Benin

Benin, country of western Africa. It consists of a narrow wedge of territory extending northward for about 420 miles (675 kilometres) from the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean, on which it has a 75-mile seacoast, to the Niger River, which forms part of Benin’s northern border with Niger. Benin is bordered to the northwest by Burkina Faso, to the east by Nigeria, and to the west by Togo. The official capital is Porto-Novo, but Cotonou is Benin’s largest city, its chief port, and its de facto administrative capital. Benin was a French colony from the late 19th century until 1960.

Benin consists of five natural regions. The coastal region is low, flat, and sandy, backed by tidal marshes and lagoons. It is composed of, in effect, a long sandbar on which grow clumps of coconut palms; the lagoons are narrower in the western part of the country, where many have become marshes because of silting, and wider in the east, and some are interconnected. In the west the Grand-Popo Lagoon extends into neighbouring Togo, while in the east the Porto-Novo Lagoon provides a natural waterway to the port of Lagos, Nigeria, although its use is discouraged by the political boundary. Only at Grand-Popo and at Cotonou do the lagoons have outlets to the sea.

About 70 percent of the working population depends on agriculture. Since the mid-1980s Benin has produced yams, cassava, corn (maize), millet, beans, and rice to achieve self-sufficiency in staple foods. Among cash crops, the formerly predominant palm product output declined considerably in the 1980s, but cotton output rose. The output of karité, peanuts (groundnuts), cacao beans, and coffee also has increased. Livestock include cattle, sheep and goats, pigs, horses, and poultry. Substantial quantities of fish are caught annually in the lagoons and rivers, while coastal fishing produces a smaller, but growing, amount. Most of the fish is exported to Nigeria or Togo. Shrimp and deep-sea fishing are developing, using modern vessels.

In Cotonou one finds many kinds of commercial enterprises, often with a French flavour, such as restaurants, cafés, and discotheques. Diplomats of foreign governments and many of Benin’s elite live in newer residential sections. There are several movie theatres and several hotels that provide entertainment. Most other towns have modern sections on a smaller scale.

In other sections of the towns, however, tradition dominates cultural life. Extended families live in family compounds in distinct neighbourhoods, where they practice religious rites and celebrate festivals with music and dance. Markets where foodstuffs, clothing, and traditional medicines and arts are sold are important centres of daily life.