An analysis of the geographical effects of the Dahomey-Nigeria boundary

Abstract

This study attempts to describe and analyse the effects of a political boundary on the geographical landscape in part of West Africa Initially pre-colonial conditions are considered - especially the political situation and pattern of indigenous political groupings Secondly, the boundary is described in relation to the factors which influenced its conception and ultimate creation and this is followed by a description of the line finally delimited to separate the two colonies of Dahomey and Nigeria The major section of the thesis deals with the various effects of the boundary By forming the edge of the state the boundary acted to some degree as a negative influence in the landscape and a "frontier zone" developed in relation to different state functions Within the frontier zone the boundary had a positive local influence on some aspects of communications, population movement and rural economies producing what has been termed a "border landscape" Population movement and trade were considered on a larger scale in both legal and illegal aspects while an attempt at measuring the restrictive influence of the boundary was made by applying the interactance hypothesis to movement of traffic on relevant boundary routes A further aspect of the boundary effects deals with the boundary separating two colonial systems At each side a colonial situation imposed from outside influenced, in different ways and to a varying degree, every sphere of the economic, social, political and religious life of the indigenous population Along the boundary, where the two colonial systems met, an apparent and measurable division developed in the geographical landscape