The boundary between Chad and Niger was originally established as an internal boundary between French West Africa and French Equatorial Africa, which was elevated to the status of an international frontier upon both States’ independence in August 1960. The boundary runs in a generally north-to-south direction through the Sahara Desert for 1,192 km, mostly following straight lines. The entire length of the frontier between Chad and Niger was not defined by the French colonial administrators in detail, and there are some portions for which only French mapping practices serve as a source.