The Central African Republic–Republic of the Congo border is 487 km (303 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 the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

in the east.

Description

The border starts in the west at the tripoint with Cameroon in 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 ...

, and then proceeds via a straight line overland towards the northwest. It then proceeds via a series of irregular lines to the north, generally following the

Sangha Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...

- Ubangi

drainage divide A drainage divide, water divide, ridgeline, watershed, water parting or height of land is elevated terrain that separates neighboring drainage basins. On rugged land, the divide lies along topographical ridges, and may be in the form of a single ...

, before turning a broad arc to the east, and then continuing in that direction broadly following the Ibenga- Bodingué drainage divide. It then follows the Lobaye-Gouga drainage divide up to the Democratic Republic of the Congo tripoint at the confluence of the Gouga and Ubangi.

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 colonization of most of Africa by seven Western European powers during a short period known as New Imperialism ( ...

, 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 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 Mali, ...

(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). 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, 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 ...

(modern Central African Republic) and Chad military territory; the latter two areas were merged from 1906 to 1914 as Ubangi-Shari-Chad. In 1910 the whole region was united as

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). The internal boundaries of this colony underwent several changes: in 1926 the French transferred the town of

Mbaïki Mbaïki (also spelt Mbaki or M'Baiki) is the capital of Lobaye, one of the 14 prefectures of the Central African Republic. It is situated in the southwest of the country, 107 km from the capital Bangui. The economy is based on the coffee an ...

and the surrounding area from Congo to Ubangi-Shari, creating a boundary which roughly followed the drainage divide between Ibenga and Lobaye rivers. Further changes occurred in 1929, when

Lobaye Lobaye is one of the 16 prefectures of the Central African Republic. Its capital is Mbaïki. Emperor Duy Tân of Vietnam died here on December 26, 1945 in a plane crash. David Dacko, the first and third president of the Central African Republic f ...

region was transferred from Moyen-Congo to Ubangi-Shari. In 1937 Haute-Sangha was added to Moyen-Congo. It appears that the border reached its final alignment at some point after the Second World War. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

France gradually granted more political rights and representation for its African territories, 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 August 1960, both Moyen-Congo (as the Republic of the Congo) and Ubangi-Shari (as the Central African Republic) declared full independence and their mutual frontier thus became an international one between two independent states.

References

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

Description

History

See also

References