The Oti River or Pendjari River is an international

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

in West

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. It rises in

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

, forms the border between Benin and

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

, flows through

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

, and joins the

Volta River 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 main parts of the river are the Black Volta, the White Volta, and the Red Volta. In ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

Geography

The Oti River is about long. Its

headwaters The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...

are in Benin and Burkina Faso, it flows through Benin and Togo and joins the

in Ghana. Tributaries on the left bank in Togo originate from the

Togo Mountains The Togo Mountains is a mountain range which stretches across the central region of the West African country of Togo and across the eastern and western borders of that country into Ghana and Benin. In Ghana, the range is also known as the Akwapim ...

to the south. One of its eastern tributaries is the

Kara River The Kara (russian: Ка́ра) is a river draining to the Arctic Kara Sea in Russia. It flows through the Pai-Khoi Range in the Polar Ural region, and forms parts of the borders between the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, the Nenets Autonomous ...

, the confluence being on the

Ghana–Togo border The Ghana–Togo border is 1,098 km (682 miles) in length and runs from the tripoint with Burkina Faso in the north to the Atlantic Ocean in the south. Description The border starts in the north at the tripoint with Burkina Faso; it then ve ...

, where another tributary joins from the south, the Koumongou River. The

mouth In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...

of the Oti was formerly on the Volta River, but it now flows into

Lake Volta Lake Volta, the largest artificial reservoir in the world based on surface area, is contained behind the Akosombo Dam which generates a substantial amount of Ghana's electricity. It is completely within the country of Ghana and has a surface area ...

reservoir in Ghana. The river crosses the northern part of Togo in a savannah-clad valley some wide. Along the margins of the river is gallery forest which floods periodically. The dry season here lasts from about November until April, with the hot dry

Harmattan The Harmattan is a season in West Africa that occurs between the end of November and the middle of March. It is characterized by the dry and dusty northeasterly trade wind, of the same name, which blows from the Sahara over West Africa into the ...

wind blowing from the north. At this time of the year the river's flow is minimal. Both the Oti and the Koumongou have floodplains, some wide respectively. These flood extensively during the wet season, but during the dry season they become dry, dusty plains, with the occasional pond or lake in a depression. Cattle graze on the floodplains during the dry season. There is also some small scale growing of crops, and the hunting of game takes place there.

International borders

The river forms part of the

international border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

s between

, and

Parks

The Oti River flows through

Pendjari National Park The Pendjari National Park (french: Parc National de la Pendjari) lies in north western Benin, adjoining the Arli National Park in Burkina Faso. Named for the Pendjari River, the national park is known for its wildlife and is home to some of the ...

in Benin and the Oti-Kéran National Park in Togo.

References

{{Rivers of Togo International rivers of Africa Volta River Rivers of Benin Rivers of Burkina Faso Rivers of Ghana Rivers of Togo Lake Volta Benin–Burkina Faso border Benin–Togo border Burkina Faso–Ghana border Burkina Faso–Togo border Ghana–Togo border Ramsar sites in Benin Border rivers