Know your region – Northern region

Political administration
The region is divided into thirteen (13) districts. A Municipal/District Assembly headed by a Chief Executive administers each district. Two-thirds of the members of the Assembly are directly elected. The remaining one-third are appointed by the Central Government. The districts are autonomous with regards to planning and budgeting of projects. The Assembly is presided over by a Presiding Member elected from among its members by a two-thirds majority of members present and voting. All Members of Parliament from the District are ex-officio members of the Assembly District. The following five new districts were created in 2004 to bring the total number to 18 districts in the region.
The main administrative structure at the regional level is the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC), headed by the Regional Minister. Other members of the RCC include representatives from each District Assembly, regional heads of decentralized ministries, and representatives of the Regional House of Chiefs. The Regional Coordinating Director acts as the secretary to the Council.
Cultural and social structure
The region has four paramount chiefs, namely: the Yaa Na based in Yendi; the Yagbon Wura in Damango; the Bimbila Naa in Bimbila; and the Nayiri in Nalerigu. Each represents a major ethnic group. The major ethnic groups of the region are the Mole Dagbon, (52.2%) the Gurma, (21.8%) the Akan and the Guan (8.7%). Among the Mole-Dagbon, the largest subgroup are the Dagomba and the Mamprusi, while the Komkomba are the largest of the Gurma, the Chokosi of the Akan and the Gonja of the Guan. The Dagomba constitute about a third of the population of the region.
The indigenous languages spoken by the people vary from district to district. The Gonja language is spoken mostly in three districts, namely East Gonja, West Gonja and Bole. Dagbani, the language of the Dagomba, is spoken in nine of the thirteen districts. The Kokomba language is spoken mainly in some parts of Saboba-Chereponi, Zabzugu Tatale, East Gonja and Nanumba, Districts. More than half of the population of the region (56.2%) are Muslims. The rest are largely adherents of Traditional religion (21.3%), Christians (19.3%) and other religious groups (3.3%).