Cape Coast, or Cabo Corso, is a city, fishing port, and the capital of Cape Coast Metropolitan District and Central Region of south Ghana. Cape Coast is situated on its south to the Gulf of Guinea. Cape Coast had a settlement population of 169,894 people (2010 census). The language of the people of Cape Coast is Fante. From the 16th century until Ghanaian independence, the city and fishing port changed hands between the British, the Portuguese, the Swedish, the Danish and the Dutch. It is home to 32 festivals.