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Compare Benin (2007) - Atlantic Ocean (2002)
Compare Benin (2007) z Atlantic Ocean (2002)
| Benin (2007) | Atlantic Ocean (2002) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | 12 departments; Alibori, Atakora, Atlantique, Borgou, Collines, Kouffo, Donga, Littoral, Mono, Oueme, Plateau, Zou | - |
| Age structure | 0-14 years: 43.9% (male 1,788,248/female 1,754,940)
15-64 years: 53.7% (male 2,138,649/female 2,203,291) 65 years and over: 2.4% (male 77,844/female 115,342) (2007 est.) |
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| Agriculture - products | cotton, corn, cassava (tapioca), yams, beans, palm oil, peanuts, cashews; livestock | - |
| Airports | 5 (2007) | - |
| Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2007) |
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| Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 4
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2007) |
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| Area | total: 112,620 sq km
land: 110,620 sq km water: 2,000 sq km |
total: 76.762 million sq km
note: includes Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Caribbean Sea, Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, part of the Drake Passage, Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Norwegian Sea, almost all of the Scotia Sea, and other tributary water bodies |
| Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Pennsylvania | slightly less than 6.5 times the size of the US |
| 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. | The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, but larger than the Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean). The Kiel Canal (Germany), Oresund (Denmark-Sweden), Bosporus (Turkey), Strait of Gibraltar (Morocco-Spain), and the St. Lawrence Seaway (Canada-US) are important strategic access waterways. The decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 to delimit a fifth world ocean, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the Atlantic Ocean south of 60 degrees south. |
| Birth rate | 38.1 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | - |
| Budget | revenues: $786 million
expenditures: $1.024 billion (2006 est.) |
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| 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) |
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| Climate | tropical; hot, humid in south; semiarid in north | tropical cyclones (hurricanes) develop off the coast of Africa near Cape Verde and move westward into the Caribbean Sea; hurricanes can occur from May to December, but are most frequent from August to November |
| Coastline | 121 km | 111,866 km |
| Constitution | adopted by referendum 2 December 1990 | - |
| Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Benin
conventional short form: Benin local long form: Republique du Benin local short form: Benin former: Dahomey |
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| Death rate | 11.94 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | - |
| Debt - external | $1.6 billion (2000) | - |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Gayleatha B. BROWN
embassy: Rue Caporal Bernard Anani, Cotonou mailing address: 01 B. P. 2012, Cotonou telephone: [229] 21-30-06-50 FAX: [229] 21-30-06-70 |
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| Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Cyrille Segbe OGUIN
chancery: 2124 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 232-6656 FAX: [1] (202) 265-1996 |
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| Disputes - international | two villages remain in dispute along the border with Burkina Faso; Benin accused Burkina Faso of moving boundary pillars; much of Benin-Niger boundary, including tripoint with Nigeria, remains undemarcated; in 2005, Nigeria ceded thirteen villages to Benin, but border relations remain strained by rival gang clashes; Benin and Togo announced plans in 2006 to construct a joint hydroelectric dam on the Mona River at the southern end of the border | some maritime disputes (see littoral states) |
| Economic aid - recipient | $349.1 million (2005) | - |
| Economy - overview | 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 six 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 in spite of government reluctance. 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. Benin continues to be hurt by Nigerian trade protection that bans imports of a growing list of products from Benin and elsewhere, which has resulted in increased smuggling and criminality in the border region. | The Atlantic Ocean provides some of the world's most heavily trafficked sea routes, between and within the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Other economic activity includes the exploitation of natural resources, e.g., fishing, the dredging of aragonite sands (The Bahamas), and production of crude oil and natural gas (Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and North Sea). |
| Electricity - consumption | 587 million kWh (2005) | - |
| Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2005) | - |
| Electricity - imports | 595 million kWh (2005) | - |
| Electricity - production | 105 million kWh (2005) | - |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mont Sokbaro 658 m |
lowest point: Milwaukee Deep in the Puerto Rico Trench -8,605 m
highest point: sea level 0 m |
| Environment - current issues | inadequate supplies of potable water; poaching threatens wildlife populations; deforestation; desertification | endangered marine species include the manatee, seals, sea lions, turtles, and whales; drift net fishing is hastening the decline of fish stocks and contributing to international disputes; municipal sludge pollution off eastern US, southern Brazil, and eastern Argentina; oil pollution in Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Lake Maracaibo, Mediterranean Sea, and North Sea; industrial waste and municipal sewage pollution in Baltic Sea, North Sea, and Mediterranean Sea |
| Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
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| 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) | - |
| Exchange rates | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 522.59 (2006), 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003), 696.99 (2002) | - |
| Executive branch | chief of state: President Thomas YAYI Boni (since 6 April 2006); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Thomas YAYI Boni (since 6 April 2006) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); runoff election held 19 March 2006 (next to be held in March 2011) election results: Thomas YAYI Boni elected president; percent of vote - Thomas YAYI Boni 74.5%, Adrien HOUNGBEDJI 25.5% |
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| Exports | NA bbl/day | - |
| Exports - commodities | cotton, cashews, shea butter, textiles, palm products, seafood | - |
| Exports - partners | China 20.9%, Indonesia 7.7%, India 7%, Netherlands 6.2%, Niger 5.7%, Togo 4.6%, Nigeria 4.3% (2006) | - |
| Fiscal year | calendar year | - |
| Flag description | two equal horizontal bands of yellow (top) and red (bottom) with a vertical green band on the hoist side | - |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 32.8%
industry: 13.7% services: 53.5% (2006 est.) |
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| GDP - real growth rate | 4% (2006 est.) | - |
| Geographic coordinates | 9 30 N, 2 15 E | 0 00 N, 25 00 W |
| Geography - note | sandbanks create difficult access to a coast with no natural harbors, river mouths, or islands | major chokepoints include the Dardanelles, Strait of Gibraltar, access to the Panama and Suez Canals; strategic straits include the Strait of Dover, Straits of Florida, Mona Passage, The Sound (Oresund), and Windward Passage; the Equator divides the Atlantic Ocean into the North Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% (2003) |
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| Illicit drugs | transshipment point used by Nigerian traffickers for narcotics destined for Western Europe; vulnerable to money laundering due to poorly enforced financial regulations | - |
| Imports | NA bbl/day | - |
| Imports - commodities | foodstuffs, capital goods, petroleum products | - |
| Imports - partners | China 46.6%, France 7.5%, Thailand 6% (2006) | - |
| Independence | 1 August 1960 (from France) | - |
| Industrial production growth rate | 8.3% (2001 est.) | - |
| Industries | textiles, food processing, construction materials, cement | - |
| Infant mortality rate | total: 77.85 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 82.32 deaths/1,000 live births female: 73.26 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
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| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3.8% (2006 est.) | - |
| International organization participation | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OIC, OIF, ONUB, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO | - |
| Irrigated land | 120 sq km (2003) | - |
| Judicial branch | Constitutional Court or Cour Constitutionnelle; Supreme Court or Cour Supreme; High Court of Justice | - |
| Labor force | 3.211 million (1996) | - |
| Land boundaries | total: 1,989 km
border countries: Burkina Faso 306 km, Niger 266 km, Nigeria 773 km, Togo 644 km |
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| Land use | arable land: 23.53%
permanent crops: 2.37% other: 74.1% (2005) |
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| Languages | French (official), Fon and Yoruba (most common vernaculars in south), tribal languages (at least six major ones in north) | - |
| Legal system | based on French civil law and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | - |
| Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (83 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 31 March 2007 (next to be held by March 2011) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - FCBE 35, ADD 20, PRD 10, other and independents 18 |
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| Life expectancy at birth | total population: 53.44 years
male: 52.28 years female: 54.63 years (2007 est.) |
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| Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 34.7% male: 47.9% female: 23.3% (2002 census) |
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| Location | Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Benin, between Nigeria and Togo | body of water between Africa, Europe, the Southern Ocean, and the Western Hemisphere |
| Map references | Africa | Political Map of the World |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 200 nm | - |
| Military branches | Benin Armed Forces: Ground Forces Command, Benin Navy, Benin People's Air Force (Force Aerienne Populaire de Benin, FAPB) (2007) | - |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.7% (2006) | - |
| National holiday | National Day, 1 August (1960) | - |
| Nationality | noun: Beninese (singular and plural)
adjective: Beninese |
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| Natural hazards | hot, dry, dusty harmattan wind may affect north from December to March | icebergs common in Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, and the northwestern Atlantic Ocean from February to August and have been spotted as far south as Bermuda and the Madeira Islands; ships subject to superstructure icing in extreme northern Atlantic from October to May; persistent fog can be a maritime hazard from May to September; hurricanes (May to December) |
| Natural resources | small offshore oil deposits, limestone, marble, timber | oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales), sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, precious stones |
| Net migration rate | 0.58 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | - |
| Political parties and leaders | Alliance for Dynamic Democracy or ADD [Nicephore SOGLO]; Alliance of Progress Forces or AFP; African Movement for Democracy and Progress or MADEP [Sefou FAGBOHOUN]; Democratic Renewal Party or PRD [Adrien HOUNGBEDJI]; Force Cowrie for an Emerging Benin or FCBE; Impulse for Progress and Democracy or IPD; Key Force or FC; Movement for Development and Solidarity or MDS; Movement for Development by the Culture-Salute Party-Congress of People for Progress Alliance or Alliance MDC-PS-CPP; New Alliance or NA; Rally for Democracy and Progress or RDP; The Star Alliance (Alliance E'toile) [Sacca LAFIA]; Union of Tomorrow's Benin or UBF [Bruno AMOUSSOU]
note: approximately 20 additional minor parties |
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| Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | - |
| Population | 8,078,314
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 and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2007 est.) |
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| Population below poverty line | 33% (2001 est.) | - |
| Population growth rate | 2.674% (2007 est.) | - |
| Ports and harbors | - | Alexandria (Egypt), Algiers (Algeria), Antwerp (Belgium), Barcelona (Spain), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Casablanca (Morocco), Colon (Panama), Copenhagen (Denmark), Dakar (Senegal), Gdansk (Poland), Hamburg (Germany), Helsinki (Finland), Las Palmas (Canary Islands, Spain), Le Havre (France), Lisbon (Portugal), London (UK), Marseille (France), Montevideo (Uruguay), Montreal (Canada), Naples (Italy), New Orleans (US), New York (US), Oran (Algeria), Oslo (Norway), Peiraiefs or Piraeus (Greece), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Saint Petersburg (Russia), Stockholm (Sweden) |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 9, shortwave 4 (2000) | - |
| Railways | total: 758 km
narrow gauge: 758 km 1.000-m gauge (2006) |
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| Religions | 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) | - |
| Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.019 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.971 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.675 male(s)/female total population: 0.983 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
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| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | - |
| Telephone system | general assessment: inadequate; fixed-line network is almost saturated with fixed-line teledensity stuck at a meager 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone density of roughly 10 per 100 persons
domestic: fair system of open-wire, microwave radio relay, and cellular connections; four mobile-cellular providers international: country code - 229; landing point for the SAT-3/WASC fiber-optic submarine cable that provides connectivity to Europe and Asia; satellite earth station - 7 (Intelsat-Atlantic Ocean) (2007) |
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| Telephones - main lines in use | 76,300 (2005) | - |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 750,000 (2005) | - |
| Television broadcast stations | 1 (2001) | - |
| Terrain | mostly flat to undulating plain; some hills and low mountains | surface usually covered with sea ice in Labrador Sea, Denmark Strait, and coastal portions of the Baltic Sea from October to June; clockwise warm-water gyre (broad, circular system of currents) in the northern Atlantic, counterclockwise warm-water gyre in the southern Atlantic; the ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a rugged north-south centerline for the entire Atlantic basin |
| Total fertility rate | 5.08 children born/woman (2007 est.) | - |
| Transportation - note | - | Kiel Canal and Saint Lawrence Seaway are two important waterways; significant domestic commercial and recreational use of Intracoastal Waterway on central and south Atlantic seaboard and Gulf of Mexico coast of US |
| Unemployment rate | NA% | - |
| Waterways | 150 km (on River Niger along northern border) (2005) | - |
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