The Burkina Faso–Niger border is 622 km (386 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

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 ...

in the north to the tripoint with

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

in the south.

Description

The border starts at the tripoint with Mali in the north, and then proceeds in a generally south-eastwards direction (save for a small Burkinabe protrusion) following a series of predominantly straight lines, as well as some rivers such as the Tapoa, before reaching the Beninese tripoint on the Mékrou River.

History

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

and Niger). 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, later occupying the territory of modern Niger by 1900. These areas came the control 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 this polity 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. The Niger military territory was split off in 1911, becoming a separate colony in 1922, and Mali and Upper Volta were constituted as separate colonies in 1919. Prior to 1926-27 the Niger-Upper Volta border was formed entirely by the Niger river, however in that period by French decree Niger gained the areas west of the river which it holds today. A more precise border between the two entities was delimited in 1927. In 1932 Upper Volta was abolished, with its territory parcelled out amongst the surrounding colonies; as a result Niger gained much of the eastern areas of Upper Volta, giving it a common border with the French colonies of

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 ...

and the

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 ...

. Upper Volta was reinstituted in 1947 within its previous borders. AOFMap1936

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 ...

. In August 1960 both Niger and Upper Volta (renamed Burkina Faso in 1984) gained full independence, and their mutual frontier became an international one between two sovereign states. On 23 June 1964 the two new governments met and formally agreed to settle their shared border, however it appears no final arrangement came out of these discussions A full border demarcation remained incomplete until the late 1980s, however disputes about the interpretation of colonial-era boundary treaties prompted the two states to submit the dispute 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 ...

in 2010. The ICJ subsequently ruled on the dispute in 2013, recommending some small territorial exchanges, which were accepted by both governments.

Settlements

Burkina Faso

* Dembam * Tamba * Ouro Boulé * Soffokèl * Barbabouga * Takatami * Gabouga * Kantchari *

Botou Botou () is a county-level city in Hebei province, People's Republic of China, under the jurisdiction of Cangzhou prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the China, People's R ...

* Kogori * Garibonga

Niger

* Dolbèl * Fatatako * Boukari Koyré * Fantio * Manda * Bangaré * Tingou * Bolsi * Ouro Sawabé * Tampéna * Makalondi * Alambaré

Border crossings

There are several border crossings. The most frequented is the Sambalgou (BF)–Makalondi (Niger) crossing which lies on the main Ouagadougou-Niamey road.Geels, Jolijn, (2006) ''Bradt Travel Guide - Niger'', pgs. 47

References

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