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Compare Virgin Islands (2005) - Benin (2006)
Compare Virgin Islands (2005) z Benin (2006)
| Virgin Islands (2005) | Benin (2006) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | none (territory of the US); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are three islands at the second order; Saint Croix, Saint John, Saint Thomas | 12 departments; Alibori, Atakora, Atlantique, Borgou, Collines, Kouffo, Donga, Littoral, Mono, Oueme, Plateau, Zou |
| Age structure | 0-14 years: 23.1% (male 12,676/female 12,421)
15-64 years: 66.2% (male 34,069/female 37,918) 65 years and over: 10.7% (male 5,125/female 6,499) (2005 est.) |
0-14 years: 44.1% (male 1,751,709/female 1,719,138)
15-64 years: 53.5% (male 2,067,248/female 2,138,957) 65 years and over: 2.4% (male 75,694/female 110,198) (2006 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | fruit, vegetables, sorghum; Senepol cattle | cotton, corn, cassava (tapioca), yams, beans, palm oil, peanuts; livestock |
| Airports | 2 (2004 est.) | 5 (2006) |
| Airports - with paved runways | total: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 (2004 est.) |
total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2006) |
| 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 (2006) |
| Area | total: 352 sq km
land: 349 sq km water: 3 sq km |
total: 112,620 sq km
land: 110,620 sq km water: 2,000 sq km |
| Area - comparative | twice the size of Washington, DC | slightly smaller than Pennsylvania |
| Background | During the 17th century, the archipelago was divided into two territorial units, one English and the other Danish. Sugarcane, produced by slave labor, drove the islands' economy during the 18th and early 19th centuries. In 1917, the US purchased the Danish portion, which had been in economic decline since the abolition of slavery in 1848. | 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. |
| Birth rate | 14.2 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 38.85 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
| Budget | revenues: $560
expenditures: NA (2003) |
revenues: $766.8 million
expenditures: $1.017 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005 est.) |
| Capital | Charlotte Amalie | 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) |
| Climate | subtropical, tempered by easterly trade winds, relatively low humidity, little seasonal temperature variation; rainy season September to November | tropical; hot, humid in south; semiarid in north |
| Coastline | 188 km | 121 km |
| Constitution | Revised Organic Act of 22 July 1954 | December 1990 |
| Country name | conventional long form: United States Virgin Islands
conventional short form: Virgin Islands former: Danish West Indies |
conventional long form: Republic of Benin
conventional short form: Benin local long form: Republique du Benin local short form: Benin former: Dahomey |
| Death rate | 6.26 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 12.22 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
| Debt - external | NA | $1.6 billion (2000) |
| Dependency status | organized, unincorporated territory of the US with policy relations between the Virgin Islands and the US under the jurisdiction of the Office of Insular Affairs, US Department of the Interior | - |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | none (territory of the US) | chief of mission: Ambassador Wayne NEILL
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 | none (territory of 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 |
| Disputes - international | none | Benin and Burkina Faso military clash in 2006 over sections of riverine boundary involving disputed villages and squatters; much of Benin-Niger boundary, including tripoint with Nigeria, remains undemarcated; in 2005, Nigeria ceded thirteen villages to Benin as a consequence of a 2004 joint task force to resolve maritime and land boundary disputes, but clashes among rival gangs along the border persist; a joint boundary commission continues to resurvey the boundary with Togo to verify Benin's claim that Togo moved boundary stones |
| Economic aid - recipient | NA | $342.6 million (2000) |
| Economy - overview | Tourism is the primary economic activity, accounting for 80% of GDP and employment. The islands normally host 2 million visitors a year. The manufacturing sector consists of petroleum refining, textiles, electronics, pharmaceuticals, and watch assembly. The agricultural sector is small, with most food being imported. International business and financial services are a small but growing component of the economy. One of the world's largest petroleum refineries is at Saint Croix. The islands are subject to substantial damage from storms. The government is working to improve fiscal discipline, to support construction projects in the private sector, to expand tourist facilities, to reduce crime, and to protect the environment. | 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. Many of these proposals are included in Benin's application to receive Millennium Challenge Account funding - for which it was a finalist in 2004-05. 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. |
| Electricity - consumption | 962.6 million kWh (2002) | 538.2 million kWh (2003) |
| Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (2003) |
| Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2002) | 474 million kWh (2003) |
| Electricity - production | 1.035 billion kWh (2002) | 69 million kWh (2003) |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Crown Mountain 474 m |
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mont Sokbaro 658 m |
| Environment - current issues | lack of natural freshwater resources | inadequate supplies of potable water; poaching threatens wildlife populations; deforestation; desertification |
| 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
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
| Ethnic groups | black 76.2%, white 13.1%, Asian 1.1%, other 6.1%, mixed 3.5% (2000 census) | African 99% (42 ethnic groups, most important being Fon, Adja, Yoruba, Bariba), Europeans 5,500 |
| Exchange rates | the US dollar is used | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003), 696.99 (2002), 733.04 (2001) |
| Executive branch | chief of state: President George W. BUSH of the US (since 20 January 2001)
head of government: Governor Dr. Charles Wesley TURNBULL (since 5 January 1999) cabinet: NA elections: US president and vice president elected on the same ticket for four-year terms; governor and lieutenant governor elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms; election last held 5 November 2002 (next to be held November 2006) election results: Dr. Charles Wesley TURNBULL reelected governor; percent of vote - Dr. Charles Wesley TURNBULL (Democrat) 50.5%, John de JONGH 24.4% |
chief of state: President YAYI Boni (since 6 April 2006); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President YAYI Boni (since 6 April 2006) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections: president reelected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); runoff election held 19 March 2006 (next to be held March 2011) election results: YAYI Boni elected president; percent of vote - YAYI Boni 74.5%, Adrien HOUNGBEDJI 25.5% |
| Exports | NA | NA bbl/day |
| Exports - commodities | refined petroleum products | cotton, crude oil, palm products, cocoa |
| Exports - partners | US, Puerto Rico | China 31.3%, Indonesia 8.1%, India 7.4%, Niger 6%, Togo 4.8%, Thailand 4.8%, Nigeria 4.6% (2005) |
| Fiscal year | 1 October - 30 September | calendar year |
| Flag description | white, with a modified US coat of arms in the center between the large blue initials V and I; the coat of arms shows a yellow eagle holding an olive branch in one talon and three arrows in the other with a superimposed shield of vertical red and white stripes below a blue panel | two equal horizontal bands of yellow (top) and red (bottom) with a vertical green band on the hoist side |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 1%
industry: 19% services: 80% (2003 est.) |
agriculture: 31.6%
industry: 13.8% services: 54.6% (2004 est.) |
| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $17,200 (2002 est.) | - |
| GDP - real growth rate | 2% (2002 est.) | 3.5% (2005 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 18 20 N, 64 50 W | 9 30 N, 2 15 E |
| Geography - note | important location along the Anegada Passage - a key shipping lane for the Panama Canal; Saint Thomas has one of the best natural deepwater harbors in the Caribbean | sandbanks create difficult access to a coast with no natural harbors, river mouths, or islands |
| Highways | total: 1,257 km
paved: 1,192 km unpaved: 65 km note: the only US possession where driving on the left side of the road is practiced (2003) |
- |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
| Illicit drugs | - | 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 | NA | NA bbl/day |
| Imports - commodities | crude oil, foodstuffs, consumer goods, building materials | foodstuffs, capital goods, petroleum products |
| Imports - partners | US, Puerto Rico | France 21.8%, Ghana 7.1%, Cote d'Ivoire 7%, China 6.7%, UK 5.2%, Belgium 4.9%, Togo 4.5%, Thailand 4.2%, Nigeria 4% (2005) |
| Independence | - | 1 August 1960 (from France) |
| Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 8.3% (2001 est.) |
| Industries | tourism, petroleum refining, watch assembly, rum distilling, construction, pharmaceuticals, textiles, electronics | textiles, food processing, construction materials, cement |
| Infant mortality rate | total: 8.03 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 9.11 deaths/1,000 live births female: 6.88 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
total: 79.56 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 84.09 deaths/1,000 live births female: 74.88 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2.2% (2003) | 3.5% (2005 est.) |
| International organization participation | Interpol (subbureau), IOC, UPU | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OIC, OIF, ONUB, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO |
| Irrigated land | NA | 120 sq km (2003) |
| Judicial branch | US District Court of the Virgin Islands (under Third Circuit jurisdiction); Territorial Court (judges appointed by the governor for 10-year terms) | Constitutional Court or Cour Constitutionnelle; Supreme Court or Cour Supreme; High Court of Justice |
| Labor force | 48,900 (2003 est.) | 3.211 million |
| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 1%, industry 19%, services 80% (2003 est.) | - |
| Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 1,989 km
border countries: Burkina Faso 306 km, Niger 266 km, Nigeria 773 km, Togo 644 km |
| Land use | arable land: 11.76%
permanent crops: 2.94% other: 85.3% (2001) |
arable land: 23.53%
permanent crops: 2.37% other: 74.1% (2005) |
| Languages | English 74.7%, Spanish or Spanish Creole 16.8%, French or French Creole 6.6%, other 1.9% (2000 census) | French (official), Fon and Yoruba (most common vernaculars in south), tribal languages (at least six major ones in north) |
| Legal system | based on US laws | based on French civil law and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| Legislative branch | unicameral Senate (15 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve two-year terms)
elections: last held 6 November 2002 (next to be held 2 November 2004) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Democratic Party 10, ICM 2, independent 3 note: the Virgin Islands elects one non-voting representative to the US House of Representatives; election last held 6 November 2002 (next to be held 2 November 2004); results - Donna M. CHRISTIAN-CHRISTENSON (Democrat) reelected |
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 2003 (next to be held March 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Presidential Movement (UBF, MADEP, FC, Alliance MDC-PC-CPP, IPD, AFP, MDS, RDP) 52, opposition (PRB, PRD, E'toile, and 5 other small parties) 31 |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population: 78.91 years
male: 75.08 years female: 82.96 years (2005 est.) |
total population: 53.04 years
male: 51.9 years female: 54.22 years (2006 est.) |
| Literacy | definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 33.6% male: 46.4% female: 22.6% (2002 est.) |
| Location | Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Puerto Rico | Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Benin, between Nigeria and Togo |
| Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Africa |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
territorial sea: 200 nm |
| Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the US | - |
| Military branches | - | Army, Navy, Air Force |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $100.9 million (2005 est.) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 2.3% (2005 est.) |
| National holiday | Transfer Day (from Denmark to the US), 27 March (1917) | National Day, 1 August (1960) |
| Nationality | noun: Virgin Islander(s)
adjective: Virgin Islander |
noun: Beninese (singular and plural)
adjective: Beninese |
| Natural hazards | several hurricanes in recent years; frequent and severe droughts and floods; occasional earthquakes | hot, dry, dusty harmattan wind may affect north from December to March |
| Natural resources | sun, sand, sea, surf | small offshore oil deposits, limestone, marble, timber |
| Net migration rate | -8.64 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 0.67 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
| Political parties and leaders | Democratic Party [Arturo WATLINGTON]; Independent Citizens' Movement or ICM [Usie RICHARDS]; Republican Party [Gary SPRAUVE] | Alliance of Progress Forces or AFP; African Movement for Democracy and Progress or MADEP [Sefou FAGBOHOUN]; Democratic Renewal Party or PRD [Adrien HOUNGBEDJI]; 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; Renaissance Party du Benin or RB [Nicephore SOGLO]; The Star Alliance (Alliance E'toile) [Sacca LAFIA]; Union of Tomorrow's Benin or UBF [Bruno AMOUSSOU]
note: approximately 20 additional minor parties |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
| Population | 108,708 (July 2005 est.) | 7,862,944
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 2006 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | NA% | 33% (2001 est.) |
| Population growth rate | -0.07% (2005 est.) | 2.73% (2006 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | Charlotte Amalie, Limetree Bay | - |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 6, FM 17, shortwave 0 (2004) | AM 2, FM 9, shortwave 4 (2000) |
| Railways | - | total: 578 km
narrow gauge: 578 km 1.000-m gauge (2005) |
| Religions | Baptist 42%, Roman Catholic 34%, Episcopalian 17%, other 7% | indigenous beliefs 50%, Christian 30%, Muslim 20% |
| Sex ratio | at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.9 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female total population: 0.91 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2006 est.) |
| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal; note - island residents are US citizens but do not vote in US presidential elections | 18 years of age; universal |
| Telephone system | general assessment: modern system with total digital switching, uses fiber-optic cable and microwave radio relay
domestic: full range of services available international: country code - 1-340; 2 submarine cable connections (Taino Carib, Americas-1); satellite earth stations - NA |
general assessment: NA
domestic: fair system of open-wire, microwave radio relay, and cellular connections international: country code - 229; satellite earth station - 7 (Intelsat-Atlantic Ocean); fiber optic submarine cable (SAT-3/WASC) provides connectivity to Europe and Asia |
| Telephones - main lines in use | 69,400 (2002) | 76,300 (2005) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 41,000 (2002) | 386,700 (2005) |
| Television broadcast stations | 16 (2004) | 1 (2001) |
| Terrain | mostly hilly to rugged and mountainous with little level land | mostly flat to undulating plain; some hills and low mountains |
| Total fertility rate | 2.19 children born/woman (2005 est.) | 5.2 children born/woman (2006 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 9.3% (2003 est.) | NA% |
| Waterways | - | 150 km (on River Niger along northern border) (2005) |
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