Facts and Figures

Official name: Republic of Benin
Capital: Porto-Novo
Area: 112,622 sq km; 43,484 sq mi

People
Population: 8,078,314 (2007 estimate)

Largest cities, with population
Cotonou: 650,660 (2000 estimate)
Porto-Novo: 232,756 (2000 estimate)
Parakou: 144,627 (2000 estimate)
Djougou: 132,000 (1994 estimate)

Ethnic groups
African: (42 ethnic groups, the largest being Fon, Adja, Yoruba, and Bariba) 99 percent
Other: 1 percent

Languages:
French (official), Fon and Yoruba (most common vernaculars in south), Bariba and Somba (most common vernaculars in north), indigenous languages

Religions
Indigenous beliefs: 52 percent
Roman Catholic: 21 percent
Muslim 20 percent
Protestant: 4 percent
Other: 3 percent

Literacy rate
Total : 43.2 percent (2005 estimate)
Female: 28.4 percent (2005 estimate)
Male: 58.8 percent (2005 estimate)
Education expenditure as a share of gross national product (GNP): 3.3 percent (2002-2003)
Number of years of compulsory schooling: 6 years (2002-2003)
Number of students per teacher, primary school: 62 students per teacher (2002-2003)

Government
Form of government: multiparty republic
Constitution: 2 December 1990
Armed forces
Total number of military personnel 4,550 (2004)

Economy
Gross domestic product (GDP, in U.S.$): $4.3 billion (2005)
GDP per capita (U.S.$): $508.10 (2005)

GDP by economic sector:
Agriculture, forestry, fishing: 32.2 percent (2005)
Industry: 13.4 percent (2005)
Services: 54.4 percent (2005)

Employment
Number of workers: 3,296,439 (2005)

Workforce share of economic sector
Agriculture, forestry, fishing: 64 percent (1990)
Industry: 8 percent (1990)
Services: 28 percent (1990)

Monetary unit
1 Communaut* Financière Africaine (CFA) franc, consisting of 100 centimes