The Ashanti (also spelled Asante) Empire (1701–1957) was a West African sovereign state of the Ashanti people of Ashantiland (Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo, Central region, Eastern region, Greater Accra region, and Western region, of present-day southern Ghana). The Ashanti ethnic group are a Akan origin, historically inhabiting an area known as Ashantiland. They used their military power, which came from effective strategy and an early adoption of firearms, to create an empire that stretched from central Ghana to present-day Ivory Coast.