Burkina Faso and Niger exchange 18 towns to settle border dispute

Published: 8/May/2015
Source: The Guardian

Burkina Faso and Niger have agreed to exchange 18 towns in order to settle a long-running border dispute and end years of litigation.

Burkina Faso is to gain 14 towns and Niger will receive four between now and the end of next year, when the boundary drawing is complete, the permanent secretary of the Burkina Faso national border commission, Joséphine Kouara Apiou/Kaboré, announced this week.

Niger and Burkina Faso, which were French colonies prior to independence in 1960, share a frontier of roughly 620 miles (998km), about a third of which has been mapped out on the ground.

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Themes: State Succession, Border Changes
Regions: West Africa, Burkina Faso, Niger
Year: 2015