{{Short description|River in Togo}} {{Infobox river | name = Oti River<br>''Rivière Oti'' | name_native = | name_native_lang = | name_other = | name_etymology = <!---------------------- IMAGE & MAP --> | image = Pendjari fluss.JPG | image_size = | image_caption = Oti River in Pendjari National Park in dry season; Benin left, Burkina Faso right | map = Map of rivers of Togo OSM.png | map_size = 250 | map_caption = Togo with the Oti River (north) and the Mono River (south) | pushpin_map = | pushpin_map_size = | pushpin_map_caption= <!---------------------- LOCATION --> | subdivision_type1 = Countries | subdivision_name1 = {{hlist|Ghana|Burkina Faso|Togo|Benin}} | subdivision_type2 = | subdivision_name2 = | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name4 = | subdivision_type5 = | subdivision_name5 = <!---------------------- PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS --> | length = {{convert|520|km|mi|abbr=on}} | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location= Mouth | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = | discharge1_max = <!---------------------- BASIN FEATURES --> | source1 = | source1_location = | source1_coordinates= | source1_elevation = {{convert|150|m|abbr=on}} | mouth = Lake Volta of Ghana | mouth_location = Gulf of Guinea | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|8|46|48|N|2|34|29|W|display=inline,title}} | mouth_elevation = | progression = | river_system = | basin_size = {{convert|72000|km2|abbr=on}} | tributaries_left = | tributaries_right = | custom_label = Designation | custom_data = {{Designation list | embed = yes | designation1 = Ramsar | designation1_offname = Zone Humide de la Rivière Pendjari | designation1_date = 2 February 2007 | designation1_number = 1669<ref>{{Cite web|title=Zone Humide de la Rivière Pendjari|website=Ramsar Sites Information Service|url=https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/1669|access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref>}} | extra = }}
The '''Oti River''' or '''Pendjari River''' (French: ''Rivière Pendjari'') is an international river in West Africa. It rises in Benin, forms the border between Benin and Burkina Faso, flows through Togo, and joins the Volta River in Ghana.
==Geography== The Oti River is about {{convert|520|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} long. Its headwaters are in Benin and Burkina Faso, it flows through Benin and Togo and joins the Volta River in Ghana. Tributaries on the left bank in Togo originate from the Togo Mountains to the south. One of its eastern tributaries is the Kara River, the confluence being on the Ghana–Togo border, where another tributary, the Koumongou River, joins from the south. The mouth of the Oti was formerly on the Volta River, but it now flows into Lake Volta reservoir in Ghana.<ref name=Atlas>{{cite book |title=Atlas of the World |last=Philip's |year=1994 |publisher=Reed International |isbn=0-540-05831-9 |page=101 }}</ref>
The river crosses the northern part of Togo in a savannah-clad valley some {{convert|40|or|50|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} 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 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 {{convert|10|and|4|km|mi|1|abbr=on}} 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.<ref name=Hughes>{{cite book|author=Hughes, R.H.|title=A Directory of African Wetlands|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VLjafeXa3gMC&pg=PA443 |year=1992 |publisher=IUCN |isbn=978-2-88032-949-5 |pages=443–447}}</ref>
===International borders=== The river forms part of the international borders between Ghana, Burkina Faso, Togo, and Benin.<ref name="Rivers and Lakes">{{Cite web|url=http://www.countrystudies.us/ghana/30.htm|title=Ghana - Rivers and Lakes|website=www.countrystudies.us|access-date=2017-08-17}}</ref>
===Parks=== The Oti River flows through Pendjari National Park in Benin<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pendjari.net/en/ |title=Parc National de la Pendjari |access-date=21 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170714032607/http://www.pendjari.net/en/ |archive-date=14 July 2017 |url-status=usurped }}</ref> and the Oti-Kéran National Park in Togo.<ref name=Hughes/>
==References== {{reflist}} {{Commons}} {{Portal|Africa|Water}} {{Rivers of Ghana}} {{Rivers of Burkina Faso}} {{Rivers of Togo}}
Category:International rivers of Africa Category:Volta River Category:Rivers of Benin Category:Rivers of Burkina Faso Category:Rivers of Ghana Category:Rivers of Togo Category:Lake Volta Category:Benin–Burkina Faso border Category:Benin–Togo border Category:Burkina Faso–Togo border Category:Ghana–Togo border Category:Ramsar sites in Benin Category:Border rivers