Mauritania–Senegal border

The Mauritania–Senegal border is 742 km (461 mi) in length and runs from the Atlantic Ocean in the west along the Senegal River to the tripoint with Mali in the east.

The border then follows this river eastwards in a broad arc, terminating at the Mali tripoint at the Senegal/Falémé confluence.

Mali (then referred to as French Sudan) was originally included, along with modern Niger and Burkina Faso, within the Upper Senegal and Niger colony, however it was later split off and, along with Mauritania, became a constituent of the federal colony of French West Africa (Afrique occidentale française, abbreviated AOF).

[3][2] As the movement for decolonization grew in the post-Second World War era, France gradually granted more political rights and representation for their sub-Saharan African colonies, culminating in the granting of broad internal autonomy to French West Africa in 1958 within the framework of the French Community.

Relations between the two states, initially fairly good, deteriorated in the 1980s due to various disputes along the Senegal river, exacerbated by droughts and ethnic tension.