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About Benin
Learning About Benin PDF Print E-mail
Article Index
Learning About Benin
II. Land and Resources
III. The People
IV. Economy
V. History
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Page 1 of 5

I. Introduction


Benin, republic in western Africa, formerly known as Dahomey. It has a coastline of 121-km (75-mi) on the Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean. This wedge-shaped land extends inland, to the north, about 670 km (about 415 mi), making it one of the smaller African countries.


Some women in Benin

Benin has a tropical climate. Its economy is based primarily on agriculture, and many of the country’s farmers work at a subsistence level. Although Benin experienced considerable economic growth during the 1990s, it remains one of the poorest countries in Africa.

Many different ethnic groups live in Benin. The Fon, along with the closely related Adja, are by far the largest. French is the official language of the country, but Fon and other African languages are widely spoken.

Benin was a colony within French West Africa from 1899 until it gained independence in 1960 as Dahomey. Dahomey was the name of one of the great African kingdoms of the 1700s and 1800s. It was based in Benin.

A series of military leaders brought many changes of government between 1960 and 1972, when a Marxist regime took charge. The country was renamed The People’s Republic of Benin in 1975. Economic difficulties in the late 1980s led Benin to seek closer ties with the West, and in 1989 the government renounced Marxist ideology. A new constitution and democratic reforms were introduced in 1990. Today, the Republic of Benin is a democracy with a president elected by the people.



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Facts and Figures


Play: National Anthem

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

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