Benin
Geography - People - Economy - Government - Communications - Transportation - Military - Transnational IssuesCountry information - Benin
Country name - conventional long form : Republic of Benin
Country name - conventional short form : Benin
Country name - local long form : Republique du Benin
Country name - local short form : Benin
Country name - former : Dahomey
Country code : BN
Government type : republic
Capital - name : Porto-Novo (official capital)
Capital - time difference : UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
National holiday : National Day, 1 August (1960)
Population :
Nationality - noun : Beninese (singular and plural)
Nationality - adjective : Beninese
Languages : French (official), Fon and Yoruba (most common vernaculars in south), tribal languages (at least six major ones in north)
Currency (code) : Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States
Currency code : XOF
Major infectious diseases - degree of risk : very high
Major infectious diseases - note :
Benin is located Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Benin, between Nigeria and Togo. The climate is tropical; hot, humid in south; semiarid in north. The terrain is mostly flat to undulating plain; some hills and low mountains.
Background
This entry usually highlights major historic events and current issues and may include a statement about one or two key future trends.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. YAYI has begun a high profile fight against corruption and has strongly promoted accelerating Benin's economic growth.
