Map_of_the_Central_African_Republic-Cameroon_border

The Cameroon–Central African Republic border is 901 km (560 mi) in length and runs from the

tripoint A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...

with

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

in the north to the tripoint with the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

in the south.

Description

The border starts in the north at the tripoint with Chad in the Mbéré River, following this river as it flows to the southwest. It continues in this direction, then gradually arcs to the southeast, utilising various rivers (such as the Ngou, Guirma,

Kadéï Kadey (also spelled Kadéï, Kadéi, Kadeï or Kadei) is a department of East Province in Cameroon. The department covers an area of 15,884 km and as of 2001 had a total population of 192,927. The capital of the department lies at Batouri. Sub ...

, Boumba, Batouri and Nyoue), with some shorter overland stretches, before reaching the

Sangha River The Sangha River, a tributary of the Congo River, is located in Central Africa. Geography The Sangha River is formed at the confluence of the Mambéré River and the Kadéï River at Nola in the western Central African Republic. () The Sangha fl ...

. It then follows this river down the tripoint with the Republic of Congo.

History

The border first emerged during the

Scramble for Africa The Scramble for Africa, also called the Partition of Africa, or Conquest of Africa, was the invasion, annexation, division, and colonisation of Africa, colonization of most of Africa by seven Western Europe, Western European powers during a ...

, a period of intense competition between European powers in the later 19th century for territory and influence in Africa. The process culminated in the

Berlin Conference The Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, also known as the Congo Conference (, ) or West Africa Conference (, ), regulated European colonisation and trade in Africa during the New Imperialism period and coincided with Germany's sudden emergence ...

of 1884, in which the European nations concerned agreed upon their respective territorial claims and the rules of engagements going forward. As a result of this

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

gained control of the upper valley of the

Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through ...

(roughly equivalent to the areas of modern

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

and Niger), and also the lands explored by

Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza Pietro Paolo Savorgnan di Brazzà, later known as Pierre Paul François Camille Savorgnan de Brazza; 26 January 1852 – 14 September 1905), was an Italian-born, naturalized French explorer. With his family's financial help, he explored the Ogoou� ...

for France in Central Africa (roughly equivalent to modern

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

and

Congo-Brazzaville The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

). From these bases the French explored further into the interior, eventually linking the two areas following expeditions in April 1900 which met at

Kousséri Kousséri (from ar, قصور ''quṣūr'' meaning "palaces"), founded and known as Mser in the indigenous Mser language is a city in Far North Province, Cameroon. It is the capital of the Logone-et-Chari department. It is a market town, and its ...

in the far north of modern

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

. These newly conquered regions were initially ruled as military territories. By 1903 within the AEF, the areas that now make up

and

(then called Moyen-Congo, or Middle Congo) were united as

French Congo The French Congo (french: Congo français) or Middle Congo (french: Moyen-Congo) was a French colony which at one time comprised the present-day area of the Republic of the Congo and parts of Gabon, and the Central African Republic. In 1910, i ...

(later split), with areas further north organised into

Ubangi-Shari Ubangi-Shari (french: Oubangui-Chari) was a French colony in central Africa, a part of French Equatorial Africa. It was named after the Ubangi and Chari rivers along which it was colonised. It was established on 29 December 1903, from the U ...

(modern CAR) and Chad military territory; the latter two areas were merged in 1906 as Ubangi-Shari-Chad, and then de-merged in 1914. The two regions were later organised into the federal colonies of

French West Africa French West Africa (french: Afrique-Occidentale française, ) was a federation of eight French colonial territories in West Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guinea (now Guinea), Ivory Coast, Upper Volta (now Burki ...

(''Afrique occidentale française'', abbreviated AOF) and

French Equatorial Africa French Equatorial Africa (french: link=no, Afrique-Équatoriale française), or the AEF, was the federation of French colonial possessions in Equatorial Africa, extending northwards from the Congo River into the Sahel, and comprising what are ...

(''Afrique équatoriale française'', AEF). Germany had claimed Cameroon (''Kamerun'') in July 1884. France and Germany established the rough delimitation of their respective spheres of influence in the region in December 1885, with a more precise boundary agreed upon in 1894. A further delimitation occurred on 18 April 1908, which produced the modern Cameroon-CAR border. Following the

Agadir Crisis The Agadir Crisis, Agadir Incident, or Second Moroccan Crisis was a brief crisis sparked by the deployment of a substantial force of French troops in the interior of Morocco in April 1911 and the deployment of the German gunboat to Agadir, a ...

of 1911, France and Germany signed the

Treaty of Fez The Treaty of Fes ( ar, معاهدة فاس, ), officially the Treaty Concluded Between France and Morocco on 30 March 1912, for the Organization of the French Protectorate in the Sherifien Empire (), was a treaty signed by Sultan Abd al-Hafid ...

, in which Germany recognised French supremacy in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

in return for large territories in Central Africa. The latter were attached to their Cameroon colony as

New Cameroon Neukamerun was the name of Central African territories ceded by the Third French Republic to the German Empire in 1911. Upon taking office in 1907, Theodor Seitz, governor of Kamerun, advocated the acquisition of territories from the French Con ...

and included much of what is western CAR. When the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

broke out in 1914, Britain and France invaded Cameroon and eventually defeated the Germans in 1916. Following the defeat of Germany in Europe in 1918-19 all of the areas ceded to Germany in 1911 were restored to France, thus finalising what are now the Cameroon's modern borders with Gabon, Congo-Brazzaville, CAR and Chad. On 22 June 1922 Cameroon became a

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

mandate, with the vast majority of the colony going to France, and smaller areas along the Nigerian border in the west to Britain. This mandate/trusteeship arrangement was affirmed by the UN in 1946. France gradually granted more political rights and representation for its African colonies, culminating in the granting of broad internal autonomy to each colony in 1958 within the framework of the

French Community The French Community (1958–1960; french: Communauté française) was the constitutional organization set up in 1958 between France and its remaining African colonies, then in the process of decolonization. It replaced the French Union, which ...

. Eventually, in January 1960 France granted Cameroon full independence, followed by Ubangi-Shari (as the Central African Republic) in August that year, and their mutual frontier became an international one between two independent states. Since 2003 the border has been crossed by thousands of Central African refugees fleeing the

Central African Republic Bush War The Central African Republic Bush War was a civil war in the Central African Republic between Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) rebels and government forces. The rebellion began after François Bozizé seized the nation's presid ...

and later the

Central African Republic Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Central African Republic Civil War , image = , caption = Current military situation in Central African Republic (For a detailed map of the current military situation, see ...

Settlements near the border

Cameroon

* Dompta * Yérombondé * Kombo-Laka * Gbatoua * Koumboul *

Garoua-Boulaï Garoua-Boulaï (or Garoua-Boulay) is a town and commune in Cameroon. The town is on the border with the Central African Republic. Across the border, the nearest CAR settlement accessible by road is Baboua. Refugees In 2014, the town was severel ...

* Nambona *

Kentzou Kentzou is a town and commune in Cameroon. Refugees In the first months of 2014, the town became a destination for refugees fleeing violence in the Central African Republic. The border town of Kentzou was amongst the areas most heavily affected a ...

* Ndélélé * Ngoundi

CAR

* Mbéré * Koundé * Ardo Djaloré * Bimbélou * Noufou * Gamboula * Bandjiforo

Border crossings

The two main border crossings are at Kenzou-

Gamboula Gamboula is a town located in the Central African Republic prefecture of Mambéré-Kadéï. History On 28 December 2020 Gamboula was captured by rebels from Coalition of Patriots for Change The Coalition of Patriots for Change (''Coalition ...

and

.West, Ben (2011) ''Bradt Travel Guide - Cameroon'', pgs. 55

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameroon-Central African Republic border Borders of Cameroon Borders of the Central African Republic International borders