The Mali–Senegal border is 489 km (304 m) in length and runs from the

tripoint A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...

with Mauritania in the north to the tripoint with Guinea in the south.

Description

The border begins in the north at the tripoint with Mauritania at the confluence of the

Senegal River ,french: Fleuve Sénégal) , name_etymology = , image = Senegal River Saint Louis.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = Fishermen on the bank of the Senegal River estuary at the outskirts of Saint-Louis, Senegal ...

and Falémé River. It then follows the latter for some distance southwards, before proceeding overland for a stretch, before rejoining the Falémé, which it then follows down to the tripoint with Guinea.

History

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

had begun settling on the coast of modern Senegal in the 17th century, gradually extending their rule further inland during the mid-1800s onward. The areas east of the Falémé river (i.e. roughly modern Mali,

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

and

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesUpper Senegal, but were split off as

French Sudan French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

in 1893. Both Senegal and French Sudan later became constituent of the federal colony of French West Africa (''Afrique occidentale française'', abbreviated AOF). The boundary between French Sudan and Senegal was drawn up in 1895. As the movement for decolonisation grew in the post-

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

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 (1958–1960; french: Communauté française) was the constitutional organization set up in 1958 between France and its remaining African colonies, then in the process of decolonization. It replaced the French Union, which ...

. Eventually, in 1960, both Senegal and Mali were granted full independence, originally as the short-lived

Mali Federation The Mali Federation ( ar, اتحاد مالي) was a federation in West Africa linking the French colonies of Senegal and the Sudanese Republic (or French Sudan) for two months in 1960. It was founded on 4 April 1959 as a territory with self-r ...

Settlements near the border

Mali

* Fégui * Dakassenou * Naye * Gourbassi * Satadougou * Diboli * Kéniéba

Senegal

* Aroundou * Kidira * Sereto Saboussire * Sonkounkou

Border crossing

There are two main crossings – at Kidira (SEN)-Diboli (MLI) and at Moussala (MLI).Sean Connolly (2015) ''Bradt Travel Guide - Senegal'', pgs. 41-2

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mali-Senegal border Borders of Mali Borders of Senegal International borders