The Benin–Nigeria border is 809 km (503 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

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesBight of Benin in the south.

Description

The border starts in the north at the tripoint with Niger in 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 ...

and then proceeds in a roughly south-to-southwesterly direction overland, before reaching the

Okpara River The Okpara River is a river of Benin.Rand McNally, ''The New International Atlas'', 1993. Originating in Borgou Department, it flows south and becomes the border between Nigeria and Benin before re-entering Benin and flowing into the Ouémé Rive ...

just east of Waria. The border then proceeds to the south, utilising the Okpara for circa 100 miles, various small streams, and several overland sections, before terminating at the Bight of Benin.

History

During the second half of the 19th century France began creating small trading settlements on the West African coast. In 1851 a treaty of friendship was signed between France and the Kingdom of Dahomey in what is now southern Benin, followed by the creation of a protectorate in

Porto Novo Porto-Novo (Portuguese: "New Port", , ; yo, Àjàṣẹ́, ), also known as Hogbonu and Ajashe, is the capital of Benin. The commune covers an area of and as of 2002 had a population of 223,552 people. Situated on an inlet of the Gulf of G ...

in 1863. The colony of Dahomey (the former name of Benin) was declared in 1894 and was later included within the much larger federal colony of French West Africa (''Afrique occidentale française'', abbreviated AOF) in 1899. Meanwhile, Britain had (via the

Royal Niger Company The Royal Niger Company was a mercantile company chartered by the British government in the nineteenth century. It was formed in 1879 as the ''United African Company '' and renamed to ''National African Company'' in 1881 and to ''Royal Niger C ...

) administered the area around

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

since 1861 and the Oil River Protectorate (

Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language. The city is adjacent to the Calabar and Great Kwa rivers and c ...

are the surrounding area) since 1884. As Britain expanded into the interior, two colonies were created - the

Southern Nigeria Protectorate Southern Nigeria was a British protectorate in the coastal areas of modern-day Nigeria formed in 1900 from the union of the Niger Coast Protectorate with territories chartered by the Royal Niger Company below Lokoja on the Niger River. The ...

and the Northern Nigeria Protectorate. In 1900 the administration of these areas was transferred to the British government, with the Northern and Southern (including Lagos and Calabar) protectorates united as the colony of Nigeria in 1914. A rough delimitation between the two territories as far north as the 9th parallel had been negotiated on 10 August 1889; this was further clarified in more detail via an agreement of 12 October 1896. An Anglo-French treaty of 14 June 1898 confirmed this border, and extended it northwards up to the river Niger. This border was confirmed by a treaty of 19 October 1906, with some minor changes made in 1912 following on-the-ground demarcation which were later finalised officially via an exchange of notes in 1914. The section between the Atlantic and the Okpara river was marked on the ground by 142 concrete beacons, the boundary being formed by a straight line between them. 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 opposi ...

era, Britain and France gradually granted more political rights and representation for their African colonies. Dahomey declared full independence on 1 August 1960, followed by Nigeria on 1 October 1960, and their mutual frontier became an international one between two states. By 2004-05 many of the boundary markers from the original demarcation were missing, prompting Benin and Nigeria to re-demarcate some sections of the border.

Settlements near the border

Benin

* Mandécali * Segbana * Néganzi * Basso * Waria * Adékambi * Pobè *

Porto-Novo Porto-Novo (Portuguese: "New Port", , ; yo, Àjàṣẹ́, ), also known as Hogbonu and Ajashe, is the capital of Benin. The commune covers an area of and as of 2002 had a population of 223,552 people. Situated on an inlet of the Gulf of G ...

Nigeria

* Bani * Samia * Swate * Babana * Yashikera * Suya * Orieke

References