Volta (600 Kilometres)

Volta, officially the Republic of Volta (French: République de la Volta), is a country in Sub-Saharan West Africa, on the Gulf of Guinea. Volta is bordered by Azawad, Nigeria, Yorubaland, Ivory Coast, and Mali.

Volta was colonised by three separate European empires. Originally created as two independent states, Ghana and Burkina Faso united in 1990.

Volta is an extremely diverse nation with no one ethnic group holding a majority.

History
Volta was first settled by Europeans in 1482 by the Portuguese, then known as "Portuguese Gold Coast", which was taken by the Dutch in 1598.

OTL PoD
Following the Dutch defeat in the Dutch-Portuguese War in 1661, the Netherlands struggled to become a colonial power like France and England. During the War of Devolution, Louis XIV invaded the Netherlands which was previously neutral. The Netherlands sold colonies to England for assistance in the war against France, including the Dutch Gold Coast. The British Gold Coast saw an accelerated territorial growth during the "Scramble for Africa" late 1800s. Following the unification of France and Britain in 1941, and World War II in 1943, the Franglican Gold Coast saw envelopment into Franglican West Africa.

In 1967, Franglican West Africa was divided up, giving the new nation of Ghana had nearly twice as much land as the British Gold Coast that came before. Upper Volta was also carved out from Franglican West Africa.

Following President Sankara's rise to power in 1983 and the renaming of Upper Volta to Burkina Faso, relations between Ghana and Burkina Faso grew. In 1990 the two nations united under one flag and one name. President Sankara modified the anthem he made for Burkina Faso as well as learning English so he could talk directly to his new citizens in the south of the country. Before uniting, Sankara also established good relations with Mali.

Ivorian President Houphouët-Boigny condemned the union, leading to the West African War in November that year. Mali, Guinea, all Yorubaland all joined Volta, while Mauritania, Azawad, and Agadez joined Ivory Coast. The war constantly spilled into Nigeria, eventually forcing them into the war in 1993 on Volta's side. The conflict ended in 1994 when Franglia interviened. The Treaty of Cotonou was signed. Despite winning near the end of the war, President Sankara pushed for minimal reparations to be paid.

Modern history
Volta's ideas of unity have spread into neighbouring Yorubaland, causing a growing desire for unification between the two nations. The majority of campaigns for Volta's Vice Presidents have been centred around Yorubian relations.

Volta was also involved in the Ivorian Civil War, on the side of the Ivorian New Forces. Volta supplied resources and volunteers that were considered "vital to the war". The conflict ended in 2005 with President Gbagbo captured.

States
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