Algeria–Niger border
Three straight lines across the central Sahara, first sketched between two French colonial administrations in 1909 and never marked on the ground. In 2017–18 it became notorious when Algeria left thousands of expelled migrants to walk across it into Niger.
Written from cited sourcesLast checked 28 September 2026Suggest a correction
See it on the globe:Algeria →Niger →
Two French administrations
France annexed the Algerian Sahara, the Territoires du Sud Algérien, by a law of 24 December 1902, and ran it separately from the departments of northern Algeria. Niger was a military territory of French West Africa from 1900, a colony from 1922.[1]
On 7 June 1905 the commandant of Haut-Sénégal et Niger and the military commander of the Algerian Department of the Oases agreed a boundary between Algeria and French West Africa. The Niamey Conventions of 20 June and 16 August 1909 completed it.[1]
Wells and straight lines
The 1909 convention gives only a general direction, tying the line to wells: from the Tin Zaouatene wadi to the edge of the Tassili des Ahaggar about 15 km south of the In Guezzam well, along the plateau to the Iziley well, which stays Algerian, then straight to the In Azaoua well in West Africa and on to the Libyan border.[1]
In practice, French Institut Géographique National maps fixed the de facto line: three straight sectors of 109, 142 and 343 miles from the Mali tripoint northeast to the Libya tripoint, which was set by an astronomical fix. Niger became independent on 3 August 1960 and Algeria on 5 July 1962. In 1970 the line was still unmarked.[1]
“then it follows the southern slopes of the Tassili des Ahaggar to the Iziley well, which will remain in Algeria’s possession”[1]
“Walk or die”
From 2017 Algeria stepped up mass expulsions of sub-Saharan migrants, as the EU pressed North African countries to stop migrants heading for Europe. By June 2018, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration, 11,276 people had survived the march into Niger since it began counting in May 2017. AP found them made to walk a 15 km no-man’s-land to the Nigerien village of Assamaka in temperatures up to 48°C; others were lost in the desert.[2]
Algeria gave no figures and did not comment. After AP reported the expulsions in June 2018, they nearly stopped, and two top Algerian security officials were abruptly fired.[3]
Timeline
190224 December 1902
Algerian Sahara annexed
France annexes the Territoires du Sud Algérien.[1]
19057 June 1905
First agreement
Colonial commanders agree a boundary between Algeria and French West Africa.[1]
190920 June 1909
Niamey Convention
The line is described by wells and straight lines.[1]
19603 August 1960
Niger independent
France grants Niger independence.[1]
19625 July 1962
Algeria independent
Algeria becomes independent.[1]
2018
Expulsions exposed
AP reports thousands of migrants forced across the desert border.[2]
More borders
Sources
- [1]International Boundary Study No. 99: Algeria – Niger Boundary · US Department of State, Office of the Geographer · 1 May 1970
- [2]Walk or die: Algeria abandons 13,000 refugees in the Sahara · Associated Press, via Al Jazeera · 25 June 2018
- [3]Algeria stops forcing migrants into Sahara after outrage · Associated Press (Lori Hinnant), via PBS NewsHour · 13 July 2018
Map geometry from Natural Earth via world-atlas. See credits.