The Volta Region is located along the southern half of the eastern border of Ghana, which it shares with the Republic of Togo. In the 2000 census the region had a population of 1,635,421 – having a growth rate of 1.9. The population density of the region increased from 59 persons per square kilometer in 1984 to 79.5 persons in 2000. The predominant ethnic group in the region, the Ewe, constitutes 68.5 per cent of the total population, followed by the Guan (9.2 %), the Akan (8.5 %) and the Gurma (6.2). The region has a length of about 500 kilometers, stretching from the south to the north. It encompasses most of the vegetation zones found in the country, that is, the coastal grassland and mangrove swamps, replete with sandy beaches, the guinea savannah through moist semi-deciduous forests in the central highland areas to the undulating sahel-savannah and the mountainous wooded savannah in the north. The capital of the Volta Region is Ho. With the Volta River and the Volta Lake running almost the whole length of the region, there is a good potential for inland fishing as well as irrigation. The Volta River and Volta Lake are the largest sources of Ghana’s fresh water and the Volta dam is the most important provider of electricity of the country.