The Mono River is the major river of eastern

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 ...

. Approximately long, and draining a basin of about , it rises between the town of Sokodé and the border with

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 nort ...

, and flows south. Along the southern portion of the river towards its mouth, it forms the

international boundary 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 ca ...

between Togo and Benin. The river drains into the

Bight of Benin The Bight of Benin or Bay of Benin is a bight in the Gulf of Guinea area on the western African coast that derives its name from the historical Kingdom of Benin. Geography It extends eastward for about from Cape St. Paul to the Nun outlet of ...

through an extensive system of

brackish water Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into '' coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons ...

s and

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s, including

Lake Togo Lake Togo ''( French: Lac Togo)'' is the largest part of a lagoon in Togo, separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a narrow coastal strip. It is shallow and a popular location for water sports. Towns on the lake's shore include Agbodrafo and Togovi ...

. Only the part of the river nearest its mouth is navigable. Most of the river's basin on the upper tableland is cultivated for

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American English, North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous ...

, yams,

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

and

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated ...

. The river is dammed from its mouth by the Nangbeto Dam, a partnership between Benin and Togo completed in 1987. Studies have reported economic benefits from the dam, including tourism and fishing in the lake behind it. The dam's construction displaced between 7,600 and 10,000 people, however, and studies indicate that it has substantially modified the ecology of the lagoon system at the river's mouth by reducing the natural seasonal fluctuations in river flow. A second dam project, Adjarala Dam, was proposed to be built on the river between Nangbeto and the river's mouth during the 1990s but did not receive financing until 2017 when the

China-Africa Development Fund The China-Africa Development Fund, more commonly known as CAD Fund, is a Chinese private equity fund solely funded by China Development Bank, a Chinese government policy bank. The aim of the fund is to stimulate investment in Africa by Chinese c ...

agreed to support the project.''Togo First'', Togo: CAD Fund to support new development projects , Tuesday, 11 September 2018 19:08 , https://www.togofirst.com/en/investments/1109-1578-togo-cad-fund-to-support-new-development-projects The dam's construction is part of the government's plan to increase Benin's domestic power generation capacity from 20 to 70% as most of Togo and Benin's electricity currently needs to be imported from the

Akosombo Dam The Akosombo Dam, also known as the Volta Dam, is a hydroelectric dam on the Volta River in southeastern Ghana in the Akosombo gorge and part of the Volta River Authority. The construction of the dam flooded part of the Volta River Basin and led ...

in Ghana. About from its mouth, there are six series of rapids. Below this, the river becomes slow-moving and flows over a swampy floodplain, and there is a large area of contiguous wetland in both Togo and Benin. This area has a rich growth of reeds, sedges and grasses, and

manatee Manatees (family Trichechidae, genus ''Trichechus'') are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing three of the four living speci ...

crocodile Crocodiles (family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to include all extant me ...

s and

hippopotamus The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two exta ...

occur in the river.

References

*Adam, K.S (1991). Les impacts environnementaux du barrage du Nangbeto
''Geo-Eco-Trop''
13(1-4):103-112. *Thomas, Kevin (2002). Development projects and involuntary population displacement: The World Bank's attempt to correct past failures. ''Population Research and Policy Review'' 21(4):339-349. {{coord, 6.2959, N, 1.9299, E, dim:1000_region:TG-M/BJ-MO_type:waterbody_source:dewiki, display=title Rivers of Togo Rivers of Benin Benin–Togo border International rivers of Africa