BORKU, or Borgu, a country in the interior of Africa, situated between the 17th and 20th parallels of N. lat., and between 18° and 21° E. long., and forming part of the great Soudan region. It is bounded northwards by the Tibesti Mountains, and is in great measure occupied by lesser elevations belonging to the same system; to the south or rather south-west lies the Bodele basin, from which it is separated by a narrow stretch of higher ground. The climate is much better than that of the neighbouring countries to the south and east; but the eastern trade-winds blow persistently with great violence, being strongest from early morning till about three p.m. The light sand that covers a large part of the country is drifted by it into countless heaps, that change their shape and position from day to day. It is plain, from the fish-skeletons still strewing the ground, that a considerable portion of the south of Borku has at no very distant day been like Bodele and other districts under water. At present the irrigated and fertile portions consist mainly of a number of valleys separated from each other by low and irregular limestone rocks. Of these the most important are Jin, Nguro, Elleboë, and Kirdi in the south, and Bodo, Tiggi, and Jarda in the north. They furnish excellent dates, of about twelve different sorts. The northern valleys and Jin are inhabited by a settled population of about 5000 people, known as the Donosa or Dosa; the others are mainly visited by nomadic tribes. The Uelad Sliman, a powerful Arab tribe, claim the lordship of the land, but have to share their authority with another tribe known as Mgharba which immigrated from Barca about 1860. They do not inhabit the country of Borku, but give proof of their claim to possession by plundering the valleys every ...