The Central African Republic–Chad border is 1,556 km (987 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, la ...

with Cameroon in the west, to the tripoint with Sudan in the east.

Description

The border begins in the west at the tripoint with Cameroon, located in the Mbéré River about 15 km (9 m) NE of the Central African town of Mbéré. Two short, straight lines then proceed eastwards, before reaching the Lébé river; the border then proceeds eastwards utilising the following rivers: the Ouaraouassi, Eréké, Pendé, Taibo, Bokola and the

Nana Barya The Nana Barya River is a river in Central Africa. It arises in the west of the Central African Republic in the prefecture Ouham-Pendé and flows northeast, forming part of the international boundary between the Central African Republic and Chad. ...

, until the latter joins the

Ouham River The Ouham River is a river in Central Africa, and one of the main headwaters of the Chari River. The Ouham originates in the Central African Republic between the prefecture Nana-Mambéré and the prefecture Ouham-Pendé, crossing into Chad where ...

. Three straight lines then form an overland section of the boundary, until reaching the Petit Sido river, whereupon it follows the following rivers all the way to the Sudanese tripoint: the Grand Sido,

Chari Chari may refer to: Places * Chari River, in Central Africa * Chari-Baguirmi (disambiguation), in Chad * Chari Department, in Chad, one of three departments making up the region of Chari-Baguirmi * Moyen-Chari (disambiguation), in Chad * Chari ...

Bahr Aouk The Bahr Aouk River is a river in central Africa. It arises in eastern Chad at the border to Sudan and flows southwest, forming a significant portion of the international boundary between Chad and the Central African Republic. The Bahr Aouk meets ...

, Samoybayn (also known as the Madeam), Aoukalé and the Mare de Tizi.

History

The border first emerged during the Scramble for Africa, 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 gained control of the upper valley of the Niger River (roughly equivalent to the areas of modern 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 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 i ...

in the far north of modern Cameroon. These newly conquered regions were initially ruled as military territories. By 1903 the areas that now make up Gabon and Congo-Brazzaville (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 ...

(later split), with areas further north organised into Ubangi-Shari (modern Central African Republic) and Chad military territory; the latter two areas were merged in 1906 as Ubangi-Shari-Chad. In 1914 Chad was detached from Ubangi-Shari and became a separate colony within AEF. Around this time two main areas of French colonisation were 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 Burkin ...

(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 ar ...

(Afrique équatoriale française, AEF). Prior to the Second World War the boundary between Ubangi-Shari and Chad was aligned differently, with large areas of south-west Chad included within Ubangi-Shari (including the large towns of

Moundou Moundou () is the second largest city in Chad and is the capital of the region of Logone Occidental. The city lies on the Mbéré River (a tributary of the Western Logone) some 475 kilometres south of the capital N'Djamena. It is the main cit ...

and modern

Sarh Semi-active radar homing (SARH) is a common type of missile guidance system, perhaps the most common type for longer-range air-to-air and surface-to-air missile systems. The name refers to the fact that the missile itself is only a passive det ...

), and areas of modern CAR's

Vakaga Vakaga is one of the 16 prefectures of the Central African Republic. Its capital is Birao. It covers an area of 46,500 km and has a population of 37,595 (2003 census). The extremely low population density, less than 1 person/km, is a result ...

prefecture within Chad. It appears that the current alignments was finalised in the early 1940s. France gradually granted more political rights and representation for the constituent territories of the two African federations, culminating in the granting of broad internal autonomy to each colony in 1958 within the framework of the French Community. Eventually, in August 1960, both Chad and the Central African Republic declared full independence and their mutual frontier thus 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 ...

. The

Chadian military french: Armée nationale tchadienne , image = , alt = , caption = , image2 = , alt2 = , caption2 = , motto ...

currently has a large presence in CAR and has repeatedly crossed the border in an attempt to secure the frontier.

Settlements near the border

Central African Republic

* Gaoundaye * Nzakoundou * Marcounda * Bélé * Maissou * Maïtoukoulou * Golongoso * Garba

Chad

* Bédara Lal * Odoumia * Goré * Kaba * Goubeti * Gondey * Tangaray * Ngoide * Makoua * Kouga * Dangaousi

References