The MFantsefo or Fanti are an ethnic group mainly gathered in the south-western coastal region of Ghana, with some also in the Côte d'Ivoire. Along with the "'Asantefo'" or Ashantis, they belong to the Akan peoples (who also include the Akuapem, the Guam, and others). Despite the rapid growth of the Ashanti Empire in historic times, the Fanti have always maintained hold of their state to this day. Currently, they number about 1,850,000. Inheritance and succession to public office among the Fanti are determined mostly by matrilineal descent (which is common amongst most Akan peoples). Matrilineality is a system in which one belongs to ones mothers lineage; it may also involve the inheritance of property or titles through the female line. ...

When the Portugese arrived in 1482 the Fanti prevented them from venturing in land and rented out properties for the Portugese to stay and carry out trading missions. However, when the Portguese became tiresome of the Fanti rules and regulations the Fante had no choice but to drive them away. Thenceforth the Dutch arrived followed by the English, soon to be British. The Fanti served as middlemen in the commerce between the interior and British and Dutch traders on the coast. With the assistance of the British the Fanti waged war against the Ashanti-Dutch alliance, The Dutch had managed to penetrate inland for the purpose of trading slaves with the Ashanti King. In the early 18th century, they formed the Fante Confederacy, with the aim of establishing themselves as a nation to be taken seriously by their European counterparts. Thus, in 1844, a bond was written between the Fante, on behalf of the Gold Coast, and the British, allowing the Gold Coast to gain their independence without war 100 years later. Several Ashanti-Fante wars followed. On one occasion, the Fante were aided by the British, who, however, destroyed the strong Fante confederation established between 1868 and 1872, believing it a threat to their hegemony on the coast. The Fante Confederacy can refer either to the loose alliance of the Fante states in existence at least since the eighteenth century, or it can refer to the briefly lived Confederation formed in 1868 and dissolved in 1874. ... The Ashanti-Fante War (1806 - 1807) was fought between the Ashanti Confederacy and the Fante Confederacy of present-day Ghana. ...

They were allied with the British during the Anglo-Ashanti wars (1873-1874). In 1874, a joint Fanti-British army defeated the Ashanti, and in the same year the Fante followed suit and became part of the British Gold Coast colony. The Anglo-Ashanti Wars were a series of four notable wars between the British and the Ashanti kings between 1826 and 1896. ... 1873 (MDCCCLXXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1874 (MDCCCLXXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link with display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Flag of Gold Coast Map from 1896 of the British Gold Coast Colony. ...

The Catholic prelate Peter Kodwo Appiah Cardinal Turkson is perhaps the most prominent Fante in the world. Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is of Fante descent. Look up prelate in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... His Eminence Peter Cardinal Kodwo Appiah Turkson (born October 11, 1948) is the Archbishop of Cape Coast and Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. ... Kofi Atta Annan (born April 8, 1938) is a Ghanaian born diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1, 1997 to December 31, 2006, serving two five-year terms. ...

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia. The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Nuttall Encyclopædia is an early-20th-century encyclopedia, edited by Rev. ...