The Ivory Coast–Mali border is 599 km (372 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

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

in the west to the tripoint with

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

in the east.

Description

The border starts in the west at the tripoint with Guinea; it then proceeds, indirectly, eastwards via a series of overland and riverine sections (rivers utilised include the Baoule, Gbolonzon, Bessin, Dougoulinfolo, Degou, Banifing, Boronikono, Babani, Bagoé, Kobani, Yaka Anka, Lofoon, Kafonrako and Danboro), before reaching the tripoint with Burkina Faso on the Léraba River.

History

France had begun signing treaties with chiefs along the modern Ivorian coast in the 1840s, thereby establishing a protectorate which later became the colony of Ivory Coast in 1893. As a result of 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 ...

in the 1880s

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 ...

had gained control 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 and

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 ...

). France occupied this area in 1900; Mali (then 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 ...

) was originally included, along with modern Niger and

, within the Upper Senegal and Niger colony and (along with Ivory Coast) became a constituent 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). A decree of 17 October 1899 transferred the towns of Odienné and Kong to Ivory Coast from French Sudan. The precise date the boundary was drawn appears to be uncertain - it is thought to have been drawn at the time of the formal institution of French West Africa and its constituent units in the 1890s. The internal divisions of AOF 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 Zinder (locally, ''Damagaram''), formerly also spelled Sinder, is the third largest city in Niger, with a population of 235,605 as by the 2012 census. It is situated east of the capital Niamey and north of the Nigerian city of Kano. History ...

. The Niger military territory was split off in 1911, becoming a separate colony in 1922, and Mali and Upper Volta (Burkina Faso) were constituted as separate colonies in 1919. During the period 1932-47 Upper Volta was abolished and its territory split out between French Sudan, Niger and Ivory Coast. 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 their sub-Saharan African colonies, culminating in the granting of broad internal autonomy to French West Africa 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 1960, both Mali and Ivory Coast gained independence, and their mutual frontier became an international one between two states. Since the outbreak of conflict in northern Mali in 2012 Ivory Coast has begun strengthening security at the border in order to prevent any spill-over.

Settlements near the border

Ivory Coast

* Sokourabo * Tingrela * Kanakoro

Mali

* Kadiana * Tiongui * Fourou * Misséni * Kadiolo

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ivory Coast-Mali border Borders of Ivory Coast Borders of Mali International borders