The city's economy is dominated by the tourism and service, with sites such as the Cape Coast Castle (World Heritage Site), the Kakum National Park, and the PANAFEST festival serving as attractions to tourists, and the Kotokuraba Market being the largest market in the city.

[5]: 164, 165 Cabo Corso ("short cape") was the first European name given to the settlement by the early Portuguee navigators who first discovered it.

[6] The origin of the indigenous inhabitants of the settlement is thought to share similarities to those of Edina, as Cape Coast became the principal town of the Fetu Kingdom.

"Fetu" was an old Guan (Etsii) kingdom who had its paramountcy located 10 miles (16 km) north of Cape Coast.

The market drew the attention of William Towerson, the first documented English navigator to have reach the Guinea coast, who touched land in 1555.

The Danes acquired a plot on top of a hill that was located about 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) north east of the fort.

Other forts were built during this time, such as Phipps Tower, which was later abandoned and is now manage by the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board.

Cape Coast itself avoided the attack, but the confidence of the townspeople in the British ability to protect them against the Asante plummeted.

[5]: 167 Cape Coast was threatened a second time by the Asante in 1824 after British troops under Charles MacCarthy were defeated.

Trading during the time was at its peak, but after 1850, the year the British acquired Danish possessions in which conditions turned south.

After the completion of harbours and railways in other parts of the country such as Sekondi and Kumasi, cocoa cultivation and trade in Ghana diversified and Cape Coast lost some importance.

However, after the establishment of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese and the university of the city in 1950 and 1962 respectively, Cape Coast became a educational hub in Ghana.

Most residents in Cape Coast do not own personal vehicles, with the exception of the city's middle class, which included government and educational staff.

[16] In 1873, there was a proposal for an line to link the settlements of Cape Coast and Kumasi in order to send troops to fight the Asante.

[17] Plans for the construction of an airport for the city was announced by Mahamudu Bawumia at the New Patriotic Party's manifesto launch on August 18, 2024.

The mayor (executive chief) is appointed by the president of Ghana and approved by the city council, the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly.

[22] The city resided in the Cape Coast Metropolitan, which have an area size of 122 km2 (47 sq mi) and is one of 6 metropolises in Ghana.

The rock type of the city is dominated by the Birimian formation and batholiths, also consisting of granite and pegmatite.

[2]: 1, 3 [23]: 43 Cape Coast is noted for its significant green spaces, but rapid population and infrastructure growth presents threats to its vegetation.

[24] Cape Coast has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen: As), with two rainy seasons peaking in May to June and October.

Close to 90% vegetables consumed by the city's residents come from sources such as Kumasi and as far as Togo and its border with Ghana.

This makes Cape Coast and its surrounding areas one of the most water scarce in Ghana, resulting in most of the residents resorting to fishing.

[32] In recent years, 25.1% of Cape Coast's employed population works in service-related jobs, such as wholesale and retail.

[37] Cape Coast's tourism's sector was looked after by the Central Regional Development Commission (CEDECOM).

After cooperating with multiple different parties, the Natural Resource Conservation and Historic Preservation project was launched.

And symbolically, to be able to come back with my family, with Michelle and our children, and see the portal through which the diaspora began, but also to be able to come back here in celebration with the people of Ghana of the extraordinary progress that we've made because of the courage of so many, black and white, to abolish slavery and ultimately win civil rights for all people, I think is a source of hope.

It reminds us that as bad as history can be, it's also possible to overcome.Cape Coast is home to many NGOs, some of which have limited human resources due to financial pushbacks.