Volta

Volta (vól`tə), river, c.290 mi (470 km) long, formed in central Ghana, W Africa, by the confluence of the Black Volta (or Mouhon, c.840 mi/1,350 km long) and the White Volta (or Nakambe, c.450 mi/720 km long), both of which rise in Burkina Faso. The river flows generally south, through a large delta, to the Gulf of Guinea at Ada. The Volta River system drains c.150,000 sq mi (388,500 sq km). Lake Volta (c.3,275 sq mi/8,480 sq km), one of the world's largest artificial lakes, extends c.280 mi (450 km) upstream behind Akosombo Dam, SE Ghana, in the Ajena Gorge. The dam (370 ft/113 m high; completed 1965), the principal unit of the Volta Development Project, regulates the flow of the Volta River, stores water for irrigation, and generates hydroelectricity (750,000-kW capacity) that supports a large aluminum industry.

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Volta¹

Count Alessandro . 1745--1827, Italian physicist after whom the volt is named. He made important contributions to the theory of current electricity and invented the voltaic pile (1800), the electrophorus (1775), and an electroscope

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Volta²

1. a river in W Africa, formed by the confluence of the Black Volta and the White Volta in N central Ghana: flows south to the Bight of Benin: the chief river of Ghana. Length: 480 km (300 miles); (including the Black Volta) 1600 km (1000 miles)

2. Lake. an artificial lake in Ghana, extending 408 km (250 miles) upstream from the Volta River Dam on the Volta River: completed in 1966. Area: 8482 sq. km (3275 sq. miles)