The Libya–Niger border is in length and runs from the

tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...

with

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

in the west to the tripoint with

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

in the east.

Description

The border starts in the west at the Algerian tripoint, just to the north of the Salvador Passage. It then proceeds in a south-easterly direction, curving further to the south down to Tumu, whereupon it veers sharply to the north-east up to the Chadian tripoint. The borders runs through a remote stretch of the

Sahara desert The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

History

The 1880s saw intense competition among European powers for territories in Africa, a process known as the

Scramble for Africa The Scramble for Africa was the invasion, conquest, and colonialism, colonisation of most of Africa by seven Western European powers driven by the Second Industrial Revolution during the late 19th century and early 20th century in the era of ...

. The process culminated in the

Berlin Conference The Berlin Conference of 1884–1885 was a meeting of colonial powers that concluded with the signing of the General Act of Berlin,

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 located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

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, Nige ...

(roughly equivalent to the areas of modern

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

and Niger). France occupied this area in 1900, declaring it the military territory of Niger, ruled originally from Zinder. Niger was originally included, along with modern Mali and Burkina Faso, within the Upper Senegal and Niger colony, however it was split off in 1911 and became a constituent territory of the federal colony of

French West Africa French West Africa (, ) was a federation of eight French colonial empires#Second French colonial empire, French colonial territories in West Africa: Colonial Mauritania, Mauritania, French Senegal, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guin ...

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

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

meanwhile, which desired territory in the area of modern Libya, sought to emulate the colonial expansion of the other European powers, and they indicated their recognition of the above line to France on 1 November 1902. The

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

had ruled the coastal areas of what is today Libya since the 16th century, organised into the Vilayet of Tripolitania, with an ill-defined border in the south. In September 1911 Italy invaded Tripolitania, and the Treaty of Ouchy was signed the following year by which the Ottomans formally ceded sovereignty of the area over to Italy. The Italians organised the newly conquered region into the colonies of Italian Cyrenaica and Italian Tripolitania, and gradually began pushing the limits of the territories to the south; later, in 1934, they united the two territories as

Italian Libya Libya (; ) was a colony of Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Italy located in North Africa, in what is now modern Libya, between 1934 and 1943. It was formed from the unification of the colonies of Italian Cyrenaica, Cyrenaica and Italian Tripolitan ...

. France and Italy delimited the border between

French Algeria French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...

and Italian Libya in 1919, which also covered the segment of the modern Libya–Niger border as far south as Tumu. The precise details of the delimitation of the section east from Tumu to the Chad tripoint remains somewhat hazy, however the convention line as currently in place appears to have been agreed upon at some time in this period. The Libya-Niger border was formerly longer than it is currently, prior to the transfer on 18 March 1931 of the

Tibesti Mountains The Tibesti Mountains are a mountain range in the central Sahara, primarily located in the extreme north of Chad, with a small portion located in southern Libya. The highest peak in the range, Emi Koussi, lies to the south at a height of and i ...

from Niger to Chad. During the

North African Campaign The North African campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943, fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers. It included campaigns in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert campaign, Desert Wa ...

of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Italy was defeated and its African colonies were occupied by the Allied powers, with Libya split into British and French zones of occupation. Libya was later granted full independence on 2 December 1951. A Franco-Libyan treaty was signed on 1 August 1955 which recognised the existing boundary. Niger later gained independence from France on 3 August 1960 and the border became an international frontier between two independent states. In recent years the border region has gained renewed focus, due to increasing numbers of African migrants crossing it, seeking to reach Europe. France has started to assist in policing the border in recent years given the insecurity there, from the

Madama Madama is a border settlement on the northeast frontier of Niger. Little more than an army post, the settlement serves as a frontier station controlling travel between Niger and Libya. It is also the site of a former French colonial empire, Fr ...

army base in northern Niger, south of the Libyan border.

Border Crossings

The main border crossing is at Tumu, Libya.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Libya-Niger border Borders of Libya Borders of Niger International borders

Description

History

Border Crossings

See also

References