The Ethiopia–Sudan border (; ) is a disputed border between the Federal Republic of Ethiopia and the

Republic of the 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 ...

since the 19th century.Ullendorff, Edward. "The Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1902." ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London'', vol. 30, no. 3, 1967, pp. 641–654. ''JSTOR''
www.jstor.org/stable/612393
Accessed 15 Jan. 2021. Ethiopia and Sudan share a long boundary of 744 km (462 mi) in length. Though it was not acceptable by the Ethiopian Empire, the Ethio-Sudan colonial border is not clear since it mainly relies on natural landmarks such as mountains, trees, and rivers. One of the most disputed areas is the fertile agricultural region of al-Fashaga, where Ethiopia claims the land up to the Atbarah and

Tekezé River The Tekezé River (; , originally meaning "river" in Ge’ez; , also spelled Takkaze; ), is a major river in Ethiopia. For part of its course it forms a section of the westernmost border of Ethiopia and Eritrea. The river is also known as the Seti ...

while Sudan claims the border is further east.

History

On 15 April 1891, Ethiopian Emperor

Menelik II Menelik II ( ; horse name Aba Dagnew (Amharic: አባ ዳኘው ''abba daññäw''); 17 August 1844 – 12 December 1913), baptised as Sahle Maryam (ሣህለ ማርያም ''sahlä maryam'') was king of Shewa from 1866 to 1889 and Emperor of Et ...

sent a letter to European heads of state which defined the actual boundaries of his empire as well as what he considered his area of influence. The letter stated that the northwestern border of

Abyssinia Abyssinia (; also known as Abyssinie, Abissinia, Habessinien, or Al-Habash) was an ancient region in the Horn of Africa situated in the northern highlands of modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea.Sven Rubenson, The survival of Ethiopian independence, ...

extends from the city of Tomat, located at the confluence of the Setit and Atbara Rivers, to Karakouj on the

Blue Nile The Blue Nile is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major Tributary, tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the wa ...

, and includes the Al Qadarif district. Menelik announced his intention to restore his old borders, which extended west to

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...

and south to

Lake Victoria Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropics, tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface are ...

. It appears that Menelik's circular did not reach

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

, and the British government only learned of it during Rennell Rodd's expedition in 1897 to discuss some issues with Menelik. When Sudan was under the colonial rule of the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

, there was no clear border demarcation between Ethiopia and Sudan. But in the 1902 Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty, while Sudan was still under British rule, the

demarcated a border by the help of Charles Gwynn, British

royal engineer The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

, without the presence of the

Ethiopian Empire The Ethiopian Empire, historically known as Abyssinia or simply Ethiopia, was a sovereign state that encompassed the present-day territories of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It existed from the establishment of the Solomonic dynasty by Yekuno Amlak a ...

.Teshome, W . (2009). COLONIAL BOUNDARIES OF AFRICA: THE CASE OF ETHIOPIA’S BOUNDARY WITH SUDAN. Ege Academic Review, 9 (1), 337–367. Retrieved fromhttps://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/eab/issue/39855/472609 In 1956, when Ethiopia was under the rule of

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen or ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Lij, Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, Rege ...

, Sudan achieved independence from British colonial rule. However, peace was not achieved, since the Government of Sudan supported the armed groups, the

Eritrean Liberation Front The Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF; ; ; ), colloquially known as Jebha, was the main Eritrean War of Independence, independence movement in Eritrea Province, Eritrea which sought Eritrea's independence from Ethiopia during the 1960s and the ear ...

and

Eritrean People's Liberation Front The Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), colloquially known as Shabia, was an armed Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist organization that fought for the Eritrean War of Independence, independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia. It emerged in 1 ...

, along the Ethiopia–Sudan border that fought against Haile Selassie's government. Following this, the Imperial government of Ethiopia felt obligated to support the rebel movement in

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

known as '' Anya Nya''. This caused the first civil war which took place between 1955 and 1972. On 17 February 1972 Ethiopia hosted a peace conference in Addis Ababa, between

ese rebels and Sudan. This put an end to the

First Sudanese Civil War The First Sudanese Civil War (also known as the Anyanya Rebellion or Anyanya I, after the name of the rebels, a term in the Madi language which means 'snake venom') was fought from 1955 to 1972 between the northern part of Sudan and the sout ...

and reestablished good

relations Relation or relations may refer to: General uses * International relations, the study of interconnection of politics, economics, and law on a global level * Interpersonal relationship, association or acquaintance between two or more people * ...

. In 1972 Sudan and Ethiopia exchanged notes concerning their boundary problems. However, "an exchange of notes between

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

and

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 ...

failed to settle the question of the Baro salient or make arrangements to stop banditry and establish peaceful coexistence among the pastoral people". The 1972 Ethiopia-Sudan negotiations "fell short of a viable long-term solution inasmuch as it did not redefine where the boundary should run over the Baro salient". On 15 December 2020 a controversial border dispute caused a violent border clash in the al-Fashaga area.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ethiopia-Sudan border International borders