The first Europeans to arrive at the coast were the Portuguese in 1471. The Gold Coast was a British colony on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa that became Ghana when they gained their independence in 1957. The British Gold Coast was formed in 1867 and seized privately held lands along the coast. They also took over the remaining interests of other European countries, annexing the Danish Gold Coast in 1850 and the Dutch Gold Coast, Britain steadily expanded its colony through the invasion of local kingdoms. The Ashanti people had controlled much of the territory of Ghana before the Europeans arrived and were often in conflict with the British. By 1901, all of the Gold Coast was a British colony, with its kingdoms and tribes considered to be one entity. Now that the colony was one entity, the British decided to enforce a policy of indirect rule. Basically, the British were still in charge but they allowed the tribes to run their own governments but they would govern with influence to the British. The British colonists built railways and the complex transport infrastructure which formed the basis for the transport infrastructure in modern-day Ghana. They also built Western-style hospitals and schools to provide modern amenities to the people of the empire. Colonialism definitely helped Ghana in the long run. Although there was blood shed when Britain was taking over the Ashanti parts of Ghana, Ghana is now an independent, growing nation that is one of the few success stories in Western Africa.