Compare Germany (2006) - Benin (2002)

Compare Germany (2006) z Benin (2002)

	Germany (2006)	Benin (2002)

Administrative divisions	13 states (Laender, singular - Land) and 3 free states* (Freistaaten, singular - Freistaat); Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bayern, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hessen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, Thueringen*	12 provinces; Alibori, Atakora, Atlantique, Borgou, Collines, Couffo, Donga, Littoral, Mono, Oueme, Plateau, Zou
Age structure	0-14 years: 14.1% (male 5,973,437/female 5,665,971) 15-64 years: 66.4% (male 27,889,936/female 26,874,858) 65 years and over: 19.4% (male 6,602,478/female 9,415,619) (2006 est.)	0-14 years: 47.2% (male 1,616,138; female 1,585,463) 15-64 years: 50.5% (male 1,665,439; female 1,764,966) 65 years and over: 2.3% (male 65,877; female 89,742) (2002 est.)
Agriculture - products	potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbages; cattle, pigs, poultry	cotton, corn, cassava (tapioca), yams, beans, palm oil, peanuts, livestock (2001)
Airports	554 (2006)	5 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 332 over 3,047 m: 13 2,438 to 3,047 m: 54 1,524 to 2,437 m: 58 914 to 1,523 m: 72 under 914 m: 135 (2006)	total: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2002)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 222 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 33 under 914 m: 185 (2006)	total: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2002)
Area	total: 357,021 sq km land: 349,223 sq km water: 7,798 sq km	total: 112,620 sq km land: 110,620 sq km water: 2,000 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than Montana	slightly smaller than Pennsylvania
Background	As Europe's largest economy and second most populous nation, Germany remains a key member of the continent's economic, political, and defense organizations. European power struggles immersed Germany in two devastating World Wars in the first half of the 20th century and left the country occupied by the victorious Allied powers of the US, UK, France, and the Soviet Union in 1945. With the advent of the Cold War, two German states were formed in 1949: the western Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the eastern German Democratic Republic (GDR). The democratic FRG embedded itself in key Western economic and security organizations, the EC, which became the EU, and NATO, while the Communist GDR was on the front line of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. The decline of the USSR and the end of the Cold War allowed for German unification in 1990. Since then, Germany has expended considerable funds to bring Eastern productivity and wages up to Western standards. In January 1999, Germany and 10 other EU countries introduced a common European exchange currency, the euro.	Dahomey gained its independence from France in 1960; the name was changed to Benin in 1975. From 1974 to 1989 the country was a socialist state; free elections were reestablished in 1991.
Birth rate	8.25 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)	43.66 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Budget	revenues: $1.249 trillion expenditures: $1.362 trillion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005 est.)	revenues: $377.4 million expenditures: $561.8 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001)
Capital	name: Berlin geographic coordinates: 52 31 N, 13 24 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October	Porto-Novo is the official capital; Cotonou is the seat of government
Climate	temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm mountain (foehn) wind	tropical; hot, humid in south; semiarid in north
Coastline	2,389 km	121 km
Constitution	23 May 1949, known as Basic Law; became constitution of the united German people 3 October 1990	December 1990
Country name	conventional long form: Federal Republic of Germany conventional short form: Germany local long form: Bundesrepublik Deutschland local short form: Deutschland former: German Empire, German Republic, German Reich	conventional long form: Republic of Benin conventional short form: Benin local long form: Republique du Benin local short form: Benin former: Dahomey
Currency	-	Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States
Death rate	10.62 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)	14.52 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Debt - external	$3.626 trillion (30 June 2005)	$1.18 billion (2000)
Diplomatic representation from the US	chief of mission: Ambassador William R. TIMKEN, Jr. embassy: Neustaedtische Kirchstrasse 4-5, 10117 Berlin; note - a new embassy will be built near the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin; ground was broken in October 2004 and completion is scheduled for 2008 mailing address: PSC 120, Box 1000, APO AE 09265 telephone: [49] (030) 2385 174 FAX: [49] (030) 8305-1215 consulate(s) general: Duesseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich	chief of mission: Ambassador Pamela E. BRIDGEWATER embassy: Rue Caporal Bernard Anani, Cotonou mailing address: 01 B. P. 2012, Cotonou telephone: [229] 30-06-50 FAX: [229] 30-06-70
Diplomatic representation in the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Klaus SCHARIOTH chancery: 4645 Reservoir Road NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 298-4000 FAX: [1] (202) 298-4249 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco	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
Disputes - international	none	Benin and Niger have refered to the ICJ the dispute over l'Ete and 14 smaller disputed islands in the Niger River, which has never been delimited; with Nigeria, several villages are in dispute along the Okpara River and only 35 km of the 436 km boundary are demarcated; the Benin-Niger-Nigeria tripoint remains undemarcated; Benin accuses Togo of moving boundary markers and stationing troops in its territory; two villages are in dispute with Burkina Faso
Economic aid - donor	ODA, $5.6 billion (1998)	-
Economic aid - recipient	-	$342.6 million (2000)
Economy - overview	Germany's affluent and technologically powerful economy - the fifth largest in the world - has become one of the slowest growing economies in the euro zone. A quick turnaround is not in the offing in the foreseeable future. Growth in 2001-03 fell short of 1%, rising to 1.7% in 2004 before falling back to 0.9% in 2005. The modernization and integration of the eastern German economy continues to be a costly long-term process, with annual transfers from west to east amounting to roughly $70 billion. Germany's aging population, combined with high unemployment, has pushed social security outlays to a level exceeding contributions from workers. Structural rigidities in the labor market - including strict regulations on laying off workers and the setting of wages on a national basis - have made unemployment a chronic problem. Corporate restructuring and growing capital markets are setting the foundations that could allow Germany to meet the long-term challenges of European economic integration and globalization, particularly if labor market rigidities are further addressed. In the short run, however, the fall in government revenues and the rise in expenditures have raised the deficit above the EU's 3% debt limit.	The economy of Benin remains underdeveloped and dependent on subsistence agriculture, cotton production, and regional trade. Growth in real output averaged a stable 5% in the past five years, but rapid population rise 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. The 2001 privatization policy should continue in telecommunications, water, electricity, and agriculture in spite of initial government reluctance. The Paris Club and bilateral creditors have eased the external debt situation.
Electricity - consumption	510.4 billion kWh (2003)	523.2 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports	54.1 billion kWh (2003)	0 kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports	45.4 billion kWh (2003)	300 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - production	558.1 billion kWh (2003)	240 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source	-	fossil fuel: 17% hydro: 83% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Neuendorf bei Wilster -3.54 m highest point: Zugspitze 2,963 m	lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mont Sokbaro 658 m
Environment - current issues	emissions from coal-burning utilities and industries contribute to air pollution; acid rain, resulting from sulfur dioxide emissions, is damaging forests; pollution in the Baltic Sea from raw sewage and industrial effluents from rivers in eastern Germany; hazardous waste disposal; government established a mechanism for ending the use of nuclear power over the next 15 years; government working to meet EU commitment to identify nature preservation areas in line with the EU's Flora, Fauna, and Habitat directive	inadequate supplies of potable water; poaching threatens wildlife populations; deforestation; desertification
Environment - international agreements	party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Ethnic groups	German 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%, other 6.1% (made up largely of Greek, Italian, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish)	African 99% (42 ethnic groups, most important being Fon, Adja, Yoruba, Bariba), Europeans 5,500
Exchange rates	euros per US dollar - 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001)	Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 742.79 (January 2002), 733.04 (2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997); note - from 1 January 1999, the XOF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF per euro
Executive branch	chief of state: President Horst KOEHLER (since 1 July 2004) head of government: Chancellor Angela MERKEL (since 22 November 2005) cabinet: Cabinet or Bundesminister (Federal Ministers) appointed by the president on the recommendation of the chancellor elections: president elected for a five-year term (eligible for a second term) by a Federal Convention, including all members of the Federal Assembly and an equal number of delegates elected by the state parliaments; election last held 23 May 2004 (next to be held 23 May 2009); chancellor elected by an absolute majority of the Federal Assembly for a four-year term; election last held 22 November 2005 (next to be held November 2009) election results: Horst KOEHLER elected president; received 604 votes of the Federal Convention against 589 for Gesine SCHWAN; Angela MERKEL elected chancellor; vote by Federal Assembly 397 to 202 with 12 abstentions	chief of state: President Mathieu KEREKOU (since 4 April 1996); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Mathieu KEREKOU (since 4 April 1996); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections: president reelected by popular vote for a five-year term; runoff election held 22 March 2001 (next to be held NA March 2006) election results: Mathieu KEREKOU reelected president; percent of vote - Mathieu KEREKOU 84.1%, Bruno AMOUSSOU 15.9% note: the four top-ranking contenders following the first-round presidential elections were: Mathieu KEREKOU (incumbent) 45.4%, Nicephore SOGOLO (former president) 27.1%, Adrien HOUNGBEDJI (National Assembly Speaker) 12.6%, and Bruno AMOUSSOU (Minister of State) 8.6%; the second-round balloting, originally scheduled for 18 March 2001, was postponed four days because both SOGOLO and HOUNGBEDJI withdrew alleging electoral fraud; this left KEREKOU to run against his own Minister of State, AMOUSSOU, in what was termed a "friendly match"
Exports	12,990 bbl/day (2003)	$35.3 million f.o.b. (2000)
Exports - commodities	machinery, vehicles, chemicals, metals and manufactures, foodstuffs, textiles	cotton, crude oil, palm products, cocoa
Exports - partners	France 10.2%, US 8.8%, UK 7.9%, Italy 6.9%, Netherlands 6.1%, Belgium 5.6%, Austria 5.4%, Spain 5.1% (2005)	Brazil, France, Indonesia, Thailand, Morocco, Portugal, Cote d'Ivoire (2001)
Fiscal year	calendar year	calendar year
Flag description	three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and gold	two equal horizontal bands of yellow (top) and red with a vertical green band on the hoist side
GDP	-	purchasing power parity - $6.8 billion (2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 0.9% industry: 29.6% services: 69.5% (2005 est.)	agriculture: 36% industry: 14% services: 50% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita	-	purchasing power parity - $1,040 (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	0.9% (2005 est.)	5.4% (2001 est.)
Geographic coordinates	51 00 N, 9 00 E	9 30 N, 2 15 E
Geography - note	strategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea	sandbanks create difficult access to a coast with no natural harbors, river mouths, or islands
Heliports	32 (2006)	-
Highways	-	total: 6,787 km paved: 1,357 km (including 10 km of expressways) unpaved: 5,430 km (1997 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: 3.6% highest 10%: 25.1% (1997)	lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%
Illicit drugs	source of precursor chemicals for South American cocaine processors; transshipment point for and consumer of Southwest Asian heroin, Latin American cocaine, and European-produced synthetic drugs; major financial center	transshipment point for narcotics associated with Nigerian trafficking organizations and most commonly destined for Western Europe and the US; vulnerable to money laundering due to a poorly regulated financial infrastructure
Imports	2.135 million bbl/day (2003)	$437.6 million c.i.f. (2000)
Imports - commodities	machinery, vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs, textiles, metals	foodstuffs, capital goods, petroleum products
Imports - partners	France 8.7%, Netherlands 8.5%, US 6.6%, China 6.4%, UK 6.3%, Italy 5.7%, Belgium 5%, Austria 4% (2005)	France, US, China, Cote d'Ivoire, Netherlands, Japan (2001)
Independence	18 January 1871 (German Empire unification); divided into four zones of occupation (UK, US, USSR, and later, France) in 1945 following World War II; Federal Republic of Germany (FRG or West Germany) proclaimed 23 May 1949 and included the former UK, US, and French zones; German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) proclaimed 7 October 1949 and included the former USSR zone; unification of West Germany and East Germany took place 3 October 1990; all four powers formally relinquished rights 15 March 1991	1 August 1960 (from France)
Industrial production growth rate	2.9% (2005 est.)	8.3% (2001 est.)
Industries	among the world's largest and most technologically advanced producers of iron, steel, coal, cement, chemicals, machinery, vehicles, machine tools, electronics, food and beverages, shipbuilding, textiles	textiles, food processing, chemical production, construction materials (2001)
Infant mortality rate	total: 4.12 deaths/1,000 live births male: 4.56 deaths/1,000 live births female: 3.66 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)	88.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	2% (2005 est.)	3% (2001 est.)
International organization participation	AfDB, Arctic Council (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CDB, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G- 8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, SECI (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMOVIC, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UPU, WADB (nonregional), WCO, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC	ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (subscriber), ITU, MIPONUH, MONUC, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIK, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)	-	4 (2002)
Irrigated land	4,850 sq km (2003)	120 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch	Federal Constitutional Court or Bundesverfassungsgericht (half the judges are elected by the Bundestag and half by the Bundesrat)	Constitutional Court or Cour Constitutionnelle; Supreme Court or Cour Supreme; High Court of Justice
Labor force	43.32 million (2005 est.)	NA
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 2.8% industry: 33.4% services: 63.8% (1999)	-
Land boundaries	total: 3,621 km border countries: Austria 784 km, Belgium 167 km, Czech Republic 646 km, Denmark 68 km, France 451 km, Luxembourg 138 km, Netherlands 577 km, Poland 456 km, Switzerland 334 km	total: 1,989 km border countries: Burkina Faso 306 km, Niger 266 km, Nigeria 773 km, Togo 644 km
Land use	arable land: 33.13% permanent crops: 0.6% other: 66.27% (2005)	arable land: 15.28% permanent crops: 1.36% other: 83.36% (1998 est.)
Languages	German	French (official), Fon and Yoruba (most common vernaculars in south), tribal languages (at least six major ones in north)
Legal system	civil law system with indigenous concepts; judicial review of legislative acts in the Federal Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction	based on French civil law and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch	bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Federal Assembly or Bundestag (613 seats; elected by popular vote under a system combining direct and proportional representation; a party must win 5% of the national vote or three direct mandates to gain representation; members serve four-year terms) and the Federal Council or Bundesrat (69 votes; state governments are directly represented by votes; each has three to six votes depending on population and are required to vote as a block) elections: Federal Assembly - last held 18 September 2005 (next to be held September 2009); note - there are no elections for the Bundesrat; composition is determined by the composition of the state-level governments; the composition of the Bundesrat has the potential to change any time one of the 16 states holds an election election results: Federal Assembly - percent of vote by party - CDU/CSU 35.2%, SPD 34.3%, FDP 9.8%, Left 8.7%, Greens 8.1%; seats by party - CDU/CSU 225, SPD 222, FDP 61, Left 54, Greens 51	unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (83 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 30 March 1999 (next to be held 30 March 2003) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - RB 27, PRD 11, FARD-ALAFIA 10, PSD 9, MADEP 6, Alliance E'toile 4, IPD 4, other 12
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 78.8 years male: 75.81 years female: 81.96 years (2006 est.)	total population: 49.69 years male: 48.81 years female: 50.61 years (2002 est.)
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (2003 est.)	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 37.5% male: 52.2% female: 23.6% (2000)
Location	Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark	Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Nigeria and Togo
Map references	Europe	Africa
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation	territorial sea: 200 NM
Merchant marine	total: 394 ships (1000 GRT or over) 11,017,754 GRT/13,091,194 DWT by type: bulk carrier 1, cargo 60, chemical tanker 13, container 273, liquefied gas 3, passenger 6, passenger/cargo 25, petroleum tanker 10, roll on/roll off 3 foreign-owned: 4 (Finland 2, Italy 1, Switzerland 1) registered in other countries: 2,491 (Antigua and Barbuda 858, Australia 3, Bahamas 22, Belize 3, Bermuda 21, Brazil 7, Bulgaria 1, Burma 5, Canada 3, Cayman Islands 13, Cyprus 214, Denmark 13, Dominica 1, French Southern and Antarctic Lands 2, Georgia 1, Gibraltar 108, Guyana 1, Hong Kong 6, Indonesia 1, Ireland 2, Isle of Man 56, Jamaica 3, Liberia 587, Luxembourg 10, Malaysia 2, Malta 64, Marshall Islands 194, Morocco 2, Netherlands 56, Netherlands Antilles 60, NZ 1, Panama 35, Portugal 17, Russia 2, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 8, Samoa 1, Singapore 9, Spain 12, Sri Lanka 5, Sweden 3, Turkey 1, UK 76, US 2) (2006)	none (2002 est.)
Military branches	Federal Armed Forces (Bundeswehr): Army (Heer), Navy (Deutsche Marine, includes naval air arm), Air Force (Luftwaffe), Joint Service Support Command (Streitkraeftebasis), Central Medical Service (Zentraler Sanitaetsdienst) (2006)	Armed Forces (including Army, Navy, Air Force), National Gendarmerie
Military expenditures - dollar figure	$35.063 billion (2003)	$27 million (FY96)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	1.5% (2003)	1.2% (FY96)
Military manpower - availability	-	males age 15-49: 1,509,760 females age 15-49: 1,536,036 note: both sexes are liable for military service (2002 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service	-	males age 15-49: 771,373 females age 15-49: 778,730 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - military age	-	18 years of age (2002 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually	-	males: 71,278 females: 70,088 (2002 est.)
National holiday	Unity Day, 3 October (1990)	National Day, 1 August (1960)
Nationality	noun: German(s) adjective: German	noun: Beninese (singular and plural) adjective: Beninese
Natural hazards	flooding	hot, dry, dusty harmattan wind may affect north from December to March
Natural resources	coal, lignite, natural gas, iron ore, copper, nickel, uranium, potash, salt, construction materials, timber, arable land	small offshore oil deposits, limestone, marble, timber
Net migration rate	2.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Pipelines	condensate 37 km; gas 25,035 km; oil 3,546 km; refined products 3,827 km (2006)	-
Political parties and leaders	Alliance '90/Greens [Claudia ROTH and Reinhard BUETIKOFER]; Christian Democratic Union or CDU [Angela MERKEL]; Christian Social Union or CSU [Edmund STOIBER, chairman]; Free Democratic Party or FDP [Guido WESTERWELLE, chairman]; Left Party (Linkspartei. was Party of Democratic Socialism) or PDS [Lothar BISKY]; Social Democratic Party or SPD [Kurt BECK]	African Movement for Democracy and Progress or MADEP [Sefou FAGBOHOUN]; Alliance of the Social Democratic Party or PSD [Bruno AMOUSSOU]; Democratic Renewal Party or PRD [Adrien HOUNGBEDJI]; Front for Renewal and Development or FARD-ALAFIA [Saka SALEY]; Impulse for Progress and Democracy or IPD [Bertin BORNA]; Movement for Citizens' Commitment and Awakening or MERCI [Severin ADJOVI]; Renaissance Party du Benin or RB [Nicephore SOGLO]; The Star Alliance (Alliance E'toile) [Sacca LAFIA] note: approximately 20 additional minor parties; the Coalition of Democratic Forces, [Gatien HOUNGBEDJI], an alliance of parties and organizations supporting President KEREKOU
Political pressure groups and leaders	business associations, employers' organizations; expellee, refugee, trade unions, and veterans groups	NA
Population	82,422,299 (July 2006 est.)	6,787,625 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 2002 est.)
Population below poverty line	NA%	37% (2001 est.)
Population growth rate	-0.02% (2006 est.)	2.91% (2002 est.)
Ports and harbors	-	Cotonou, Porto-Novo
Radio broadcast stations	AM 51, FM 787, shortwave 4 (1998)	AM 2, FM 9, shortwave 4 (2000)
Radios	-	660,000 (2000)
Railways	total: 47,201 km standard gauge: 46,948 km 1.435-m gauge (19,674 km electrified) narrow gauge: 229 km 1.000-m gauge (16 km electrified); 24 km 0.750-m gauge (2005)	total: 578 km narrow gauge: 578 km 1.000-m gauge (2000 est.)
Religions	Protestant 34%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 3.7%, unaffiliated or other 28.3%	indigenous beliefs 50%, Christian 30%, Muslim 20%
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2006 est.)	at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.73 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2002 est.)
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	general assessment: Germany has one of the world's most technologically advanced telecommunications systems; as a result of intensive capital expenditures since reunification, the formerly backward system of the eastern part of the country, dating back to World War II, has been modernized and integrated with that of the western part domestic: Germany is served by an extensive system of automatic telephone exchanges connected by modern networks of fiber-optic cable, coaxial cable, microwave radio relay, and a domestic satellite system; cellular telephone service is widely available, expanding rapidly, and includes roaming service to many foreign countries international: country code - 49; Germany's international service is excellent worldwide, consisting of extensive land and undersea cable facilities as well as earth stations in the Inmarsat, Intelsat, Eutelsat, and Intersputnik satellite systems (2001)	general assessment: NA domestic: fair system of open wire, microwave radio relay, and cellular connections international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); submarine cable
Telephones - main lines in use	55.046 million (2005)	51,000 (2000)
Telephones - mobile cellular	79.2 million (2005)	55,500 (2000)
Television broadcast stations	373 (plus 8,042 repeaters) (1995)	1 (2001)
Terrain	lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south	mostly flat to undulating plain; some hills and low mountains
Total fertility rate	1.39 children born/woman (2006 est.)	6.14 children born/woman (2002 est.)
Unemployment rate	11.7% (2005 est.)	NA%
Waterways	7,467 km note: Rhine River carries most goods; Main-Danube Canal links North Sea and Black Sea (2005)	streams navigable along small sections, important only locally

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