Where is the Upper Volta desert?

These days, the mysterious continent of Africa is very much in the news. We learn of provinces in the Congo, for example, and towns in Ghana that we never knew existed. A map of Africa shows that the little country of Ghana, just north of the equator, is drained by the river Volta   and this is the river which lends its name to the Upper Volta Desert.

The desert, however, is north of Ghana. It is, in fact, part of the southern region of the great Sahara Desert which stretches across northern Africa. The Upper Volta Desert is part of the arid territory of French West Africa.