Lété Island () is the largest 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 Mali, Nige ...

, at a length of approximately 16 kilometres and a width of 4 kilometres. Together with other smaller islands in the Niger River, it was the main focus of a border dispute between Niger and

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

, which began when the two countries were still under French rule. The island was historically used by semi-nomadic

Fula Fula may refer to: *Fula people (or Fulani, Fulɓe) *Fula language (or Pulaar, Fulfulde, Fulani) **The Fula variety known as the Pulaar language **The Fula variety known as the Pular language **The Fula variety known as Maasina Fulfulde *Fula alpha ...

cattle

herder A herder is a pastoralism, pastoral worker responsible for the care and management of a herd or flock of domestic animals, usually on extensive management, open pasture. It is particularly associated with nomadic pastoralism, nomadic or transhuma ...

s as a dry season

pasturage Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, ca ...

, but farmers began permanently settling on the island after the resolution of the border dispute in 2005.

Geography

Lété Island is approximately 16 kilometres long and 4 kilometres wide, making it the largest island in the

. The river surrounds the island on two sides, with the smaller branch to the north and the larger one to the south. Groundwater fluctuations during the wet season regularly cause the Niger River to overflow and flood the island, which previously kept human activity off the island.

History

France used the Niger River to demarcate the border between its colonies of Niger and Benin, then constituent parts 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 ...

. However, this led to post-independence tensions between the two as both claimed Lété Island, which lied in the middle of the river. Niger and Benin almost went to war over the island in 1963 amid deteriorating relations, but they ultimately chose to find a diplomatic solution following mediation by neighbouring countries. In the early 1990s, a joint

delimitation Electoral boundary delimitation (or simply boundary delimitation or delimitation) is the drawing of boundaries of electoral precincts and related divisions involved in elections, such as Federated state, states, counties or other municipalities ...

commission was tasked with solving the issue but could not reach an agreement. After decades without a resolution, the two countries chose in 2001 to have the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

rule conclusively on the matter. The court ruled in Niger's favour in 2005. Historically, semi-nomadic

herders brought their cattle to the island to pasture. However, following the resolution of the border dispute, Nigeriens began permanently settling and starting farms on Lété Island. Because of the island's frequent flooding, residents have adapted by primarily growing rice with modern technology and techniques.

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

Geography

History

See also

References