The Mali–Senegal border is 489 km (304 m) 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

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

in the north to the tripoint with

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

in the south.

Description

The border begins in the north at the tripoint with Mauritania at the confluence of the

Senegal River ,french: Fleuve Sénégal) , name_etymology = , image = Senegal River Saint Louis.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = Fishermen on the bank of the Senegal River estuary at the outskirts of Saint-Louis, Senegal ...

and

Falémé River The Falémé River is a river in West Africa. The Falémé arises in northern Guinea and flows in a north-northeast direction to Mali, forming a short portion of the border between Guinea and Senegal. It turns north and then forms a portion of ...

. It then follows the latter for some distance southwards, before proceeding overland for a stretch, before rejoining the Falémé, which it then follows down to the tripoint with Guinea.

History

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 ...

had begun settling on the coast of modern Senegal in the 17th century, gradually extending their rule further inland during the mid-1800s onward. The areas east of the Falémé river (i.e. roughly modern Mali,

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

and

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesUpper Senegal Upper may refer to: * Shoe upper or ''vamp'', the part of a shoe on the top of the foot * Stimulant, drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both * ''Upper'', the original film title for the 2013 found f ...

, but were split off as

French Sudan French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

in 1893. Both Senegal and French Sudan later became constituent of the federal colony 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). The boundary between French Sudan and Senegal was drawn up in 1895. As the movement for decolonisation grew in the post-

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 opposin ...

era, France gradually granted more political rights and representation for their sub-Saharan African colonies, culminating in the granting of broad internal autonomy to French West Africa 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 1960, both Senegal and Mali were granted full independence, originally as the short-lived

Mali Federation The Mali Federation ( ar, اتحاد مالي) was a federation in West Africa linking the French colonies of Senegal and the French Sudan, Sudanese Republic (or French Sudan) for two months in 1960. It was founded on 4 April 1959 as a territor ...

Settlements near the border

Mali

Fégui Fégui is a town and urban commune in the Cercle of Kayes in the Kayes Region of south-western Mali. The town lies on the bank of the Falémé River that marks the boundary between Mali and Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: � ...

* Dakassenou * Naye * Gourbassi * Satadougou *

Diboli Diboli is a small town and principal settlement of the commune of Falémé in the Cercle of Kayes in the Kayes Region of south-western Mali.. It is located just from the Mali–Senegal border. Its nearest big town is Kidira, across the border ...

Kéniéba Kéniéba is a rural commune, small town and seat of Kéniéba Cercle in Mali's Kayes Region, near the Mali–Senegal border. As well as the main town, the commune includes 26 other villages.. In the 2009 census the commune had a population o ...

Senegal

* Aroundou *

Kidira Kidira is a town and commune in Tambacounda Region of eastern Senegal, lying near the Malian border. Its population in 2013 was about 10,000. Transport It is an important transport hub and lies on the N1 and N2 roads, the Dakar – Bamako r ...

* Sereto Saboussire * Sonkounkou

Border crossing

There are two main crossings – at Kidira (SEN)-Diboli (MLI) and at Moussala (MLI).Sean Connolly (2015) ''Bradt Travel Guide - Senegal'', pgs. 41-2

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mali-Senegal border Borders of Mali Borders of Senegal International borders