The Chad–Nigeria border is 85 km (53 mi) in length and consists of a single diagonal line running NW to SE 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

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 north to the tripoint 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 south.

Description

This short boundary consists of a single straight line connecting Chad and Nigeria's tripoints with Niger and Cameroon. The entire boundary formerly lay entirely in

Lake Chad Lake Chad (, Kanuri language, Kanuri: ''Sádǝ'', ) is an endorheic freshwater lake located at the junction of four countries: Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, in western and central Africa respectively, with a catchment area in excess of . ...

, however given the dramatic decrease in the lake's size over the past several decades most of the boundary now run across land, swamp and intermittent exposed islands in the lake.

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 ...

). Meanwhile, Britain, which had (via the Royal Niger Company) administered the area around

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

since 1861 and the Oil River Protectorate (

Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari, Cali and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language, as the Efik people dominate this area. The city is adjac ...

are the surrounding area) since 1884, would have priority in the areas south of the upper Niger region. From their respective bases both nations gradually extended their rule into the interior. The French eventually linked their holdings 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, with the two areas 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). The British likewise extended their rule inward from their Lagos and Calabar bases, forming two additional colonies - the

Southern Nigeria Protectorate Southern Nigeria was a British protectorate in the coastal areas of modern-day Nigeria formed in 1900 from the union of the Niger Coast Protectorate with territories chartered by the Royal Niger Company below Lokoja on the Niger River. The L ...

and the

Northern Nigeria Protectorate Northern Nigeria ( Hausa: ''Arewacin Najeriya'') was a British protectorate which lasted from 1900 until 1914, and covered the northern part of what is now Nigeria. The protectorate spanned and included the emirates of the Sokoto Caliphate ...

. In 1900 rule of these areas was transferred to the British government, with the Northern and Southern (including Lagos and Calabar) protectorates united as the colony of Nigeria in 1914. The modern Chad–Nigeria border arose largely as a secondary result of other border negotiations in the region: Anglo-German agreement s in 1893 and 1906-07 agreed that the border between Britain's Nigerian colonies and German Cameroon would extend into Lake Chad; Anglo-French agreements in 1898, 1904, 1906 and 1910 extended the AOF-Northern Nigeria border into the lake; and a Franco-German border treaty of 1908 extended the AEF-Cameroon border into the lake. After the two tripoints were delimited more definitely (Chad-Niger-Nigeria in 1910-12 and Chad-Cameroon-Nigeria in 1931) the border became fixed as a straight line connecting these two points. France gradually granted more political rights and representation for the constituent territories of their 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, Chad gained full independence in August 1960, with Nigeria likewise declaring independence in October 1960, and thus their mutual frontier became an international one between two independent states. At a conference of the Lake Chad Basin states held in

N'Djamena N'Djamena ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Chad, largest city of Chad. It is also a Provinces of Chad, special statute region, divided into 10 districts or ''arrondissements'', similar to the city of Paris. Originally calle ...

in December 1962 it was agreed to respect the existing boundaries within the lake. Since then the lake has decreased dramatically in size, and much if not all of the Chad–Nigeria border now runs over land, creating problems with border management and demarcation. In 1983 disputes between Chad and Nigeria over their mutual border escalated into fighting, after Nigeria sent troops to the area citing harassment of Nigerian fishers by Chadian elements, resulting in the deaths of 75 Chadian and nine Nigerian soldiers. In more recent years many thousands of refugees have crossed the border due to the ongoing Boko Haram insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chad-Nigeria border Borders of Chad Borders of Nigeria International borders

Description

History

See also

References