+229 is the dialing code for Benin.
Benin is a narrow strip of land on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa. On a land area corresponding to a quarter of Sweden’s lives, up to eleven million people live. After independence from colonial power France in 1960, Benin first became notorious for military coups, and then known as a Marxist-Leninist one-party state. But since the early 1990s, the country has been something of a democratic example in the region. The economy is based mainly on cotton cultivation.
- Abbreviationfinder: Brief profiles of Benin, including geography, history, politics, economics as well as common acronyms about this country.
Geography and climate
Benin in West Africa borders east to Nigeria, north and northwest to Niger and Burkina Faso, and west to Togo. To the south, the narrow Benin has a short stretch of coastline along the Atlantic, at the part of the Gulf of Guinea called the Bay of Benin and which gave the country its name. The height differences are small in the country, which is one of Africa’s smallest.
From the coast just over 12 miles long, the country extends 70 miles straight north. The coastal strip consists of a long sand reel. Behind this there are large lagoons and lakes with outlets in the Gulf of Benin. Next is the Terre de Barre, which is a fertile plains landscape. Benin also consists of low-lying savannah, which is interrupted at the far north-west by the Atakora Mountains with the highest point in the country, just over 600 meters above sea level. In the northeast, the Niger River forms part of the border with neighboring Niger.
The climate in southern Benin is hot and humid with two rainy periods (mainly April – mid July but also mid September – late October). In the north, the climate is more clearly divided into a dry period from December to March, when desert winds (so-called harmattan) can blow in from the Sahara, while the rainy season falls between June and early October. March and April are the hottest months; It is the coolest and driest between November and February.
Country Facts
Geography
| Cultivated land | 31.3 % |
| Land area | 112622 km 2 |
Population and health
| Population development | 2.78 m |
| Urban population (Urbanization) | 44 % |
| Death rate | 8.21 per 1000 residents |
| Life expectancy: Women | 62.9 years |
| Life expectancy: Men | 60.11 years |
| Birth rate | 36.02 births per 1000 residents |
| HDI index | 0.480 |
| Population | 10448647 |
| Infant mortality | 55.68 deaths / 1000 births |
Population Graph Source: Countryaah.com
Energy
| Electricity, production | 154 million kWh |
| Energy consumption per resident | 389.6 kg. oil per resident |
| Natural gas, production | million cubic meters |
| Crude oil, production | million tons |
Infrastructure
| Internet users | 4.3 per 100 residents |
| Mobile subscriptions | 106 per 100 residents |
| Passenger cars | 22 per 1000 residents |
Business and economics
| Unemployment | % of the workforce |
| GDP | 2100 per resident |
| Primary occupations | % |
| Secondary profession | % |
| Tertiary professions | % |
FACTS – GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE
Surface
112 622 km2 (2018)
Time
Swedish
Adjacent country (s)
Togo, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria
Capital with number of residents
Porto Novo 267,000
Other major cities
Abomey-Calavi 453,000, Djougou 237,000, Parakou 207,000 (Estimated 2012)
Highest mountain
Atakora Mountains (601 m asl)
Important rivers
Ouémé
Average Precipitation/year
Porto Novo 1 300 mm
Average/day
Porto Novo 28 °C (Jan), 26 °C (July)
2013
August
Yayi dismisses the government
President Yayi dismisses his entire government on the grounds that he wants to renew it. Of 26 ministers in the new government, half are newcomers. All belong to parties that are close to the president. The appointment of a new prime minister is delayed for unclear reasons.
July
“No attempted suicide”
An appeals court ruled in May, from a lower court, that there had been no attempt to poison President Yayi. The Court reiterates the requirement that the accused be released. The prosecutor says, however, that the persons should be detained pending an appeal to the Supreme Court.
May
Court demands release of suspected murder
A lower court has ruled that the charges against the people arrested in October 2012 are suspected of having plotted to assassinate President Yayi as baseless. The Court calls on the authorities to release the accused.
March
Three are suspected of plans to overthrow Yayi
Police arrest two people and arrest a third suspected of plotting to overthrow President Yayi and give the military power. One of the arrested is a close associate of one of those arrested in 2012 for a suspected attempted murder of the president. It is likely that there is a connection between both events.