In the
French conquest of Algeria, most of northern Algeria was taken by France, during the period 1830-47, incorporating it as an integral part of France. The 1880s saw an intense competition between the European powers for territories in Africa, a process known as the
Scramble for Africa. The process culminated in the
Berlin Conference of 1884, in which the European nations concerned agreed upon their respective territorial claims and the rules of engagement going forward. As a result of this
France gained control of the upper valley of the
Niger River (roughly equivalent to the areas of modern Mali and Niger). Eventually, in 1960, Mali was granted full independence. The situation in Algeria proved much more difficult, owing to the large community of
French settlers in Algeria, and independence was only granted in 1962 after a bloody
war. At that point the Algeria–Mali border became an international frontier between two sovereign states. In September 2025, Mali filed a case in the
International Court of Justice against Algeria over the latter's shootdown of a Malian military drone in the vicinity of the border town of
Tinzaouaten on 31 March. ==Settlements==