and business, administrative and professional families. Much of the housing in these areas has been provided by state, parastatal and private sector organisations and individuals. The middle-income areas include Dansoman Estates, North Kaneshie Estates, Asylum Down, Kanda Estates, Abelempke, Achimota, Adenta and Tesano. Usually, these areas, unlike the low-income areas, are planned developments, but are in need of infrastructure services. Building materials and general housing conditions are of better quality. The middle-income group comprises 32% of the city's population of which are Ghanaian citizens make up. The high-income areas provide housing for the remaining 10% of the population of which Ghanaian citizens also make up. They include areas like North Ridge and West Ridge, Ringway Estates, north Labone Estates, Airport Residential Area, Roman Ridge, East Legon.


title: Accra

text: These areas are all planned and have well developed infrastructure with spacious and landscaped ground in sharp contrast with, particularly, the low-income areas. Buildings are usually built with sandcrete blocks, and have walls and roofed with aluminium, or asbestos roofing sheets. There are also high-income peripheral areas like Haatso, Kwabenya, Pokuase, Adenta, Taifa, Mallam, where development of engineering infrastructure is not yet complete. These areas developed ahead of infrastructure, however the Achimota-Ofankor controlled-access highway was scheduled to open in May 2012, dual carriageway road construction was also due to be completed in 2012. In total, 84.4% of all houses in the Accra Metropolitan Area have their outside walls made up of cement. Similarly, houses found within Accra have 99.2% of their floor materials made up of cement.


title: Accra

text: In 2008, the World Bank estimated that Accra's economy only constituted around US$3 billion of Ghana's total gross domestic product (GDP). The economically active population of Accra is estimated to be 823,327.


title: Accra

text: Accra is a centre for manufacturing, marketing, finance, insurance, and transportation. Its financial sector incorporates a central bank, nine commercial banks (with 81 branches), four development banks (with 19 branches), four merchant banks (with seven branches), three discount houses, one home finance mortgage bank, multiple building societies, Ghana Stock Exchange, foreign exchange bureaus, finance houses, insurance companies, insurance brokerage firms, two savings and loans companies, and numerous real estate developers, with industrial sites and residential developments. The road network in the Accra Metropolitan Area totals in length.


title: Accra

text: There are over 50,506 identified residential properties in Accra, and about 4,054 commercial/industrial/mixed properties, with a total rateable value of GH¢13,849,014. There are also supermarkets, 36 facilities for both on–street and off-street parking, and shopping malls, as well as several facilities for sports and recreation.


title: Accra

text: The sectors of Accra's economy consist of the primary, secondary (manufacturing, electricity, gas, water, construction) and tertiary sectors (supermarkets, shopping malls, hotel, restaurant, transportation, storage, communication, financial intermediation, real estate service, public administration, education, health and other social services). The tertiary service sector is the city's largest, employing about 531,670 people. The second-largest, the secondary sector, employs 22.34% of the labour force, or around 183,934 people. 12.2% of the city's workforce are reportedly unemployed, totalling around 114,198 people.


title: Accra

text: Accra's smallest economic sector, the primary sector, employs approximately 91,556 people. The predominant economic activities are fishery and urban agriculture, with fishery accounting for 78% of production labour. Urban agriculture in Accra centres on the growth of vegetables, several crops and poultry. The fishery industry is the most important sub-sector, with 10% of the catch being exported and the rest consumed locally. The industry is characterised by extreme seasonableness, operating primarily between June and September. Although most deep-water Atlantic fishing around Accra takes place in the June–September period, fishery operations take place close to the shore throughout the year, and there are clear indications of the depletion of fish stocks in the near future. Fishing operations are most prominent at the Jamestown, La, Teshie, Nungua and Chorkor fishing shores.


title: Accra

text: Pre-school comprises nursery and kindergarten. In 2001, there were 7,923 children (3,893 girls and 4,030 boys) in pre-schools in Accra. In 2010, the enrolment rate at Pre-school was 98%. Pre-schools are regulated by the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare, and are mostly privately owned and operated. In 2001, there were 62 government-owned pre-schools in the Accra metropolis.


title: Accra

text: Primary school enrolment of girls is higher than that of boys. In 2010, the enrollment rate at primary school level was 95%.


title: Accra

text: The Junior High School is part of Ghana's basic education program. Its nationwide implementation began on 29 September 1987.


title: Accra

text: In the 2001/2002 academic year, 61,080 pupils had enrolled in Accra, representing 57.17% of the 129,467 school-age 12–to-14-year-olds. In 2010, the enrolment rate at Junior high school level was 95%. The ratio of girls is also higher at this level.


title: Accra

text: The transition rate between junior high and senior high school increased from 30 per cent in 1990 to 50 per cent in 2001. The number of students grew by 23,102 between 1990 and 2005, an increase of about 2,310 a year, since 2010 the senior high school enrolment rate has been 95%.


title: Accra

text: Ghana International School (GIS), a private non-profit A-Level school founded in 1955 for children from ages 3–18, is located in Accra's Cantonments. Abelemkpe is the home of Lincoln Community School, a private, non-profit International Baccalaureate (IB) school for students aged 3–18, established in 1968. The American International School and Abundant Grace Academy are also situated in Accra.


title: Accra

text: A number of notable public secondary schools lie on the outskirts of Accra: Achimota School, commonly referred to as "Motown", which was founded in 1924 and opened in 1927; the Accra Academy ranked in top ten high schools in Africa, known as "Accra Aca"; the Presbyterian Boys' Secondary School in Legon, commonly known as "Presec"; Wesley Grammar School – WESS-G Dansoman, St. Mary's Senior High School commonly referred to as "Merriez"- is a well-known girls' boarding school in Ghana; St. Thomas Aquinas Senior High School, commonly known as "Quinas"; Accra High School commonly known as ("Ahisco"); West Africa Secondary School, commonly known as "WASS"; the Accra Girls' Senior High School, commonly known as "Agiss";Kaneshie Secondary Technical School ("Kateco"); the Armed Forces Secondary Technical; and St. John's Grammar School; among others.


title: Accra

text: The University of Ghana is located north of the city centre at Legon. A number of other public and private universities and tertiary institutions have since been founded in Accra, some of which are listed below.


title: Accra

text: As a growing city, Accra has a water supply and scarcity challenge. Water access uses a patchwork of different delivery processes.


title: Accra

text: Accra as a rapidly growing city, with lots of vehicles and other urban pollution sources, has also an increasing amount of air pollution and plastic pollution. Accra's urban ecosystem has been a site of dumping by international waste networks, with the Agbogbloshie suburb known for its highly toxic e-waste recycling sites, and the Kantamanto Market as handling an overwhelming flow of used fast fashion from other parts of the world. Both sites are sources of pollution and trash for other parts of the urban ecosystem.


title: Accra

text: Air pollution varies seasonally, but the average measure PM average concentration of 49.5 μg/m. Live monitoring of air pollution is done at 3 sites in the city of Accra. A 2021 review by the Environmental Protection Agency in Ghana found that the levels were well exceeding both national and international standards for health.


title: Accra

text: Plastic management is also an increasing challenge. Use of plastic water bottles, water sachets and other packaging for food safety, as well as increased use of plastic during events like COVID-19. The beaches around Accra have significant plastic pollution, and surrounding fisheries are heavily impacted by plastics. Multiple non-profit organizations have been formed to collect the plastic and an increasingly growing network of recyclers and informal waste recovery networks. However, activists and researchers largely attribute the issue to upstream use of plastics.


title: Accra

text: Rapidly growing population and construction within the city has been resulting in a reduction in Urban green space. A 2021 study of low income communities in the city found increasing concern and desire among these communities for urban green spaces for recreation and health. A 2018 study of greenspaces in the city, found the ones that do exist are important for mammal biodiversity in the city.


title: Accra

text: Accra is on the Atlantic coast but it has not served as a port city since the 1950s. Instead, the Port of Tema, about 29 km to the east along the Atlantic coast, was developed for deepwater shipping to and from Ghana as it can accommodate larger ships; the port opened in 1961. Tema is part of the metropolitan area of Accra.


title: Accra

text: There are Public Transports from Accra to major cities such as Kumasi; Tamale, Mim, Ahafo ; Cape Coast, Sunyani; Takoradi; Tema; Ho; Wa; Bolgatanga; Elubo; Aflao, Techiman;


title: Accra

text: In 2003, the Metro Mass Transit Service, was inaugurated in Accra as a more comfortable and cheaper alternative to the trotro.


title: Accra

text: Accra is served by the Aayalolo bus system, which was inaugurated in November 2016. It was initially planned as a bus rapid transit with dedicated lanes, but because these lanes were not provided it was renamed Quality Bus System (QBS).


title: Accra

text: An agreement was signed in 2019 to build a five line, , automated, elevated light railway metro system called Accra Skytrain. As of 2021 construction has not commenced on the $2.6 billion project. The government said in February 2021 it intends to proceed with the project which will developed under a build-own-operate concession by private South African firm.


title: Accra

text: Accra is served by Kotoka International Airport, which has both civil and military uses. Located from downtown Accra, the airport handles all of the city's scheduled passenger services. There are plans to build a second airport to relieve the aviation pressure on the Kotoka International Airport. This new airport will be located at Prampram in Accra and will be constructed by China Airport Civil Construction. This plan was still under review in 2020, as additional runways at Kotoka are in consideration as an alternative to a new international airport.


title: Accra

text: Accra has an extensive taxi network and numerous taxi ranks, but most taxis lack a meter system, so price negotiation is required between the passenger and driver. Metered taxis do operate in the city, but tend to be more expensive. Taxis in Ghana are painted in two colours: the four bumpers fenders are yellow/orange, and the rest of the car is in a colour of the operator's choice.


title: Accra

text: By far the most common form of transport in Accra, "tro tros" (minibuses or cargo vans modified for passenger transport) is the third biggest, and second most efficient and cost-effective way of getting around the city. The buses are typically minibuses or vans. Some of the most popular models used as tro tros are Nissan Urvan 15-seaters and Mercedes Benz Sprinter or D 309 vans. Trotros are typically decorated with decals such as flags of various countries or (local and international) soccer teams, popular sayings, proverbs (in English or local languages) or Bible verses. Trotros pick up and offload passengers at designated bus stops along their regular routes. Tro tros will also usually offload at undesignated locations along the route, by passenger request. Most routes commence and terminate at large urban transport terminals such as the Neoplan station or the Achimota Transport Terminal.


title: Accra

text: Football is the most popular sport in Accra. The most famous football club in the city is Accra Hearts of Oak, whose main rivals are Asante Kotoko of Kumasi. The Accra Sports Stadium is home to the Hearts of Oak, and a host venue of the Black Stars, the national football team of Ghana. In 2008, the Accra Sports Stadium hosted nine matches in the 2008 African Cup of Nations.


title: Accra

text: Accra is home to the Right to Dream Academy, which gives young Ghanaians a chance at a career in professional football. Many of the academy's alumni, including Chicago Fire's David Accam, Helsingborg's Ema Boateng, Halmstad's King Gyan and Manchester City's Godsway Donyoh and Enock Kwakwa, as well as Ghanaian national team players, Brimah Razak, Harrison Afful, John Boye, Jonathan Mensah, Mohamed Awal, Yaw Frimpong, Mohammed Rabiu, Paul de Vries, Seidu Bancey, Mahatma Otoo, Asamoah Gyan, Latif Mohammed, Yahaya Mohamed, Theophilus Annorbaah, Michael Essien, Yussif Raman Chibsah, Kwadwo Asamoah, Joshua Otoo, Nuru Sulley, David Addy, Jerry Akaminko, Daniel Opare and Foli Adade, were also born in Accra.


title: Accra

text: Boxing is also popular, with many former world champions coming out of Ghana, including Azumah Nelson, Joshua Clottey, and Ike Quartey.


title: Accra

text: Among the places of worship, they are predominantly Christian churches and temples : Church of the Province of West Africa (Anglican Communion), Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana (World Communion of Reformed Churches), Ghana Baptist Convention (Baptist World Alliance), Lighthouse Chapel International, Church of Pentecost, Assemblies of God, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Accra (Catholic Church). There are also Muslim mosques.


title: Accra

text: Notable places of worship in the city include the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Wesley Methodist Cathedral, Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, Osu, Holy Spirit Cathedral, the Ghana National Mosque, the Madina Mosque, and the Mormon Accra Ghana Temple.


title: Accra

text: Accra is the Greater Accra region's tourist hub, sporting a wide variety of hotels, monuments, museums and nightclubs. The city has three five-star hotels: the Labadi Beach Hotel, the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel and the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel. The Golden Tulip Hotel and Novotel Accra, located in Accra's central business district, are both ranked four stars. There are numerous three-star hotels, including the Hotel Wangara, Hotel Shangri-La and Erata Hotel, as well as many budget hotels. The Accra International Conference Centre and other meeting facilities provide venues for conference tourism.


title: Accra

text: The Du Bois Centre houses a research library and gallery of manuscripts, as well as the graves of its namesake, the scholar W.E.B. Du Bois, and his wife Shirley Graham Du Bois. The Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum is the resting place of Ghana's first President, Kwame Nkrumah, who oversaw the Gold Coast's independence from Britain and was a leading exponent of Pan-Africanism.


title: Accra

text: Accra furthermore hosts the National Museum, National Theatre, with its distinctive modern Chinese architecture.


title: Accra

text: The city's foremost historical site is the Jamestown area, which contains the Ussher Fort and James Fort, and Osu Castle (also known as Christiansborg), built by Danish settlers in the 17th century.


title: Accra

text: Other sites of note include the Jubilee House (the office of the Government of Ghana and the President of Ghana), the Parliament House of Ghana, the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT, the Black Star Square, Accra Sports Stadium, and the Accra Centre for National Culture. The Accra-based African Fashion Foundation supports the African fashion industry, especially the fashion industry in Ghana.


title: Accra

text: Accra has an Atlantic beachfront and the most popular of the city's beaches is Labadi Beach, along with Kokrobite Beach, which is located west of Accra. The beachfront area also houses the Academy of African Music and Arts.


title: Accra

text: Ghana's film industry is growing. Its first documentary addressing the impacts of climate change premiered in Accra on October 14, 2022. The Ghana Youth Film Program is a compilation film of 12 documentary short films made youth from across Ghana aged 18 to 30. It will participate in the United Nations climate summit, COP27, November 9, 2022.


title: Accra

text: In October 2022, Accra was named as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) world book capital for 2023.


title: Urtica dioica

text: Urtica dioica, often known as common nettle, burn nettle, stinging nettle (although not all plants of this species sting) or nettle leaf, or just a nettle or stinger, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Urticaceae. Originally native to Europe, much of temperate Asia and western North Africa, it is now found worldwide, including New Zealand and North America. The species is divided into six subspecies, five of which have many hollow stinging hairs called trichomes on the leaves and stems, which act like hypodermic needles, injecting histamine and other chemicals that produce a stinging sensation upon contact ("contact urticaria", a form of contact dermatitis).


title: Urtica dioica

text: The plant has a long history of use as a source for traditional medicine, food, tea, and textile raw material in ancient (such as Saxon) and modern societies.


title: Urtica dioica

text: "Urtica dioica" is a dioecious, herbaceous, perennial plant, tall in the summer and dying down to the ground in winter. It has widely spreading rhizomes and stolons, which are bright yellow, as are the roots. The soft, green leaves are long and are borne oppositely on an erect, wiry, green stem. The leaves have a strongly serrated margin, a cordate base, and an acuminate tip with a terminal leaf tooth longer than adjacent laterals. It bears small, greenish or brownish, numerous flowers in dense axillary inflorescences.


title: Urtica dioica

text: The leaves and stems are very hairy with non-stinging hairs, and in most subspecies, also bear many stinging hairs (trichomes or spicules), whose tips come off when touched, transforming the hair into a needle that can inject several chemicals causing a painful sting or paresthesia, giving the species its common names: stinging nettle, burn-nettle, burn-weed, or burn-hazel.


title: Urtica dioica

text: The taxonomy of "Urtica" species has been confused, and older sources are likely to use a variety of systematic names for these plants. Formerly, more species were recognised than are now accepted. However, at least six clear subspecies of "U. dioica" are described, some formerly classified as separate species:


title: Urtica dioica

text: Other species' names formerly accepted as distinct by some authors but now regarded as synonyms of one or other subspecies include "U. breweri", "U. californica", "U. cardiophylla", "U. lyalli", "U. major", "U. procera", "U. serra", "U. strigosissima", "U. trachycarpa", and "U. viridis".


title: Urtica dioica

text: "Dioica" (δίοικος) is derived from Greek, meaning 'of two houses' (having separate staminate and pistillate plants; dioecious).


title: Urtica dioica

text: "U. dioica" is considered to be native to Europe, much of temperate Asia and western North Africa. It is abundant in northern Europe and much of Asia, usually found in the countryside. It is less widespread in southern Europe and north Africa, where it is restricted by its need for moist soil, but is still common. It has been introduced to many other parts of the world. In North America, it is widely distributed in Canada and the United States, where it is found in every province and state except for Hawaii, and also can be found in northernmost Mexico. It grows in abundance in the Pacific Northwest, especially in places where annual rainfall is high. The European subspecies has been introduced into Australia, North America and South America.


title: Urtica dioica

text: In Europe, nettles have a strong association with human habitation and buildings. The presence of nettles may indicate the site of a long-abandoned building, and can also indicate soil fertility. Human and animal waste may be responsible for elevated levels of phosphate and nitrogen in the soil, providing an ideal environment for nettles.


title: Urtica dioica

text: Nettles are the larval food plant for several species of butterflies, such as the peacock butterfly, comma ("Polygonia c-album"), and the small tortoiseshell. It is also eaten by the larvae of some moths including angle shades, buff ermine, dot moth, the flame, the gothic, grey chi, grey pug, lesser broad-bordered yellow underwing, mouse moth, setaceous Hebrew character, and small angle shades. The roots are sometimes eaten by the larva of the ghost moth ("Hepialus humuli").


title: Urtica dioica

text: Stinging nettle is particularly found as an understory plant in wetter environments, but it is also found in meadows. Although nutritious, it is not widely eaten by either wildlife or livestock, presumably because of the sting. It spreads by abundant seeds and also by rhizomes, and is often able to survive and re-establish quickly after fire.


title: Urtica dioica

text: Three cultivation techniques can be used for the stinging nettle: 1) direct sowing, 2) growing seedlings in nurseries with subsequent transplantation and 3) vegetative propagation via stolons or head cuttings.


title: Urtica dioica

text: The stinging nettle can also be grown in controlled-environment agriculture systems, such as soil-less medium cultivations or aeroponics, which may achieve higher yields, standardize quality, and reduce harvesting costs and contamination.


title: Urtica dioica

text: "Urtica dioica" produces its inflammatory effect on skin (stinging, burning sensation often called "contact urticaria") both by impaling the skin via spicules – causing mechanical irritation – and by biochemical irritants, such as histamine, serotonin, and acetylcholine, among other chemicals. Anti-itch drugs, usually in the form of creams containing antihistamines or hydrocortisone, may provide relief from nettle dermatitis. The term, "contact urticaria", has a wider use in dermatology, involving dermatitis caused by various skin irritants and pathogens.


title: Urtica dioica

text: Docks, especially the broad-leaf dock ("Rumex obtusifolius") often grow in similar environments to stinging nettles and are regarded as a folk remedy to counteract the sting of a nettle, although there is no evidence of any chemical effect. It may be that the act of rubbing a dock leaf against a nettle sting acts as a distracting counterstimulation, or that belief in the dock's effect provides a placebo effect.