The Central African Republic–Chad border is 1,556 km (987 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

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 ...

in the west, to the tripoint with

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

in the east.

Description

The border begins in the west at the tripoint with Cameroon, located in the Mbéré River about 15 km (9 m) NE of the Central African town of Mbéré. Two short, straight lines then proceed eastwards, before reaching the Lébé river; the border then proceeds eastwards utilising the following rivers: the Ouaraouassi, Eréké,

Pendé Pendé () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography The commune is situated on the D2 road, some northwest of Abbeville, near the bay of the Somme River. Population Pendé, Somme, Fr, église vu ...

, Taibo, Bokola and the Nana Barya, until the latter joins the Ouham River. Three straight lines then form an overland section of the boundary, until reaching the Petit Sido river, whereupon it follows the following rivers all the way to the Sudanese tripoint: the Grand Sido, Chari, Bahr Aouk, Samoybayn (also known as the Madeam), Aoukalé and the Mare de Tizi.

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 area that is now the Central African Republic has been settled for at least 8,000 years. 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

. These newly conquered regions were initially ruled as military territories. By 1903 the areas that now make up Gabon and Congo-Brazzaville (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 Central African Republic) and Chad military territory; the latter two areas were merged in 1906 as Ubangi-Shari-Chad. Around this time two main areas of French colonisation were 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). In 1914 Chad was detached from Ubangi-Shari and became a separate colony within AEF. Prior to the

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 ...

the boundary between Ubangi-Shari and Chad was aligned differently, with large areas of south-west Chad included within Ubangi-Shari (including the large towns of

Moundou Moundou () is the second-largest city in Chad and is the capital of the region of Logone Occidental. The city lies on the Mbéré River (a tributary of the Western Logone) some 475 kilometres south of the capital N'Djamena. It is the main ci ...

and modern Sarh), and areas of modern CAR's Vakaga prefecture within Chad. It appears that the current alignments was finalised in the early 1940s. France gradually granted more political rights and representation for the constituent territories of the two African federations, 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 August 1960, both Chad and the Central African Republic declared full independence and their mutual frontier thus 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. The Chadian military currently has a large presence in CAR and has repeatedly crossed the border in an attempt to secure the frontier.

Settlements near the border

Central African Republic

* Bémal * Bétoko * Gaoundaye * Nzakoundou * Markounda * Bélé * Maissou * Maïtoukoulou * Golongoso * Garba * Tissi

Chad

* Bédara Lal * Odoumia * Goré * Kaba * Goubeti * Gondey * Tangaray * Ngoide * Makoua * Kouga * Dangaousi

References