The Benin–Burkina Faso border is 386 km (240 m) 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

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

in the southwest to the tripoint with

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

in the northeast.

Description

The border starts at the Togolese tripoint, then proceeds briefly overland in a north-western direction, before reaching the

Pendjari River The Oti River or Pendjari River ( French: ''Rivière Pendjari'') is an international river in West Africa. It rises in Benin, forms the border between Benin and Burkina Faso, flows through Togo, and joins the Volta River in Ghana. Geography The ...

, which it then follows for some distance. An overland section then connects up the

Mékrou River The Mékrou River is a river of Benin, Burkina Faso, and Niger. It flows through the W National Park. A tributary of the Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. ...

, which forms the boundary up the tripoint with Niger. Virtually the entire boundary area is protected by various trans-border parks which together form the

W-Arly-Pendjari Complex W-Arly-Pendjari Complex, also known as the "WAP Complex", is a transboundary Natural UNESCO World Heritage Site in Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger covering: * Arli National Park in Burkina Faso *Pendjari National Park in Benin * W National Park, sha ...

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 The Kingdom of Dahomey () was a West African kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. It developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in the early 17th century and became a regional ...

in what is now southern Benin, followed by the creation of a protectorate in

Porto Novo , , ; ; ; also known as Hogbonu and Ajashe) is the capital and second-largest city of Benin. The commune covers an area of and as of 2002 had a population of 223,552 people. In 1863, following British bombardment, Porto-Novo accepted French ...

in 1863. The colony of

Dahomey The Kingdom of Dahomey () was a West African List of kingdoms in Africa throughout history, kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. It developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in ...

(the former name of Benin) was declared in 1894, and was later included within the much larger 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) in 1899. The 1880s saw an intense competition between the 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 of 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

). France began occupying the area of modern Mali (then often referred to as

French Sudan French Sudan (; ') was a French colonial territory in the Federation of French West Africa from around 1880 until 1959, when it joined the Mali Federation, and then in 1960, when it became the independent state of Mali. The colony was formall ...

) and Burkina Faso (then called Upper Volta) during the 1880s-90s. This region was organised as

Upper Senegal and Niger Upper Senegal and Niger () was a colony in French West Africa, created on 21 October 1904 from colonial Senegambia and Niger by the decree "For the Reorganisation of the general government of French West Africa". At its creation, the "Colony of ...

; various French decrees delimited a border between this colony and Dahomey during the period 1901–14. The colony of Upper Volta (modern Burkina Faso) was constituted in March 1919; the colony was abolished in 1932 and its territory divided between what Niger and Ivory Coast, but it was then reconstituted within its previous borders in 1947. The Dahomey-Upper Volta boundary was finalised by French statue on 27 October 1938. As the movement for decolonisation grew in the post-

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 ...

era, 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 () was the constitutional organization set up in October 1958 between France and its remaining African colonies, then in the process of decolonization. It replaced the French Union, which had reorganized the colonial em ...

. Dahomey declared full independence on 1 August 1960, followed shortly thereafter by Upper Volta on 5 August, and their mutual frontier became an international boundary between two sovereign states. Parts of the border remained contested on the ground, with several incidents in the disputed areas of Koalou and Niorgou sparking tension in the 2000s. As a result, the two countries signed an agreement in May 2009 which created a small neutral zone in the area, pending a final decision on the matter by the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

. In recent years the boundary region had been affected by the ongoing Islamist insurgency in the

Sahel The Sahel region (; ), or Sahelian acacia savanna, is a Biogeography, biogeographical region in Africa. It is the Ecotone, transition zone between the more humid Sudanian savannas to its south and the drier Sahara to the north. The Sahel has a ...

, predominantly on the Burkinabe side of the border. In May 2019 two French tourists exploring the Pendjari National Park were kidnapped and their Beninese guide killed. At present third-party governments generally advise against travelling in the border region.

Settlements near the border

Benin

* Porga

Burkina Faso

* Momba * Tanli * Tanbarga * Madjori

Border crossings

The main border crossing is at Porga.Butler, Stuart (2019) ''Bradt Travel Guide - Benin'', pgs. 44

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benin-Burkina Faso border Borders of Benin Borders of Burkina Faso International borders