About Benin
Benin is a West African country officially known as the Republic of Benin. Benin borders Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso and Niger to the north, and Togo to the west. The country has a small coastal area on the Bight of Benin, where most of the population resides. Its capital is Porto-Novo, but Cotonou, the largest city, is the government seat. Benin’s population is 8.8 million and it has a surface area of 11,000 sq km (42,000 sq mi). Benin’s tropical climate leads it to highly depend on agriculture. Substantial income and employment arise from subsistence farming.
French is Benin’s official language but the people commonly speak indigenous languages such as Oruba and Fon. Roman Catholics are Benin’s largest religious group. Muslims, Vondun, and Protestants follow closely behind. Benin belongs to the African Union, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone, the Community of Sahel-Saharan States, La Francophonie, the African Petroleum Producer Association, the Niger Basin Authority, and the United Nations.
The Kingdom of Dahomey ruled what is now present day Benin from the 17th to the 19th century. Due to the prevalence of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the region became known as the Slave Coast. In 1892, France took over the area after the slave trade was banned and named it French Dahomey. A democratic republic began in 1960 when Dahomey gained its independence from France which lasted 12 years.
The People’s Republic of Benin was a Marxist dictatorship the governed from 1972 to 1990. This led to a period of repression and economic collapse. The Republic of Benin formed in 1991 and brought with it multi-party elections.
Name
The country was known as Dahomey during the colonial period and in early independence. On November 30, 1975, it was renamed Benin after the Bight of Benin, the body of water on its coast. Benin has no relationship to modern Nigeria’s Benin City or the Benin bronzes.
The Benin name was picked for its neutrality. The Kingdom of Dahomey, from where the original name derived, only covered the southern part of the modern country and did not represent it as a whole, specifically northwestern areas Atakor, or the former kingdom of Borgu.
History
The Kingdom of Dahomey consisted of ethnic groups based in the Abomey plain. According to some historians, the slave trade caused insecurity that led to mass group migration to modern Abomey. This included the Gbe and Aja people, who many believe founded the city. The groups, also including the Fon people, mingled and created a new Dahomey group.
The Gbe descended from migrants from Wyo. Gangnihessou (part of the Aja dynasty that had come from Tado in the 16th century before ruling on its own in Abomey, Allada, and Porto Novo. They were the Kingdom of Dahomey’s first rulers. Dahomey, with its capital at modern Abomey, had a military culture aimed at expanding the small kingdom.
The Dahomey Kingdom had a well-developed culture. Older soldiers took on younger boys as apprentices to teach them military customs until they were old enough to join themselves. The kingdom also formed a famous elite female soldier groups, called the Ahosi. This meant “our mothers” in the Fongbe language. The Europeans called them the Dahomean Amazons. Its military prowess earned Dahomey the nickname “black Sparta” from Sir Richard Burton, a 19th century explorer and other Europeans.
The Dahomey kings sold captives into slavery. They were also killed in the Annual Customs ceremony. The kingdom earned £250,000 per year by 1750 selling other Africans to European slave traders. Despite initial resistance to the trade, it grew and thrived in the region for 300 years beginning with a Portuguese trade agreement in 1472. This led to the area called the “Slave Coast.” The kingdoms own rules demanded a large portion of those captured be beheaded which decreased the number of exported slaves. The slave number fell from 20,000 per year in the 17th century to 12,000 in the 1800’s. Bans on trans-Atlantic slave trading by Britain and other countries also contributed to the reduction. In 1885, the last Portuguese slave ship left from the coast of modern Benin.
Dahomey began to lose its regional power status in the mid-19th century. This led to a French takeover in 1892. The French called the area French Dahomey and incorporated it into its West African Colony in 1899. The French granted the Republic of Dahomey autonomy in 1958 and full independence on August 1, 1960. Hubert Maga was the president who led the people to independence.
Ethnic strife led to problems over the next 12 years, with several coups and changes occurring. Four people dominated the time period, Hubert Maga, Sourou Apithy, Justin Ahomadegbé, and Emile Derin Zinsou. The first three represented different areas and agreed to form a presidential council after the conflict marred 1970 elections.
Maga gave power to Ahomadegbé on May 7, 1972. Lt. Col. Mathieu Kérékou overthrew the ruling three on October 26, 1972. He then became president and declared the country neither Socialist, Capitalist, nor Communist. However, a short time later, he announced the Military Council of the Revolution(CNR) would rule the country as an officially Marxist one. The CNR nationalized the banks and oil industry. On November 30, 1975, the country was officially renamed the People’s Republic of Benin.
The CNR dissolved in 1979, and Kérékou set up an election with him as the only candidate. He established a relationship with Libya, North Korea, and the People’s Republic of China. Kérékou put nearly all businesses under state control, which dried up foreign investment. He also attempted to impose his own educational philosophy causing teachers and professionals to leave Benin. The country earned some income from agreeing to take on France’s nuclear waste.
Kérékou changed his name to Ahmed in 1980 when he converted to Islam, but later changed it back after claiming to be a born-again Christian. When the regime ran out of money to pay its army in 1989, riots broke out. This collapsed the banking system and Kérékou renounced Marxism and agree to release political prisoners and submit to free elections.
On March 1, 1990, the country’s name became the Republic of Benin after Marxism was abolished and the constitution was complete. Kérékou became the first black African president to step down after Nicéphore Soglo defeated him in 1991. In 1996, Kérékou returned to power after winning the elections. In 2001, Kérékou won another term in a close election with claimed irregularities.
In 2006, Kérékou and Soglo, the former president, did not run due to constitutional restrictions on age and term limits. Unlike many African leaders, Kérékou did not attempt to change the constitution to remain in office.
A free and fair election was held on March 5, 2006, resulting in a runoff between Yayi Boni and Adrien Houngbédji. Boni won the runoff on March 19 and took office on April 6. Benin’s successful elections won international praise. Some consider Benin a model African democracy, albeit one with a short existence.
Politics
A presidential representative democratic republic, the President is the head of government and head of state. Benin has multiple parties. The government holds executive power and shares legislative power with the legislature. Benin has an independent judiciary. Benin’s 1990 Constitution transitioned the country to democracy in 1991 and established its political system.
The 2007 Worldwide Press Freedom Index, by Reporters Without Borders, listed Benin as 53rd of the 69 total countries. The 2008 Ibrahim Index of African Governance, measuring Africa’s state of governance, scored Benin highly. It ranked 13th out of 48 sub-Saharan countries and well in Safety Security and Participation and Human Rights.
Departments and Communes
Benin has 12 departments and 77 communes. The previous six departments were split evenly into the current twelve in 1999. The six new departments have yet to be assigned capitals. The departments are: (1) Alibori, (2) Atakora, (3) Atlantique, (4) Borgou, (5) Collines, (6) Donga, (7) Kouffo, (8) Littoral, (9) Mono, (10) Ouémé, (11) Plateau, and (12) Zou.
Geography
Benin lies between the Equator and the Tropic of Cancer as a north-south strip of land in west Africa. Its latitude is between from 6°30′N to 12°30′N and its longitude from 1°E to 3°40′E. Togo borders Benin to the west, Niger and Bukina Faso border to the north, Nigeria borders to the east, and the Bight of Benin is the body of water to the south.
Benin’s surface area is 112,622 sq km (43,484 sq mi). It extends in the north from the Niger River to the Atlantic Ocean in the south. This distance is 650 km (404 mi). The coastline is 121 km (75 mi wide but the country’s widest point is 325 km (202 mi) across. Benin is eight times smaller than Nigeria. It is twice Togo’s size.
Benin has little elevation change and is divided into four areas from the north to the south. This starts with the marshy coastal plain with a high elevation of 10 m (32.8 ft) and is 10 km (6.2 mi) wide at most. The Guinean forest-savanna sits behind the coast and is covered in plateaus with between 20m and 200m (66ft and 656ft) high. The valleys run north to south along the Couffo, Zou, and Oueme Rivers and divide the forest-savanna.
Next there is a flat area with rocky hills extending around Nikki and Savve. The altitude here rarely reaches 400m (1,312ft). Lastly, a mountain range sits on the northwest border with Togo. Called the Atacora mountains, Mount Sokbaro is the highest point at 658m (2,159ft).
Benin has remnants of large forests, fallow fields, and mangroves. Thorny scrubs and baobab trees cover the remaining parts of the country. Forests line the…
