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.
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.
II | LAND AND RESOURCES |
Benin can be roughly divided into four
geographic zones, from south to north. The coastal strip in the south is a flat
sandbank with no natural harbors. Immediately north of the beach is a network of
shallow lagoons and swamps. Farther north, the second region is a fertile
lowland called the barre country. Valleys run north to south along the
region’s rivers, and most of the land is intensively cultivated. The third
region is a rocky plateau in northern Benin. Most of the plateau is sparsely
covered with grass and shrubs, and the soil is generally infertile. The rugged
Atakora Mountains rise in the northwest.
Benin is bordered on the north by Burkina
Faso and Niger, on the east by Nigeria, and on the west by Togo. It borders the
Gulf of Guinea on the south.
A | Rivers and Lakes |
The Ouémé and Kouffo rivers drain most of
southern Benin, and the Mono River, which forms part of Benin’s western border
with Togo, drains the southwest. The main rivers of northern Benin are the
Niger, which forms part of the boundary with the republic of Niger, and its
tributaries, the Sota, Mékrou, and Alibori rivers.
B | Climate |
Benin's climate is hot and generally humid.
It ranges from equatorial in the south to an increasingly arid tropical
wet-and-dry climate in the north. The south receives about 1,300 mm (about 51
in) of rainfall a year, mostly from March to July and in October and November.
The average monthly temperature in southern Benin ranges from 20° to 34°C (68°
to 93°F). During much of the year, sea breezes temper the climate. In the north
temperature variations become more marked, and humidity decreases. On average,
about 890 mm (about 35 in) of rain falls yearly in northern Benin, mainly from
May to September. A dry, dust-laden wind called a harmattan blows from the
Sahara into northern Benin from December to March.
C | Plants and Animals |
A dense tropical rain forest once covered
much of the land close behind Benin’s coastal strip. The rain forest has largely
been cleared, except near rivers, and palms now are the main trees of the
region. Woodlands form a large part of central Benin, and grasslands predominate
in the drier north. Among the various animals found in Benin are elephants,
buffalo, antelope, panthers, monkeys, crocodiles, and wild ducks.
The Parc National de la Pendjari is a game
reserve near Natitingou in northern Benin. Farther north, along the Niger River
is another game reserve, the Parc National du W du Niger, which Benin shares
with neighboring Niger and Burkina Faso. Visitors to these reserves can view
elephants, lions, antelopes, hippos, and monkeys.
D | Natural Resources |
Small deposits of petroleum are found
offshore near Cotonou. Other mineral resources of Benin include iron ore,
phosphates, chromium, rutile, clay, marble, and limestone. The country has not
yet fully exploited its mineral resources.
E | Environmental Issues |
Deforestation rates in Benin are higher
than the average for Africa, and only 20.9 percent (2005) of Benin’s land area
remains forested. About 23 percent (2007) of the country is protected in
national parks, but poaching continues to threaten wildlife populations.
Droughts have severely affected marginal agriculture in the north.
III | PEOPLE |
Benin’s population (2008 estimate) is
8,294,941, and is growing at a rate of 2.6 percent per year. The main cities are
Cotonou, the commercial center; Porto-Novo, the capital; and Parakou, a trade
center. Two-thirds of Benin’s people live in the southern part of the country.
More than half the country’s inhabitants live in rural areas.
A number of stilt villages have been built
on lagoons in the south. The land is flooded in rainy season, and the houses
rest on wooden poles, which keeps them above the water line. The people in these
villages live by fishing .
People from 42 different ethnic groups are
represented in Benin. The Fon, or Dahomeans, and the closely related Adja,
together account for about three-fifths of the population. They are the main
ethnic groups in southern Benin. The Bariba and Somba together make up about
one-sixth of the population and are found primarily in the north. The Yoruba
constitute one-tenth of the population and predominate in the southeast, near
the border with Nigeria.
A | Language and Religion |
French is the official language of Benin,
but most people speak an African language. Each of the country’s ethnic groups
has its own language. Fon is the most widely spoken language.
About 52 percent of the population
professes traditional religious beliefs, chiefly Vodun, a belief in spirits.
Arab merchants introduced Islam to the region, and today it is the religion of
some 20 percent of the people, most of whom live in the north. Christianity,
especially Roman Catholicism, is the religion of about 25 percent, the great
majority of whom live in the south. European missionaries brought Christianity
to Benin.
B | Education |
Legislation adopted in 1978 made education
compulsory in Benin from age 6 to 12. As a result about 109 percent of eligible
children were enrolled in primary school by the year 2000, and the literacy rate
had increased to 43 percent in 2005. However, only 28 percent of those eligible
were enrolled in secondary schools. The country’s two institutions of higher
learning are the National University of Benin (founded in 1970) in Cotonou and
the University of Parakou (2001).
C | Cultural Institutions and Communications |
The National Library of Benin is located
in Porto-Novo, and the National Museum is in Cotonou. A vodou museum, the Musée
d'Histoire de Ouidah, is located in the town of Ouidah, near the coast. Abomey,
north of Porto Novo, was the capital of the kingdom of Dahomey until the French
defeat of the kingdom in 1892. The kings built palaces there of mud brick and
decorated them with brightly painted low reliefs. Today, the royal palace
complex serves as a museum with relics from the kings. It has been designated a
UNESCO World Heritage site.
The state-owned radio and television
service operates from Cotonou. In 2003 the government opened the way for
private, commercial radio and television stations. Benin has a number of daily
newspapers, most of them based in Cotonou.
IV | ECONOMY |
In 2006 Benin had a gross domestic product
(GDP) of $4.8 billion, or $545.10 a person. GDP is a measure of the total value
of goods and services produced in the country. By this measure Benin is one of
the poorest countries in Africa.
Benin’s economy is dependent upon
agriculture and remains underdeveloped. Many private enterprises were
nationalized in the 1970s, but worsening economic conditions forced the
government to sell most of them in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The economy
picked up in the 1990s as economic reforms were instituted, but the improvements
mainly benefited the southern part of Benin and increased the economic disparity
between the south and the north. Benin is a member of the Economic Community of
West African States, an organization designed to promote economic cooperation
and development.
A | Agriculture |
In Benin 64 percent of the workforce is
engaged in agriculture, forestry, or fishing. The largest share are subsistence
farmers. The principal food crops are beans, cassava, corn, millet, sorghum, and
yams. Cash crops, produced mainly in the south, include cotton, palm kernels,
peanuts, and sugarcane. The herding of cattle, sheep, and goats predominates in
the grasslands of the north.
B | Forestry and Fishing |
Commercial forestry and fishing are
largely undeveloped in Benin. Almost all of the wood cut in the country is used
for fuel. Similarly, most of the fish caught in inland rivers and in lagoons is
eaten locally. Small amounts of shrimp are landed on a commercial basis.
C | Mining and Manufacturing |
Mining plays a minor role in Benin’s
economy. The production of petroleum stopped in the late 1990s, but companies
from other countries had begun oil exploration in Benin in the early 2000s. Some
limestone is also produced for use in cement manufacturing, and gold is
exploited and used by artisans. Most other mineral resources are undeveloped.
Manufacturing is generally small in scale.
The chief manufacturing activities involve the processing of primary products,
such as cotton and oil palms. Industry includes palm oil processing operations,
textile mills, a cement plant, and a sugar-refining complex.
D | Energy |
Small thermal electric power plants
provide energy along the coast, but most of Benin’s electricity is supplied by
Ghana’s Akosombo Dam. Benin produced 69 million kilowatt-hours of electricity in
2003.
E | Transportation |
Benin has 19,000 km (11,806 mi) of roads;
the principal arteries run parallel to the coast in the south and from Cotonou
to Parakou. The coastal road links Benin and its capital with Lagos, Nigeria, to
the east, and Lome, Togo, to the west. The main line of the country’s
approximately 579-km (approximately 360-mi) rail system runs from Cotonou to
Parakou, and Benin also has rail connections along the coast to Togo and
Nigeria. Cotonou is Benin’s chief seaport and contains the nation’s main
international airport.
F | Currency and Banking |
Benin is a member of the West African
Monetary Union, headquartered in Dakar, Senegal, and the country’s monetary unit
is the CFA franc, which is subdivided into 100 centimes. An exchange rate of 1
French franc equal to 50 CFA francs remained in force from 1948 until 1994, when
the CFA franc was devalued by 50 percent. The principal banks of Benin are in
Cotonou.
G | Foreign Trade |
Benin’s annual imports generally cost much
more than its exports earn. In 2002 the country’s imports were valued at $727
million and its exports at only $304 million. Benin’s main exports are cotton
and palm products; its chief imports are textiles, clothing, and machinery.
Benin’s principal trading partners for exports are Brazil, India, Indonesia, and
Thailand; chief partners for imports are France, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, China, and
the United States.
V | GOVERNMENT |
From 1977 through 1989, Benin was governed by
an elected legislature, the National Revolutionary Assembly. This unicameral
(single-chamber) body elected a president, who ruled as head of the National
Executive Council. The People’s Revolutionary Party of Benin, a Marxist-Leninist
group, was the sole political party. The government abandoned Marxism-Leninism
as the official ideology in 1989.
A new constitution approved by popular
referendum in 1990 provided for a democratic, multiparty system with an elected
National Assembly and a popularly elected president. The 83 members of the
unicameral National Assembly serve four-year terms, and the president, who is
both head of state and government, serves a five-year term. Since the
introduction of multiparty politics in 1990, dozens of political parties have
formed. Benin is divided into six provinces (Atacora, Atlantique, Borgou, Mono,
Ouémé, Zou) for administrative purposes.
VI | HISTORY |
Some time before 1600 it is thought that the
Adja people migrated from the town of Tado on the Mono River (in Togo). They
settled about 32 km (20 mi) from the coast and founded the village of Allada,
where they mixed with the Fon and founded a kingdom. Allada became the capital
of the kingdom, which reached the height of its power in the 16th and 17th
centuries.
A | The Kingdom of Dahomey |
In the early 17th century a dispute over
the succession to the throne led two rival princes to leave Allada with bands of
followers and found their own kingdoms. One kingdom became known as Porto-Novo,
because of a trading post established there by the Portuguese. The other prince
moved inland and at Abomey founded the kingdom of Dahomey. This kingdom
dominated the area until the 19th century.
By the late 17th century the Fon people
were raiding and conquering small tribes to their north to have slaves to
exchange for manufactures from Europe. The slaves were exported at coastal ports
to plantations in the Americas. In the late 1720s Agaja, king of Dahomey,
conquered the four southern kingdoms. His conquests brought him into conflict
with the Yoruba people to the east, from which the defeated rulers sought
assistance. After the Yoruba captured Abomey in 1738, Dahomey maintained its
independence only by agreeing to pay an annual tribute. Dahomey then turned to
expansion northward.
The abolition of the slave trade in the
1830s and after dealt a blow to Dahomey’s prosperity, but King Glélé, with the
aid of European traders, found a remunerative substitute in the oil palm. A
French firm started the oil palm industry in Dahomey, and the king signed a
treaty of friendship and trade with France in 1851.
B | Colonization |
Rivalry between France and Britain on the
African coast was heightened in 1861, after British forces won the town of Lagos
(now in Nigeria) from Dahomey. France had already established a trading post at
Grand-Popo in 1857. By two treaties signed in 1868 and 1878, the Cotonou area,
lying between Ouidah and Porto-Novo, was ceded to France. Glélé’s successor,
Béhanzin, tried to regain the land, which was essential to continued
participation in the slave trade, but was routed by the French in 1892. The
Dahomey kingdom was then declared a French protectorate. After a brief period in
which he led guerrilla bands against the French, Béhanzin was captured in
January 1894 and exiled to Martinique.
In 1899 Dahomey was incorporated into
French West Africa, with its exact boundaries defined through accords with
Britain and Germany, colonizers of the neighboring areas to the east and west,
respectively. At the end of World War I (1914-1918), the eastern part of the
German colony of Togo was put under French mandate. Dahomey, as part of French
West Africa, adhered to the cause of the Free French during World War II
(1939-1945), and in 1946 it became one of the French overseas territories; from
1958 to 1960 it was an autonomous republic of the French Community. Independence
was proclaimed on August 1, 1960, and the following month Dahomey was admitted
to the United Nations (UN).
C | Independence |
The country’s political history since
independence has been checkered. The first president, Hubert Maga, was ousted in
1963 by the army commander, and a series of four coups followed in the next six
years. In 1970 a three-member presidential commission took power and suspended
the constitution. The members, including former president Maga, were to serve as
president successively. Maga held office first, succeeded in 1972 by Justin
Ahomadegbe.
Later in 1972 army major Mathieu Kérékou
led a military coup, ending the commission form of government. He established a
military government with himself as president. In 1974 Kérékou proclaimed his
commitment to introducing revolutionary socialism and establishing what he
called a Marxist-Leninist state. Many banks, industries, and other enterprises
were soon nationalized. Ties with Communist countries, notably China, were
greatly expanded. In November 1975 the country’s name was changed from Dahomey
to Benin. A new constitution, making the People’s Revolutionary Party of Benin
the sole political party, was promulgated in 1977. Three former presidents,
detained since the coup of 1972, were released in 1981.
Elected president by the National
Revolutionary Assembly in 1980 and reelected in 1984, Kérékou survived a
military coup attempt four years later. Faced with economic problems and
internal dissent, he abandoned Marxism-Leninism as the official ideology in late
1989. A new constitution, adopted in 1990, paved the way for the establishment
of a multiparty democracy in Benin. The next year, in the country’s first free
elections in 30 years, Kérékou was defeated by Prime Minister Nicéphore Soglo.
Soglo attacked Benin’s struggling economy by instituting austerity measures and
promoting free-market economics. Relations with Western countries also improved.
While the nation’s economy improved slowly, Soglo’s personal popularity sagged.
In March 1996 elections Soglo was defeated by Kérékou.
Kérékou, who renounced his autocratic,
Marxist-Leninist past, further liberalized Benin’s economy and secured economic
assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a specialized agency of
the United Nations (UN). He was reelected in March 2001. Legislative elections
in 2003 gave Kérékou a clear majority in the National Assembly.
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