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All Botswana Chobe African Quadripoint

African Quadripoint

There is only one place in the world where the corners of four nations come together.

Chobe, Botswana

Added By
Joshua Foer
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African Quadripoint   Brian McMorrow on Wikipedia
African Quadripoint   Cmglee on Wikipedia
Kazungula bridge over the Zambezi river   MONIRUL BHUIYAN/AFP via Getty Images
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There are a number of instances where the borders of two or three nations touch, but the rare confluence of a total four nations coming together on one spot only exists in Africa where the corners of Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia meet. 

At one point, the ferry that carried people across the river from Namibia to Botswana became a point of contention, with both countries laying claim to the transport. A small amount of fighting broke out but it was rather subdued for an international incident. This ferry has since been replaced by the Kazungula Bridge, a combined road and rail bridge, which opened in 2021.

Unlike the touristy spots where states come together in the United States, or other points where the borders of multiple countries meet, which are decked out with monuments and bronze medallions, the African quadripoint sits in the middle of a river that cuts between the countries. It has been theorized that the point is not a true quadripoint but instead a pair of tri-points separated by a few dozen meters. Because of this, no part of the new brige is over Namibian or Zimbawean soil/waters. Regardless of the quibbling, the obvious jurisdictional headache of having four countries so close to one another has resulted in some conflict.

While many maintain that slight changes in the flow of the Zambezi river and the exact geographical borders have eliminated an actual quadripoint, the countries are all so close that the only difference is academic.     

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Borders Geographic Oddities Geography Geographic Markers Politics

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Added By

Josh

Edited By

julianfkeller99, EricGrundhauser, Michelle Cassidy

  • julianfkeller99
  • EricGrundhauser
  • Michelle Cassidy

Published

March 13, 2015

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Sources
  • http://babakfakhamzadeh.com/article/from-zambia-to-botswana-nearly-a-quadripoint
  • http://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2011-12-19/the-african-quadripoint
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadripoint#Four-nation_quadripoints
African Quadripoint
A33
Chobe
Botswana
-17.791667, 25.263333
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