Gold Coast

Gold Coast, former name of Ghana

Gold Coast: see Ghana, republic.

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Gold Coast, city, Australia

Gold Coast, city (1991 pop. 256,275), Queensland, E Australia, on the Pacific Ocean. The city, a major resort, stretches for many miles along the coast and extends into New South Wales. In 1994, Queensland decided to amalgamate the city with Albert Shire to create one of three new "super cities." The amalgamation made Gold Coast the second largest municipality in Australia after Brisbane. Its new boundaries extend south to Coolangatta on the border with New South Wales, west to Mt. Tamborine in the remote interior, and north to Beenleigh on the edge of Brisbane.

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Gold Coast

Section of the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, western Africa. Extending approximately from Axim, Ghana, in the west to the Volta River in the east, it was so called because it was an important source of gold. It was an area of intense colonial rivalry from the 17th century. Acquired as a colony by the British in the 19th century and named the Gold Coast, the area achieved independence as the Republic of Ghana in 1957.

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Gold Coast

1. the former name (until 1957) of Ghana

2. a line of resort towns and beaches in E Australia, extending for over 30 km (20 miles) along the SE coast of Queensland and the NE coast of New South Wales

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Gold Coast 

(1) The littoral of the Gulf of Guinea, in Ghana. It extends from the mouth of the Volta River in the east to the mouth of the Tano River in the west. The coastline is regular and lacks natural harbors. The western part is covered by damp equatorial forest; the eastern part, by shrub savanna. The name Gold Coast originated with the Portuguese in the 15th century because of the gold deposits discovered there.

(2) The name of a former British colony in West Africa (formed in the 19th century). In 1957 the state of Ghana was formed from the consolidation of the Gold Coast and Togo, a British trust territory.