The

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

–

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 ...

border is 1,359 km (844 m) long 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

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

in the northwest to the tripoint with

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 ...

in the southeast.

Description

The border begins in the west at the tripoint with Mauritania, and is a continuation of the NW-SE straight line that forms the Algeria–Mauritania border. This straight line runs for circa 752 km (467 m). Just north of the

21st parallel north Following are circles of latitude between the 20th parallel north and the 25th parallel north: 21st parallel north The 21st parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 21 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, Asia ...

the border shifts southward, proceeding to the southeast via a series of irregular lines and the Tin-Zaouatene and I-n-Akantarer

wadi Wadi ( ; ) is a river valley or a wet (ephemerality, ephemeral) Stream bed, riverbed that contains water only when heavy rain occurs. Wadis are located on gently sloping, nearly flat parts of deserts; commonly they begin on the distal portion ...

s, before turning to the northeast where a straight line connects up to the tripoint with Niger. The border lies entirely 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 ...

History

In the

French conquest of Algeria The French conquest of Algeria (; ) took place between 1830 and 1903. In 1827, an argument between Hussein Dey, the ruler of the Regency of Algiers, and the French consul (representative), consul escalated into a blockade, following which the Jul ...

, most of northern Algeria was taken by France, during the period 1830-47, incorporating it as an integral part of France. The 1880s saw an intense competition between the European powers for territories in Africa, a process known as 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 ...

. 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 and Niger). 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

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 ...

, within the

Upper Senegal and Niger Upper Senegal and Niger () was a colony in French West Africa, created on 21 October 1904 from colonial Senegambia and Niger by the decree "For the Reorganisation of the general government of French West Africa". At its creation, the "Colony of ...

colony. It was later split off and 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''). In the meantime the French had been pushing south from the Algerian littoral, conquering much of the Algerian Sahara in 1902. A boundary between French West Africa and

French Algeria French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...

(i.e. Algeria’s modern borders with Mauritania, Mali and Niger) was agreed on 7 June 1905 by the Commandant of Upper Senegal and Niger and the Military Commander of the Département des Oasis within French Algeria. The border was further defined by the Niamey Convention of June 1909. 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, Mali was granted full independence. The situation in Algeria proved much more difficult, owing to the large community of French settlers in Algeria, and independence was only granted in 1962 after a bloody

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

. At that point the Algeria–Mali border became an international frontier between two sovereign states. In recent years Algeria has boosted its military presence along the border owing to the instability in northern Mali as a result of the

Mali War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Mali War , width = 35% , partof = the Islamist insurgency in the Sahel and the War on terror , image = MaliWar.svg , image_size = 300 , caption ...

and the generally poor state of security in the Sahara region.

Settlements

Algeria

* Timiaouine *

Bordj Badji Mokhtar Bordj Badji Mokhtar () is a town and Communes of Algeria, commune in Bordj Badji Mokhtar District, Bordj Badji Mokhtar Province, in south-western Algeria. According to the 2008 census it has a population of 16,437, up from 9,323 in 1998, with an a ...

Mali

* Tarmanant * Boghassa *

Tinzaouaten Tinzaouaten (var. Tinzawatene and Tin-Zaouatene; ) is a Saharan rural commune in the far northeast of Mali on the Algerian border. Geography The commune is in the Abeïbara Cercle of the Kidal Region. It included a stop on a trans-Saharan trad ...

Crossings

The main border crossing is located between

(ALG) and

Tessalit Tessalit is a Communes of Mali, rural commune and village in the Kidal Region of Mali. The village is the administrative centre of Tessalit Cercle (district). The village lies north of Aguelhok, Adjelhoc and about from the Algerian border. Th ...

(MLI).Ross Velton (2009) ''Bradt Travel Guide - Mali'', pgs. 52 Travel to the border region is generally discouraged by third party governments at present owing to the poor security situation.

References

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