Lété Island is an island in 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 ...

, approx. 16 kilometres long and 4 kilometres wide, located around 40 kilometres from the town of Gaya,

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesBenin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

, which began when the two entities were still under French rule. The island, as well as seasonally flooded land around it, is valuable to semi-nomadic Puel cattle herders as a dry season pasturage. Niger and Benin almost went to war over their border in 1963 but finally chose to settle the dispute through peaceful means. In the early 1990s, a joint

delimitation Boundary delimitation (or simply delimitation) is the drawing of boundaries, particularly of electoral precincts, states, counties or other municipalities.

commission was tasked with solving the issue but could not reach an agreement. In 2001 the two parties chose to have the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

rule conclusively on the matter. The Court ruled in Niger's favour in 2005.De la loi autorisant ratification de la loi no. 2001-25 du 9 novembre 2002, relative au compromis de saisine de la Cour Internationale de Justice
La Revue Législative (Publication de l’Assemblée nationale du Niger), Fèvrier 2003 - No.01, page 22-24..

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lete Island Islands of Niger Landforms of Benin Territorial disputes of Niger Territorial disputes of Benin Disputed islands Benin–Niger border River islands of Africa Niger River Benin–Niger relations