Ghana was also the name of an ancient kingdom in Western Africa (About 300AD to 1200AD). The kingdom of Ghana fell and was replaced by the kingdom of Mali, which was replaced by the kingdom of Songhai. Ghana was most famous for the huge amounts of gold that they traded to northern Africa and Europe. Very few details are known about the society before they began trading as they didn't have a written language. Most, if not all information we have about Ghana is from the perspective of traders who wrote about the kingdom.

The modern country was named in honor of the kingdom of Ghana.