Burkina Faso–Ivory Coast border
Rivers for two-thirds of its length, including the Comoé and the Léraba. For 15 years it wasn’t a border at all: France abolished Upper Volta in 1932 and gave much of it to Ivory Coast, then revived it in 1947.
Written from cited sourcesLast checked 29 September 2026Suggest a correction
See it on the globe:Burkina Faso →Ivory Coast →
A colony that came and went
Ivory Coast became a French colony in 1893 and gained Bouna, Kong and Odienné from French Sudan in 1899. In 1903 a decree moved the rebellious Lobi, Birifor and Dagari villages of northern Bouna to a military territory run from Bobo-Dioulasso, and set a new north-eastern boundary for Ivory Coast.[1]
Upper Volta was carved out of Upper Senegal and Niger in 1919. A decree of 5 September 1932 abolished it and divided it among Ivory Coast, French Sudan and Niger; Ivory Coast got the largest share, including Bobo-Dioulasso and Ouagadougou, run from 1937 as Upper Ivory Coast. Upper Volta was reconstituted on 4 September 1947, and the old line between them returned.[1]
“The insurgent villages of the Lobis, Birifous, and Dagaris, located in the northern part of the Bouna District (Ivory Coast) shall be attached to the Second Military Territory.”[1]
Hills, then rivers
From the Black Volta the eastern part of the line runs between villages across low hills, small streams and short straight lines. From the Kodoun river westward it is all rivers: down the Kodoun to the Comoé, up the Comoé to the Léraba, and up the Léraba and Léraba Occidentale to the Mali tripoint.[1]
Ivory Coast became independent on 7 August 1960 and Upper Volta on 5 August 1960. In 1979 the US State Department had still not obtained the colonial decrees behind the line, from either country or from France, and knew of no disputed sectors.[1]
Timeline
190312 February 1903
Lobi decree
Northern Bouna moves out of Ivory Coast.[1]
19191 March 1919
Upper Volta created
A new colony is carved out of Upper Senegal and Niger.[1]
19325 September 1932
Upper Volta abolished
Much of it is added to Ivory Coast.[1]
19474 September 1947
Upper Volta restored
The border returns.[1]
1960
Independence
Upper Volta on 5 August, Ivory Coast on 7 August.[1]
More borders
Sources
- [1]International Boundary Study No. 169: Burkina Faso (Upper Volta) – Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Boundary · US Department of State, Office of the Geographer · 15 August 1979
Map geometry from Natural Earth via world-atlas. See credits.