Map of the Central African Republic-Cameroon border

The Cameroon–Central African Republic border is 901 km (560 mi) 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

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

in the north to the tripoint with the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...

in the south.

Description

The border starts in the north at the tripoint with Chad in the Mbéré River, following this river as it flows to the southwest. It continues in this direction, then gradually arcs to the southeast, utilising various rivers (such as the Ngou, Guirma, Kadéï, Boumba, Batouri and Nyoue), with some shorter overland stretches, before reaching the Sangha River. It then follows this river down the tripoint with the Republic of Congo.

History

The border first emerged during 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 ...

, a period of intense competition between European powers in the later 19th century for territory and influence in Africa. 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 Niger), and also the lands explored by

Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza Pierre Paul François Camille Savorgnan de Brazza (born Pietro Paolo Savorgnan di Brazzà; 26 January 1852 – 14 September 1905) was an Italian-French explorer. With his family's financial help, he explored the Ogooué region of Central Africa, ...

for France in Central Africa (roughly equivalent to modern

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

and

Congo-Brazzaville The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...

). From these bases the French explored further into the interior, eventually linking the two areas following expeditions in April 1900 which met at Kousséri in the far north of modern

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

. These newly conquered regions were initially ruled as military territories. By 1903 within the AEF, the areas that now make up

and

(then called Moyen-Congo, or Middle Congo) were united as

French Congo The French Congo (), also known as Middle Congo (), was a French colony which at one time comprised the present-day area of the Republic of the Congo and parts of Gabon, and the Central African Republic. In 1910, it was made part of the larger ...

(later split), with areas further north organised into

Ubangi-Shari Ubangi-Shari () was a French colonial empire, French colony in central Africa, a part of French Equatorial Africa. It was named after the Ubangi River, Ubangi and Chari River, Chari rivers of the Central African Republic, rivers along which it w ...

(modern CAR) and Chad military territory; the latter two areas were merged in 1906 as Ubangi-Shari-Chad, and then de-merged in 1914. The two regions were later organised into the federal colonies 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) and

French Equatorial Africa French Equatorial Africa (, or AEF) was a federation of French colonial territories in Equatorial Africa which consisted of Gabon, French Congo, Ubangi-Shari, and Chad. It existed from 1910 to 1958 and its administration was based in Brazzav ...

(''Afrique équatoriale française'', AEF). Germany had claimed Cameroon (''Kamerun'') in July 1884. France and Germany established the rough delimitation of their respective spheres of influence in the region in December 1885, with a more precise boundary agreed upon in 1894. A further delimitation occurred on 18 April 1908, which produced the modern Cameroon-CAR border. Following the

Agadir Crisis The Agadir Crisis, Agadir Incident, or Second Moroccan Crisis, was a brief crisis sparked by the deployment of a substantial force of French troops in the interior of Morocco in July 1911 and the deployment of the German gunboat to Agadir, ...

of 1911, France and Germany signed the Treaty of Fez, in which Germany recognised French supremacy in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

in return for large territories in Central Africa. The latter were attached to their Cameroon colony as New Cameroon and included much of what is western CAR. When the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

broke out in 1914, Britain and France invaded Cameroon and eventually defeated the Germans in 1916. Following the defeat of Germany in Europe in 1918-19 all of the areas ceded to Germany in 1911 were restored to France, thus finalising what are now the Cameroon's modern borders with Gabon, Congo-Brazzaville, CAR and Chad. On 22 June 1922 Cameroon became a

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

mandate, with the vast majority of the colony going to France, and smaller areas along the Nigerian border in the west to Britain. This mandate/trusteeship arrangement was affirmed by the UN in 1946. France gradually granted more political rights and representation for its African colonies, 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 ...

. Eventually, in January 1960 France granted Cameroon full independence, followed by Ubangi-Shari (as the Central African Republic) in August that year, and their mutual frontier became an international one between two independent states. Since 2003 the border has been crossed by thousands of Central African refugees fleeing the

Central African Republic Bush War The Central African Bush War was a civil war in the Central African Republic which lasted from 2004 to 2007 between Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) rebels and government forces. The rebellion began after François Bozizé seiz ...

and later the Central African Republic Civil War.

Settlements near the border

Cameroon

* Dompta * Yérombondé * Kombo-Laka * Gbatoua * Koumboul * Garoua-Boulaï * Nambona * Kentzou * Ndélélé * Ngoundi * Gbiti

CAR

* Béloko * Mbéré * Koundé * Ardo Djaloré * Bimbélou * Noufou * Gamboula * Bandjiforo * Banga-Boumbé * Cantonnier

Border crossings

The two main border crossings are at Kenzou- Gamboula and Garoua-Boulaï.West, Ben (2011) ''Bradt Travel Guide - Cameroon'', pgs. 55

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameroon-Central African Republic border Borders of Cameroon Borders of the Central African Republic International borders