Benin–Togo border

The Benin–Togo border is 651 km (405 m) in length and runs from the tripoint with Burkina Faso in the north down to the Bight of Benin in the south.

The boundary then proceeds southwards in a roughly straight line, occasionally utilising rivers such as the Ogou and, in the southernmost stretches, the Mono.

In the far south the border turns sharply to the west before reaching the Atlantic Ocean, providing Benin with a thin strip of territory encompassing Grand-Popo and Hilakondji.

In 1851 a treaty of friendship was signed between France and the Kingdom of Dahomey in what is now southern Benin, followed by the creation of a protectorate in Porto Novo in 1863.

Germany began taking an interest in acquiring African colonies, signing a treaty with chiefs along the coast of modern Togo in July 1884; France recognised this claim the following year.