Talk:Geography of Ghana

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[edit] Togo-Ghana border

So, where is the border supposed to be? Anyone?
So, where is the border supposed to be? Anyone?

I recently made an OMC map of Togo for the Geography of Togo article and noticed, while consulting other maps, including those already in the article, that there seems to be a disagreement over the alignment of the border between Togo and Ghana. The question is about the land inside an oxbow found at 9°38′N 0°18′E (see map).

OMC shows this as part of Togo, as do the relief map in the article and the CIA map in the main Togo article, but GoogleEarth says that it's part of Ghana, with the border cutting across the neck of that bit of territory. This is also what the satellite image shows. GoogleEarth also says that there is a village there called Butoe. Is it Ghanaian or Togolese?

Would anyone happen to know whether this represents an ongoing territorial dispute between Togo and Ghana, or perhaps a recent border change agreement? Or is it simply a mistake made by a mapmaker somewhere? I would appreciate any light that anyone could shed on this question, as I would like to adjust the OMC map accordingly. Also, if one of those political situations that I mentioned actually is the case, I think the Togo and Ghana articles should mention it.

Thanks.Kelisi 19:30, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

I can't offer much help with this... though looking at few geoname databases, it would seem Butoe is associated with Ghana. The border in existing maps either seems to follow the river Oti or takes a short-cut - I'm not sure if there is any preference either way. I believe the border data GMT comes with is a rather old version of World Data Bank II (CIA Data Bank; WDB), and I know there a few errors here and there. I would assume that's the case also here... I used GMT to make the topographic maps, so I have very likely used the same border data than you. You could try asking people at Wikipedia:WikiProject Maps – I think some of those guys have access to commercial/newer (hopefully better) data and might know which version is correct. Cheers, – Sadalmelik 21:01, 25 July 2007 (UTC)