Official Name: Republic Of Benin

Official Name: Republic Of Benin

Area: 44,310 sq mi (114,763 sq km)

Population: (2022 est.) 13,024,000

Capital: Porto-Novo (official), Cotonou (de facto)

President: Patrice Guillaume Athanase Talon

The Fon people and related groups constitute two-fifths of the population; minorities include the Yoruba, Fulani, and Adjara.

Languages: French (official), Fon.

Currency: CFA franc.

Extending about 420 mi inland from the Gulf of Guinea, Benin includes a hilly region in the northwest, where the maximum elevation is 2,103 ft.

There are plains in the east and north and a marshy region in the south, where the coastline extends about 75 mi (120 km).

Benin’s longest river, the Ouémé, flows into the Porto-Novo Lagoon and is navigable for 125 mi of its 280-mi length.

It is a multiparty republic with one legislative house; the head of state and government is the president, who may be assisted by the prime minister.

Benin has a developing mixed economy based largely on agriculture and operates an offshore oil field.

In 1894, Dahomey became a French protectorate; it was incorporated into the federation of French West Africa in 1904. It achieved independence in 1960.

Dahomey was renamed Benin in 1975. Its chronically weak economy created problems for the country into the 21st century.