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Benin

Benin

Benin officially the Republic of Benin, and also known as Benin Republic is a country in Western Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north; its short coastline to the south leads to the Bight of Benin.

Country name

  • conventional long form:
  • conventional short form: Benin
  • local long form: Republique du Benin
  • local short form: Benin
  • former: Dahomey

Nationality

  • noun: Beninese (singular and plural)
  • adjective: Beninese

Capital

  • name: Porto-Novo (official capital)
  • geographic coordinates: 6 29 N, 2 37 E
  • time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
  • note: Cotonou (seat of government)

Independence

  • 1 August 1960 (from France)

Population

  • 8,294,941
  • note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2008 est.)

Growth Rate

  • 2.619% (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

  • 1.9% (2003 est.)

Ethnic groups

  • Fon and related 39.2%
  • Adja and related 15.2%
  • Yoruba and related 12.3%
  • Bariba and related 9.2%
  • Peulh and related 7%
  • Ottamari and related 6.1%
  • Yoa-Lokpa and related 4%
  • Dendi and related 2.5%
  • other 1.6% (includes Europeans)
  • unspecified 2.9%
  • (2002 census)

Religion

  • Christian 42.8% (Catholic 27.1%, Celestial 5%, Methodist 3.2%, other Protestant 2.2%, other 5.3%)
  • Muslim 24.4%
  • Vodoun 17.3%
  • other 15.5%
  • (2002 census)

Language

  • French (official)
  • Fon and Yoruba (most common vernaculars in south)
  • tribal languages (at least six major ones in north)

Literacy

  • definition: age 15 and over can read and write
  • total population: 34.7%
  • male: 47.9%
  • female: 23.3% (2002 census)

Location

  • Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Benin, between Nigeria and Togo

Area Compepetive

  • slightly smaller than Pennsylvania

Land boundireies

  • total: 1,989 km
  • border countries: Burkina Faso 306 km, Niger 266 km, Nigeria 773 km, Togo 644 km

Climate

  • tropical
  • hot, humid in south
  • semiarid in north

natural resourses

  • small offshore oil deposits
  • limestone
  • marble
  • timber

Economy Over View

The economy of Benin remains underdeveloped and dependent on subsistence agriculture, cotton production, and regional trade. Growth in real output has averaged around 5% in the past seven years, but rapid population growth has offset much of this increase. Inflation has subsided over the past several years. In order to raise growth still further, Benin plans to attract more foreign investment, place more emphasis on tourism, facilitate the development of new food processing systems and agricultural products, and encourage new information and communication technology. Specific projects to improve the business climate by reforms to the land tenure system, the commercial justice system, and the financial sector were included in Benin's $307 million Millennium Challenge Account grant signed in February 2006. The 2001 privatization policy continues in telecommunications, water, electricity, and agriculture though the government annulled the privatization of Benin's state cotton company in November 2007 after the discovery of irregularities in the bidding process. The Paris Club and bilateral creditors have eased the external debt situation, with Benin benefiting from a G8 debt reduction announced in July 2005, while pressing for more rapid structural reforms. An insufficient electrical supply continues to adversely affect Benin's economic growth though the government recently has taken steps to increase domestic power production.

Government Type

  • Republic

GDP Real Growth Rate

  • 4.2% (2007 est.)

GDP per Capital

  • $1,500 (2007 est.)

Background

Present day Benin was the site of Dahomey, a prominent West African kingdom that rose in the 15th century. The territory became a French Colony in 1872 and achieved independence on 1 August 1960, as the Republic of Benin. A succession of military governments ended in 1972 with the rise to power of Mathieu KEREKOU and the establishment of a government based on Marxist-Leninist principles. A move to representative government began in 1989. Two years later, free elections ushered in former Prime Minister Nicephore SOGLO as president, marking the first successful transfer of power in Africa from a dictatorship to a democracy. KEREKOU was returned to power by elections held in 1996 and 2001, though some irregularities were alleged. KEREKOU stepped down at the end of his second term in 2006 and was succeeded by Thomas YAYI Boni, a political outsider and independent. YAYI has begun a high profile fight against corruption and has strongly promoted accelerating Benin's economic growth.

Enviorment Current issue

  • inadequate supplies of potable water
  • poaching threatens wildlife populations
  • deforestation
  • desertification

For more info please contact:
African Studies
(310) 825-3686
africa@international.ucla.edu