Mali–Mauritania border
A border of rivers in the southwest and long lines across the Sahel and Sahara, settled by a treaty at Kayes in 1963 after colonial decrees left it in dispute. Since Mali’s crisis began in 2012, some 300,000 Malians have fled across it into Mauritania, and the Mbera camp near the line hosts some 120,000 of them.
Written from cited sourcesLast checked 29 September 2026Suggest a correction
See it on the globe:Mali →Mauritania →
Colonial decrees
Both countries were part of French West Africa from 1904. A 1913 decree fixed the limits of Mauritania and the French Soudan, now Mali, but in 1944 the eastern Hodh region was transferred to Mauritania, and a conflicting order that October moved about 5,000 square kilometres more. That contradiction was the root of the later dispute, settled by a treaty signed at Kayes on 16 February 1963.[1]
In the west, the Senegal, Karakoro and Kolimbine rivers form the border; elsewhere it is a line across the Sahel and then north into the Sahara, where fewer than one person per square mile lives and herders move with their animals.[1]
Mbera
Since a security crisis began in Mali in 2012, fuelled by jihadists, criminal gangs and pro-independence groups, some 300,000 Malians have sought refuge in Mauritania’s Hodh Chargui region. About 50 km from the border, the Mbera camp hosts some 120,000 refugees, and the municipality of Fassala another 70,000; its mayor says the numbers strain grazing land, water and health care. Refugees interviewed in 2026 blamed Mali’s military government and its Russian allies for their flight, while others feared the jihadist group JNIM.[2]
“I have no hope that there will be peace anytime soon”[2]
Timeline
More borders
Sources
- [1]International Boundary Study No. 23: Mali – Mauritania Boundary · US Department of State, Office of the Geographer · 16 December 1963
- [2]In Mauritania, Malian refugees hope to return home · Africanews (AFP) · 30 April 2026
Map geometry from Natural Earth via world-atlas. See credits.