The Burkina Faso–Mali border is 1,325 km (823 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

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

in the west 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 east.

Description

The border starts in the west at the tripoint with Ivory Coast on the Léraba river. The highest point of Burkina Faso,

Mount Tenakourou Mount Tenakourou (also spelled Ténakourou, Tena Kourou or Téna Kourou) is the highest point in Burkina Faso. It is a hill situated on the border of the Cascades Region of Burkina Faso and the Sikasso Region of the country of Mali, not far from ...

lies less than from the border here. It then proceeds to the north via a series of smaller riverine and overland sections, before reaching the Ngorolaka river. The border then follows this river east, then proceeds towards the north-east, utilising various overland sections as well as rivers such as the Sourou, before reaching the tripoint with Niger.

History

As a result of 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 ...

in the 1880s

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 ...

had 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 and

). France occupied this area in 1900; Mali (then 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 ...

) was originally included, along with modern Niger and

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

, within the Upper Senegal and Niger colony and became a constituent 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). The internal divisions of AOF underwent several changes during its existence; what are now Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso were initially united as Upper Senegal and Niger, with Niger constituting a military territory ruled from

Zinder Zinder (locally, ''Damagaram''), formerly also spelled Sinder, is the third largest city in Niger, with a population of 235,605 as by the 2012 census. It is situated east of the capital Niamey and north of the Nigerian city of Kano. History ...

. The Niger military territory was split off in 1911, becoming a separate colony in 1922, and Mali and Upper Volta (Burkina Faso) were constituted as separate colonies in 1919. During the period 1932-47 Upper Volta was abolished and its territory split out between French Sudan, Niger and Ivory Coast. The precise date the Mali-Upper Volta boundary was drawn appears to be uncertain, though it is thought to have been created at the time of the formal institution of Upper Volta in 1919. 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 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 () 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 ...

. Eventually, in 1960, both Mali and Upper Volta (renamed Burkina Faso in 1984) gained independence, and their mutual frontier became an international one between two states. As the precise on-the-ground demarcation of the boundary was frequently unclear, in 1968 the two states agreed to set up a joint commission to examine border demarcation. As the commission failed to come to a mutually satisfactory agreement, tensions began mounting between the two states, most notably over the easternmost section of the border known as the Agacher Strip, believed to be rich in minerals. Fighting then erupted in late 1974, continuing into the new year, before an

Organisation of African Unity The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; , OUA) was an African intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 33 signatory governments. Some of the key aims of the OAU were to encourage political and ec ...

-sponsored ceasefire took effect by which both states agreed to set up a technical commission to resolve the dispute peacefully. Tensions mounted yet again, especially after

Thomas Sankara Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara (; 21 December 1949 – 15 October 1987) was a Burkinabè military officer, Marxist and Pan-Africanist revolutionary who served as the President of Burkina Faso from 1983, following his takeover in a coup, until ...

seized power in Upper Volta in 1982. Fighting erupted in 1985 in the so-called Christmas War. A ceasefire was declared, and the case was referred to 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 ...

, which split the territory almost equally between the two states in 1986. In more recent years the border has become insecure owing to the fallout from the

Mali War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Mali War , width = 35% , partof = the Islamist insurgency in the Sahel and the War on terror , image = MaliWar.svg , image_size = 300 , caption ...

Settlements near the border

Burkina Faso

* Koloko * Ngorouerla * Dan Maissara * Faramana * Tassila *

Ben Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett, Benson or Ebenezer, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben meaning "son of" is also found in Arabic as ''Ben'' (dialectal Arabic) or ''bin ...

* Bangassi * Kolokan * Vouoro * Illa * Que * Tiao * Dounkou * Nohoro * Loroni * Soro * Sindio * Tou * Petegoli * Diguel

Mali

* Loulouni * Mandela * Mahou * Gbangan * Lonha * Mafune * Wanian * Benena * Koula * Yehere * Nioukoundara * Ouankoro * Kare * Bai * Ombo * Tongore * Sobangouma * Batou * Yoro * Dionouga * Douna

References

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