Volta River

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Volta River
The Adome bridge crosses the Volta river south of the Akosombo Dam.
Country	Ghana
Watershed	407,093 km² (157,179 sq mi) ^[1]
Discharge at	Mouth
- average	1,210 m³/s (42,731 cu ft/s) ^[1]
Mouth	Gulf of Guinea
- location	Atlantic Ocean
Map of the Volta River and its main three tributaries, the White Volta, Red Volta, and Black Volta rivers.

"Voltaic" redirects here. For electrochemical energy storage, see Voltaic cell.

The Volta is a river in western Africa that drains into the Gulf of Guinea. It is divided into the Black Volta, the White Volta and the Red Volta. The river gave its name to French Upper Volta and then the Republic of Upper Volta before that country was renamed Burkina Faso in 1984.

Lake Volta in Ghana is the largest man-made lake in the world, extending from the Akosombo Dam in southeastern Ghana to the town of Yapei, 1500 km (938 miles) to the north. The lake generates electricity, provides inland transport, and is a potentially valuable resource for irrigation and fish farming.

The Portuguese purchased much of their gold from inhabitants of this region during the Renaissance.

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b Volta, Watersheds of the World. Water Resources eAtlas. Retrieved on October 6, 2007.

The river achieved its name because early Portuguese gold traders marked the river as their furthest point of exploration before turning around "Volta".