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.

Geographic coordinates: 9 30 N 2 15 E

Map reference: Africa

Area
Total: 112,620 km²
Water: 2,000 km²
Land: 110,620 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Pennsylvania

Land boundaries
Total: 1,989 km
Border countries: (4) Burkina Faso 306 km; , Niger 266 km; , Nigeria 773 km; , Togo 644 km

Coastline: 121 km

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 200 NM

Climate: tropical; hot humid in south; semiarid in north

Terrain: mostly flat to undulating plain; some hills and low mountains

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
Extremes highest point: Mont Sokbaro 658 m

Natural resources: small offshore oil deposits limestone marble timber

Land use
Arable land: 15.28%
Permanent crops: 1.36%
Other: 83.36% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 120 km² (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: hot dry dusty harmattan wind may affect north from December to March

Geography
Note: sandbanks create difficult access to a coast with no natural harbors river mouths or islands

Population
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 2003 est.)
Growth rate: 2.95% (2003 est.)
Below poverty line: 37% (2001 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Beninese (singular and plural)
Adjective: Beninese

Ethnic groups: African 99% (42 ethnic groups most important being Fon Adja Yoruba Bariba) Europeans 5,500

Languages: French (official) Fon and Yoruba (most common vernaculars in south) tribal languages (at least six major ones in north)

Religions: indigenous beliefs 50% Christian 30% Muslim 20%

Age structure
0-14 years: 47% (male 1,668,817; female 1,638,291)
15-64 years: 50.7% (male 1,739,517; female 1,834,231)
65 years and over: 2.3% (male 67,504; female 93,130) (2003 est.)

Median age
Total: 16.4 years
Male: 15.9 years
Female: 16.9 years (2002)

Population growth rate: 2.95% (2003 est.)

Birth rate: 43.15 births/1000 population (2003 est.)

Death rate: 13.65 deaths/1000 population (2003 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (2003 est.)

Environment
Current issues: inadequate supplies of potable water; poaching threatens wildlife populations; deforestation; desertification
International 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
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.03 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.02 male/female
15-64 years: 0.95 male/female
65 years and over: 0.72 male/female
Total population: 0.97 male/female (2003 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 86.76 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 81.58 deaths/1000 live births (2003 est.)
Male: 91.79 deaths/1000 live births

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 51.08 years
Male: 50.35 years
Female: 51.84 years (2003 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.04 children born/woman (2003 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 3.6% (2001 est.)
People living with hivaids: 120,000 (2001 est.)
Deaths: 8,100 (2001 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 40.9%
Male: 56.2%
Female: 26.5% (2000)

Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Benin
Conventional short form: Benin
Local short form: Benin
Former: Dahomey
Local long form: Republique du Benin

Government type: republic under multiparty democratic rule; dropped Marxism-Leninism December 1989; democratic reforms adopted February 1990; transition to multiparty system completed 4 April 1991

Capital: Porto-Novo is the official capital; Cotonou is the seat of government

Administrative divisions: 12 departments; Alibori Atakora Atlantique Borgou Collines Kouffo Donga Littoral Mono Oueme Plateau Zou

Independence: 1 August 1960 (from France)

National holiday: National Day 1 August (1960)

Constitution: December 1990

Legal system: based on French civil law and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
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)
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'
Election results: Mathieu KEREKOU reelected president; percent of vote - Mathieu KEREKOU 84.1%, Bruno AMOUSSOU 15.9%

Legislative branch
Election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Presidential Movement 52, opposition (PRB, PRD, E'toile, and 5 other small parties) 31
Elections: last held 30 March 2003 (next to be held NA March 2007)

Judicial branch: Constitutional Court or Cour Constitutionnelle; Supreme Court or Cour Supreme; High Court of Justice

Political parties and leaders
Note: approximately 20 additional minor parties

International organization participation: ACP AfDB ECA ECOWAS Entente FAO FZ G-77 IAEA IBRD ICAO ICCt ICFTU ICRM IDA IDB IFAD IFC IFRCS ILO IMF IMO Interpol IOC IOM ITU MIPONUH MONUC NAM OAU OIC OPCW UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UNMEE UPU WADB (regional) WAEMU WCL WCO WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WToO WTrO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Cyrille Segbe OGUIN
In the us fax: [1] (202) 265-1996
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 232-6,656
In the us chancery: 2,124 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC 20,008
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Wayne NEILL
From the us embassy: Rue Caporal Bernard Anani, Cotonou
From the us mailing address: 01 B. P. 2012, Cotonou
From the us telephone: [229] 30-06-50
From the us fax: [229] 30-06-70

Flag description: two equal horizontal bands of yellow (top) and red with a vertical green band on the hoist side

Economy overview: The economy of Benin remains underdeveloped and dependent on subsistence agriculture cotton production and regional trade. Growth in real output has averaged a stable 5% in the past six years but rapid population rise 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. 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 while pressing for speeded-up structural reforms.

Real gdp growth rate: 6% (2002 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $1100 (2002 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 38%
Industry: 15%
Services: 47% (2002 est.)

Agriculture products: cotton corn cassava (tapioca) yams beans palm oil peanuts livestock (2001)

Industries: textiles food processing chemical production construction materials (2001)

Industrial production growth rate: 8.3% (2001 est.)

Labor force: NA

Unemployment rate: NA%

Population below poverty line: 37% (2001 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: NA%
Highest 10: NA%

Budget
Revenues: $377.4 million
Expenditures: $561.8 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 3.3% (2002 est.)

Exports: $207 million f.o.b. (2002)
Commodities: cotton crude oil palm products cocoa
Partners: India 25% Italy 11.1% Indonesia 7.4% China 7.2% Thailand 6.7% Brazil 6.1% UK 4.4% Niger 4% (2002)

Imports: $479 million c.i.f. (2002)
Commodities: foodstuffs capital goods petroleum products
Partners: China 30.7% France 15.7% UK 4.8% Italy 4.2% (2002)

Debt external: $1.6 billion (2000)

Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 696.99 (2002) 733.04 (2001) 711.98 (2000) 615.7 (1999) 589.95 (1998)

Electricity
Production: 274.3 million kWh (2001)
Production by source fossil fuel: 14.2%
Production by source hydro: 85.8%
Production by source other: 0% (2001)
Production by source nuclear: 0%
Consumption: 631.1 million kWh (2001)
Exports: 0 kWh (2001)
Imports: 376 million kWh (2001)

Natural gas
Proven reserves: 608.8 million m³ (37,257)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 51,000 (2000)
Mobile cellular: 55,500 (2000)

Telephone system
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

Internet
Country code: .bj
Service providers isps: 4 (2002)
Users: 25,000 (2002)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $80.8 million (FY02)
Percent of gdp: 2.7% (FY02)

Airports: 5 (2002)
With paved runways total: 1
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1 (2002)
With unpaved runways total: 4
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 1
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 2 (2002)

Railways
Total: 578 km
Narrow gauge: 578 km 1.000-m gauge (2002)

Waterways: streams navigable along small sections important only locally

Merchant marine: none (2002 est.)

Disputes international: two villages are in dispute along the border with Burkina Faso; much of Benin-Niger boundary including tripoint with Nigeria remains undemarcated but states accept 2001 arbitration over disputed Niger River islands; several villages along the Okpara River are in dispute with Nigeria; in 2001 Benin claimed Togo moved the boundary stones - joint commission presently resurveying the boundary

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