The

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

–

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 ...

border is 1,403 km (872 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

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

in the north to the tripoint with the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

in the south.

Description

The border begins in the north at the tripoint with Libya on the 24th meridian east, and follows this meridian for 423 km (263 m) before reaching the Wadi Hawar. The border then forms a very irregular line down to the tripoint with the Central African Republic, delimited by numerous small streams, hills and other features. The northern area of the border lies within the

Sahara Desert The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

, the middle stretches within the

Sahel The Sahel region (; ), or Sahelian acacia savanna, is a Biogeography, biogeographical region in Africa. It is the Ecotone, transition zone between the more humid Sudanian savannas to its south and the drier Sahara to the north. The Sahel has a ...

, and the areas further south consist of grasslands and savannah.

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 ...

). From these bases the French explored further into the interior, eventually linking the two areas following expeditions in April 1900 which met at

Kousséri Kousséri (from ''quṣūr'' meaning "palaces"), founded and known as Mser in the indigenous Mser language, is a city in Far North Province, Cameroon. It is the capital of the Logone-et-Chari department. It is a market town, and its populatio ...

in the far north of modern

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 ...

. 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). Meanwhile, the British had conquered Sudan in the 1890s and administered it a condominium with Egypt (

Anglo-Egyptian Sudan Anglo-Egyptian Sudan ( ') was a condominium (international law), condominium of the United Kingdom and Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt between 1899 and 1956, corresponding mostly to the territory of present-day South Sudan and Sudan. Legally, sovereig ...

In 1898-99 Britain and France agreed upon their mutual spheres of influence in northern third of Africa. In the north French influence would run no further than that of a diagonal line running from the intersection of the

Tropic of Cancer The Tropic of Cancer, also known as the Northern Tropic, is the Earth's northernmost circle of latitude where the Sun can be seen directly overhead. This occurs on the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun ...

and the

16th meridian east The meridian 16° east of Prime Meridian, Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Europe, Africa, the Atlantic Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole. The 16th meridian eas ...

to the 24th meridian east, that is, the majority of the modern

Chad–Libya border The Chad–Libya border is 1,050 km (652 mi) in length and runs from the tripoint with Niger in the west, to the tripoint with Sudan in the east. Description The border consists of two straight line segments. The first is a continuation of ...

. To the east the frontier would continue south along the 24th meridian down to the border of the

Sultanate of Darfur The Sultanate of Darfur () was a pre-colonial state in present-day Sudan. It existed from the 17th century to 24 October 1874, when it fell to the Sudanese warlord Al-Zubayr Rahma Mansur, and was reestablished again from 1898 to 1916, until it ...

in the vicinity of the

15th parallel north Following are circles of latitude between the 10th parallel north and the 15th parallel north: 11th parallel north The 11th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 11 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, th ...

, whereupon it would roughly follow the border between Darfur and the

Wadai Sultanate The Wadai Sultanate ( ''Saltanat Waday'', , Fur: ''Burgu'' or ''Birgu''; 1635–1912), sometimes referred to as the Maba Sultanate (), was an African sultanate located to the east of Lake Chad in present-day Chad and the Central African Republi ...

. The precise joining point of the 16th and 24th meridians (i.e. the modern Chad-Libya-Sudan tripoint) was affirmed at the Anglo-French Convention of 8 September 1919. The AEF-Anglo-Egyptian Sudan boundary was demarcated on the ground by an Anglo-French commission in 1921-23 and the final border ratified on 21 January 1924. In 1935 France and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

signed a

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

which would have awarded the

Aouzou Strip The Aouzou Strip (; , ) is a strip of land in northern Chad that lies along the Chad–Libya border, border with Libya, extending south to a depth of about 100 kilometers into Chad's Borkou, Ennedi Ouest, Ennedi Est, and Tibesti regions for an a ...

Italian Libya Libya (; ) was a colony of Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Italy located in North Africa, in what is now modern Libya, between 1934 and 1943. It was formed from the unification of the colonies of Italian Cyrenaica, Cyrenaica and Italian Tripolitan ...

, thus shifting the tripoint south, however this treaty was never ratified. On 1 January 1956 Anglo-Egyptian Sudan declared independence as the Republic of Sudan; Chad followed later on 11 August 1960 and the border then became an international frontier between two independent states. Since then relations between the two states have often been tense, with each accusing the other of harbouring rebel groups which are allowed to cross the boundary. For instance, Sudan offered the

FROLINAT FROLINAT (; ) was an insurgent rebel group active in Chad between 1966 and 1993. Origins The organization was the result of the political union between the leftist Chadian National Union (UNT), led by Ibrahim Abatcha, and the General Union of ...

rebel group sanctuary in western Sudan during the

Chadian Civil War (1965–1979) The Chadian Civil War of 1965–1979 () was waged by several rebel factions against two Chadian governments. The initial rebellion erupted in opposition to Chadian President François Tombalbaye, whose regime was marked by authoritarianism, extr ...

, and later the

Patriotic Salvation Movement The Patriotic Salvation Movement (, MPS; ) is the ruling political party in Chad. History After Idriss Déby, an army commander who participated in an unsuccessful plot against President Hissène Habré in 1989, fled to Sudan, he and his sup ...

of current Chadian president

Idriss Déby Idriss Déby Itno ( '; 18 June 1952 – 20 April 2021) was a Chadian politician and military officer who was the sixth List of heads of state of Chad, president of Chad from 1991 until his death in 2021 during the 2021 Northern Chad offensive, No ...

, who invaded Chad from his base in Darfur in 1990 and overthrew president

Hissène Habré Hissène Habré (Arabic: ''Ḥusaīn Ḥabrī'', Chadian Arabic: ; ; 13 August 1942 – 24 August 2021), also spelled Hissen Habré, was a Chadian politician and convicted war criminal who served as the 5th president of Chad from 1982 unt ...

in the 1990 Chadian coup d'état.Byrnes, Rita M. "Relations with Nigeria and Sudan"
''Chad: A Country Study''
(Thomas Collelo, editor).

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

Federal Research Division The Federal Research Division (FRD) is the research and analysis unit of the United States Library of Congress. The Federal Research Division provides directed research and analysis on domestic and international subjects to agencies of the Unite ...

(December 1988). Relations steadily deteriorated in later years as Chad became caught up in the

War in Darfur The War in Darfur, also nicknamed the Land Cruiser War, was a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan that began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equalit ...

, resulting in large numbers of refugees crossing the border. Following an attack on the Chadian border town of Adré in 2005 by Chadian rebel group the Rally for Democracy and Liberty, Chad publicly accused Sudan of backing the group.Chad in 'state of war' with Sudan
By Stephanie Hancock, BBC News,

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 ...

, 23 December 2005 The subsequent

proxy war In political science, a proxy war is an armed conflict where at least one of the belligerents is directed or supported by an external third-party power. In the term ''proxy war'', a belligerent with external support is the ''proxy''; both bel ...

between Chad and Sudan resulted in numerous cross-border incursions and fighting, until a peace treaty was arranged in 2010.Sudan, Chad agree to end proxy wars
''Mail & Guardian'', February 9, 2010

Settlements near the border

Chad

* Bahaï * Teriba * Mayba * Sogoni * Guéréda * Birak * Bali * Ardemi * Goundou * Kawa * Toumtouma * Biske *

Adré Adré () is the main town of the Assoungha department in the Ouaddaï Region of Chad. It is located very close to Chad's eastern border with Sudan, 400m away. The town is served by Adré Airport. History The Chadian-Sudanese conflict began on ...

* Amdjereme *

Borota Borota is a village and municipality (''Hungarian language, Hungarian: község'') in Bács-Kiskun county, located in the Southern Great Plain region of Hungary. Geography It covers an area of and had a population of 1,309 people as of 20 ...

* Ambakali * Gargounyou * Goz Merem * Hilleket * Kirana * Bir Kandji * Am Leiouna * Adé * Moudouga * Chuchumoru * Hadjer Beid * Madoyna * Madoua * Niarinion * Arday * Mongororo * Gabasour * Kedet * Bourtoutou * Nzili

Sudan

* Likoyla * Karnoi * Tandubayah * Girgira * Melmelli *

Geneina Geneina (sometimes Al-Junaynah or ElGeneina; , lit. ''the little garden'') is a city in West Darfur, part of the dar Masalit region, in Sudan. It joined British Sudan at the end of 1919 through the Gilani Agreement, signed between the Masalit ...

* Misterei * Tabbi Nyebbei * Beida * Chero Kasi * Habilah * Bandadito * Foro Burunga * Babil * Timassi * Kango Haraza

References