Benin

Benin : ) Background: Benin is a French francophone country, and was the site of Dahomey, a prominent West African kingdom that rose in the 15th century. It became a French colony in 1872 and became independent on 1 August 1960. Today, the country is known as the Republic of Benin.

 ** L **** ocation: ** Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Benin, between Nigeria and Togo ** Area: ** total: 112,622 sq km land: 110,622 sq km water: 2,000 sq km  ** Borders: ** Burkina Faso 306 km, Niger 266 km, Nigeria 773 km, Togo 644 km  ** Climate: ** tropical; hot, humid in south; semiarid in north  ** Ethnic Groups: ** Fon and related 39.2%, Adja and related 15.2%, Yoruba and related 12.3%, Bariba and related 9.2%, Peulh and related 7%, Ottamari and related 6.1%, Yoa-Lokpa and related 4%, Dendi and related 2.5%, other 1.6% (includes Europeans), unspecified 2.9% (2002 census)  ** Government Type: ** Republic  ** Suffrage: ** 18 years of age; universal $1,500 (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 198  $1,500 (2007 est.)$1,500 (2006 est.) // note: // data are in 2008 US dollars cotton, corn, cassava (tapioca), yams, beans, palm oil, peanuts, cashews; livestock foodstuffs, capital goods, petroleum products Christian 42.8% (Catholic 27.1%, Celestial 5%, Methodist 3.2%, other Protestant 2.2%, other 5.3%), Muslim 24.4%, Vodoun 17.3%, other 15.5% (2002 census) mostly flat to undulating plain; some hills and low mountains small offshore oil deposits, limestone, marble, timber arable land: 23.53% permanent crops: 2.37% other: 74.1% (2005) ** Natural Hazards: ** hot, dry, dusty harmattan wind may affect north from December to March inadequate supplies of potable water; poaching threatens wildlife populations; deforestation; desertification French (official), Fon and Yoruba (most common vernaculars in south), tribal languages (at least six major ones in north) ** Official Capital: ** Porto-Novo ** Political Parties and Leaders: ** Alliance for Dynamic Democracy or ADD; Alliance of Progress Forces or AFP; African Movement for Democracy and Progress or MADEP [Sefou FAGBOHOUN]; Benin Renaissance or RB [Rosine SOGLO]; Democratic Renewal Party or PRD [Adrien HOUNGBEDJI]; Force Cowrie for an Emerging Benin or FCBE; Impulse for Progress and Democracy or IPD [Theophile NATA]; Key Force or FC [Lazare S�HOU�TO]; Movement for the People's Alternative or MAP [Olivier CAPO-CHICHI]; Rally for Democracy and Progress or RDP [Dominique HOUNGNINOU]; Social Democrat Party or PSD [Bruno AMOUSSOU]; Union for the Relief or UPR [Issa SALIFOU]; Union for Democracy and National Solidarity or UDS [Sacca LAFIA] **// note: //** approximately 20 additional minor parties ** Labor Force: ** 3.662 million (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 90 ** Industries: textiles, food processing, construction materials, cement ** ** Exchange Rate: ** Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 447.81 (2008 est.), 493.51 (2007), 522.59 (2006), 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004) // note: // since 1 January 1999, the West African CFA franc (XOF) has been pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 CFA francs per euro; West African CFA franc (XOF) coins and banknotes are not accepted in countries using Central African CFA francs (XAF), and vice versa, even though the two currencies trade at par ** Population: __Birth Rate:__ 39.22 births/1,000 population (2009 est.) __Death Rate:__ 9.45 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.) Growth Rate: ** 2.977% (2009 est.) ** Net migration rate: ** 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.) ** Infant Mortality Rate: ** male: 68.07 deaths/1,000 live births female: 61.04 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.) male: 57.83 years female: 60.23 years (2009 est.) total population: 34.7% male: 47.9% ** Female: 23.3% (2002 census) August 1, 1960 **Unemployment rate: Na. Cotton, Cashews, Shea Butter, Textiles, Palm Products, Seafood ** Illicit Drugs: Cocaine to Western Europe **Internet Access: 150,000 users (2007)
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** Should you visit?

** __Tourist Information:__ **  AIR There are no internal flights. TRAIN There is a limited train service linking Cotonou with Bohicon/Abomey, Save & Parakou. BUS Share taxis and minibuses are the main form of transport in Benin. You can go almost anywhere but there are no timetables or published routes. All hotels can advise. CAR RENTAL Driving is on the right hand side of the road as in USA, France, Germany etc. Car rental is available in Cotonou on a self drive basis. Car rental companies - Europcar - Cotonou. Tel: 300 192 - Socirel - Cotonour. Tel: 312 785  __TIMELINE!__
 * "The best way to stay safe in Benin is to always always always be in the presence of a local person whom you can trust, such as a friend or even a hired tourist guide. " -IGuide.
 *  TRANSPORT!

1946 - Dahomey becomes an overseas territory of France. Mathieu Kerekou served as president for most of the 34 years between 1972 and 2006 Seized power in 1972 Nationalised key industries Restored multiparty politics in 1991 and lost elections Re-elected in 1996 polls Retired at end of term in 2006 1958 - Dahomey becomes self-governing, within the French Community. __Independence__ 1960 - Dahomey gains independence and is admitted to the UN. 1960 - Elections won by the Parti Dahomeen de L'Unite. Party leader Hubert Maga becomes country's first president. 1963 - President Maga is deposed in a coup led by the army's Chief of Staff, Colonel Christophe Soglo. 1963 - Dahomey joins the IMF. 1964 - Sourou-Migan Apithy is elected president. 1965 - General Soglo forces the president to step down and a provisional government is formed. In December he assumes power. 1967 - Major Maurice Kouandete leads a coup. Lt Col Alphonse Alley replaces Gen Soglo as head of state. 1968 - The military regime nominates Dr Emile-Derlin Zinsou as president. 1969 - Lt Col Kouandete deposes President Zinsou. 1970 - Presidential elections are held but abandoned. Power is ceded to a presidential council consisting of Ahomadegbe, Apithy and Maga, who received almost equal support in the abandoned poll. Maga is the first of the three to serve as president with a two-year term. 1972 - Ahomadegbe assumes the presidency from Maga for the next two-year term. 1972 - Major Mathieu Kerekou seizes power; the presidential council members are detained. 1973 - The Conseil National Revolutionnaire (CNR) is created. Representatives are taken from across the country. __Dahomey becomes Benin__ 1975 - November - Dahomey is renamed the People's Republic of Benin. 1975 - The Parti de la Revolution Populaire du Benin (PRPB) is established as the country's only political party. 1977 - The CNR adopts a "Loi Fondamentale", setting out new government structures. 1979 - Elections are held to the new Assemblee Nationale Revolutionnaire (ANR). The list of people's commissioners is resoundingly approved. The Comite Executif National (CEN) replaces the CNR. 1980 - ANR unanimously elects Kerekou as president. Kerekou is the sole contender. 1981 - Members of the former presidential council are released from house arrest. 1984 - ANR increases the terms of the president and people's commissioners from three to five years. The number of people's commissioners is reduced from 336 to 196. 1984 - ANR re-elects Kerekou; no other candidates contest the election. 1987 - Kerekou resigns from the military. 1988 - Two unsuccessful coup attempts. 1989 - Elections are held; a list of 206 people's commissioners is approved. Benin agrees to IMF and World Bank economic adjustment measures. 1989 - President Kerekou re-elected for a third term. Marxism-Leninism is abandoned as Benin's official ideology. Anti- government strikes and demonstrations take place. __Constitutional changes__ 1990 - Unrest continues. President Kerekou meets dissident leaders. Agreement on constitutional reform and multi-candidate presidential elections is reached. 1990 March - Implementation of agreed reforms begins. Benin drops "people's" from its official title and becomes the Republic of Benin. 1990 December - In a referendum, the constitutional changes are approved by a majority of voters. 1991 February - Legislative elections: No party secures an overall majority. The largest grouping is an alliance of pro-Soglo parties. 1991 March - President Kerekou is beaten by Nicephore Soglo in the first multi-candidate presidential elections. Kerekou is granted immunity from prosecution over actions taken since October 1972. 1992 - The Parti de la Renaissance du Benin is formed by Soglo's wife. 1995 - Legislative elections: Parti de la Renaissance du Benin forms the new government. 1996 - Following accusations of irregularities in presidential elections, the constitutional court announces that Kerekou has received the majority of valid votes cast. 1999 - Legislative elections: New government is formed of representatives of 10 parties. __Kerekou re-elected__ 2001 March - Presidential elections: none of 17 candidates receives an overall majority. Kerekou is declared re-elected in second round. __Festival time in Abomey, former capital of Kingdom of Dahomey__ 2002 - Benin joins the Community of Sahel-Saharan States. 2002 December - First local elections since the end of the single-party regime more than 10 years ago. 2003 March - Legislative elections: Parties supporting President Kerekou win 52 of the 83 elective seats. 2003 December - Lebanese charter plane crashes after taking off from Cotonou, killing some 140 people. French investigators subsequently find that the plane was overloaded. 2004 July - Benin, Nigeria agree to redraw their mutual border. 2005 March - US telecommunications company is fined after it admits to bribery in Benin. The company was accused of funnelling millions of dollars into President Kerekou's 2001 election campaign. 2005 July - International Court of Justice awards most of the river islands along the disputed Benin-Niger border to Niger. 2006 March - Political newcomer Yayi Boni, running as an independent, wins the run-off vote in presidential elections. The incumbent, Mathieu Kerekou, is barred from the poll under a constitutional age limit. 2006 March, April - World Bank and the African Development Bank approve debt relief for several countries including Benin, as part of measures agreed at a G8 nations summit at Gleneagles, Scotland, in 2005. May - Students protest against visit by French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy who introduced a bill making it more difficult for unskilled workers to migrate to France. 2007 April - President Yayi's coalition wins control of parliament in elections. 2007 July - President Yayi leads thousands of supporters on a march against corruption. 2008 April - Local elections held. Nation-wide, parties allied with President Yayi win a majority of local council seats, but the major cities in the south are all won by opposition parties. 2009 February - Benin announces discovery of "significant quantities" of oil offshore near Seme, a town on the Nigeria-Benin border. 2009 April - European Union bans all of Benin's air carriers from flying to the EU in a regular update of its air safety blacklist.

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