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Volta River

River in West Africa

Summary

River in West Africa

Field	Value
name	Volta River
Fleuve Volta
image	VoltaRiverWithAdombeBridge183-1-.jpg
image_size	300
image_caption	The Adomi Bridge crosses the Volta river south of the Akosombo Dam.
map	Volta River basin map.svg
map_size	300
map_caption	Map of the Volta River drainage basin and its three main tributaries, the White Volta, Red Volta, and Black Volta rivers
pushpin_map_size	300
mapframe	yes
mapframe-zoom	6
subdivision_type1	Countries
subdivision_name1
length	1500 km
discharge1_location	Mouth
discharge1_avg	1210 m3/s
mouth	Gulf of Guinea
mouth_location	Atlantic Ocean
mouth_coordinates
basin_size	407093 km2

Fleuve Volta | mapframe-zoom = 6

The Volta River (, , ) is the main river system in the West African country of Ghana. It flows south into Ghana from the Bobo-Dioulasso highlands of Burkina Faso.

The three main parts of the river are the Black Volta, the White Volta, and the Red Volta. In the northwest, the Black Volta forms the international borders of the Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Burkina Faso. The Volta flows southward along the Akwapim-Togoland highlands, and empties into the Atlantic Ocean at the Gulf of Guinea at Ada Foah. One of its smaller tributaries, the Oti River, enters Ghana from Togo in the east. The Volta River has been dammed at Akosombo for generating hydroelectricity. The reservoir named Lake Volta stretches from Akosombo Dam in the south to the northern part of the country, and is the largest man-made reservoir by area in the world.

The country of Burkina Faso was formerly called Upper Volta, after the river.

The reservoir

Lake Volta is a reservoir impounded by the Akosombo Dam on the lower Volta River in southern Ghana. It is one of the largest reservoirs in the world. It extends from the Akosombo Dam in southeastern Ghana to the town of Yapei in the Central Gonja District, Northern Region of Ghana, some 400 km to the north.

The dam's power plant generates electricity for the Volta River Authority, and the reservoir also provides water transport routes. It is a resource for irrigation and fish farming.

The depth of the river is about 45 ft below Lake Volta. The Volta River is crossed by the Adome Bridge just below the Akosombo Dam.

History

The Akwamu people who once built a kingdom on both the east and west banks of the river spanning present day Ghana, Togo and Benin call it Firaw. They have a deity dedicated to the river named Mfodwo.

The Volta River was named by Portuguese gold traders in Ghana. It was their furthest extent of exploration before returning (volta is Portuguese for "twist" or "turn"). It has been known as the "River of return" (perhaps because it was where ships turned around and headed for home) or "river of the bend", in reference to its curved course.

References

[http://www.library.eb.com/eb/article-9075703 Volta River], Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Library Edition. Retrieved on October 6, 2007.
{{GEOnet2. 32FA87A2E09D3774E0440003BA962ED3. Volta
[http://www.waterandnature.org/eatlas/html/af26.html Volta] {{Webarchive. link. (2005-10-26 , Watersheds of the World. Water Resources eAtlas. Retrieved on October 6, 2007.)
(7 April 2002). "Lake Volta, Ghana". NASA.
(November 2019). "Assistance and resistance of (hydro-)power: Contested relationships of control over the Volta River, Ghana". Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space.
"volta {{!}} Search Online Etymology Dictionary".
Wilks, Ivor. (1997). "Mines of Silver and Gold in the Americas". Variorum, Ashgate Publishing Limited.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

volta-river rivers-of-ghana rivers-of-burkina-faso gulf-of-guinea rivers-of-ivory-coast

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