Country Facts - Benin

The People

Nationality

Beninese

Ethnic Composition

African	99%
Other ethnic groups include: Fon, Adja, Yoruba, Bariba	1%
Europeans	5,500

Religious Composition

Indigenous beliefs	50%
Christian	30%
Muslim	20%

Languages Spoken

French (official), Fon and Yoruba (most common vernaculars in south), tribal languages (at least six major ones in north)

Education and Literacy

The literacy rate for the population 15 years and up is 37.5%; with males at 52.2%, and females at 23.6% of the overall percentage. (2000)

Labor Force

Total: N/A (2002)

Geography

Land Mass Total

43,482sq mi (112,620 sq km)

Land

42,710 sq mi (110,620 sq km)

Water

772 sq mi (2,000 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 1,235 mi (1,989 km)
Border countries: Burkina Faso 190mi (306 km), Niger 165 mi (266 km), Nigeria 480mi (773 km), Togo 400mi (644 km)

Coastline

75 mi (121 km)

Maritime claim

Territorial sea: 200 nm

Climate/Weather

Tropical; hot, humid in south; semiarid in north

Terrain

Mostly flat to undulating plain; some hills and low mountains

Elevation extremes

Lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 ft (m)
Highest point: Mont Sokbaro 2,158ft (658 m)

Natural Resources

Small offshore oil deposits, limestone, marble, timber

Land use

Arable land	15%
Permanent crops	1%
Other	84%

(1998)

Natural hazards

Hot, dry, dusty harmattan wind may affect north from December to March

Environment - current issues

Inadequate supplies of potable water; poaching threatens wildlife populations; deforestation; desertification

Geography Note

Sandbanks create difficult access to a coast with no natural harbors, river mouths, or islands

Demographics

Population

6,787,625
Note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	47.2%	Male: 1,616,138	Female: 1,585,463
15-64 years:	50.5%	Male: 1,665,439	Female: 1,764,966
65 years and over:	2.3%	Male: 65,877	Female: 89,742

Growth Rate

2.91% (2002)

Life Expectancy

49.69 years (2002)
female: 50.61 years
male: 48.81 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$1,040 (2001)

Infant Mortality

25.14 deaths/1,000 live births (2001)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.03 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	1.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	0.73 male(s)/female
Total population:	1.97 male(s)/female

(2002)

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

The economy of Benin remains underdeveloped and dependent on subsistence agriculture, cotton production, and regional trade. Growth in real output averaged a stable 5% in the past five years, but rapid population rise offset much of this increase. Inflation has subsided over the past several years. In order to raise growth still further, Benin plans to attract more foreign investment, place more emphasis on tourism, facilitate the development of new food processing systems and agricultural products, and encourage new information and communication technology. The 2001 privatization policy should continue in telecommunications, water, electricity, and agriculture in spite of initial government reluctance. The Paris Club and bilateral creditors have eased the external debt situation. In July 2000, the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and many of Benin's bilateral creditors supported a comprehensive debt reduction package for Benin under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. GDP growth for 2002 was 5.8 percent, and inflation stayed in check at 2 percent, although it is expected to rise to 3 percent in 2003.

Unemployment

12.8% (1999)

Inflation Rate

3% (2001)

Industries

Textiles, food processing, chemical production, construction materials (2001)

Exports

$35.3 million (f.o.b., 2000)

Imports

$437.6 million (c.i.f., 2000)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$6.8 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

Brazil, France, Indonesia, Thailand, Morocco, Portugal, Cote d'Ivoire (2001)

Top Import Partners

France, US, China, Cote d'Ivoire, Netherlands, Japan (2001)

Top Exports

Cotton, crude oil, palm products, cocoa

Top Imports

Foodstuffs, capital goods, petroleum products.

Industries

Textiles, food processing, chemical production, construction materials (2001)

Debt - external

US$1.18 billion (2000)

Economic aid

Recipient: US$342.6 million (2000)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	8:30a.m. to 12:30p.m and 3p.m. to 6:30p.m.	Closed
Retail	8:30a.m. to 1p.m., and 4p.m. to 7:30p.m.	Saturday, 8:30a.m. to 1p.m., and 4p.m. to 7:30p.m.; some shops open Sunday from 8a.m. to noon (and are closed Monday morning).
Banks	8a.m. to 11:30a.m., and 3p.m. to 4:30p.m.	Closed
Government	8:30a.m. to 12:30p.m., and 3p.m. to 6:30p.m.	Closed

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Traditional Day	January 10	January 10	January 10
Eid Al Adha (Tabaski)¹	February 12	February 2	January 21
Easter²	April 20	April 11	March 27
Easter Monday	April 21	April 12	March 28
Labor Day	May 1	May 1	May 1
Ascension (Christian)³	May 30	May 21	May 6
Whit Monday*¹	June 9	May 31	May 16
Prophet's Birthday*²	May 25	May 14	May 2
National Day	August 1	August 1	August 1
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary	August 15	August 15	August 15
Armed Forces Day	October 26	October 26	October 26
All Saints' Day	November 1	November 1	November 1
National Day	November 30	November 30	November 30
Eid Al Fitr*³	November 24	November 14	November 3
Christmas Day	December 25	December 25	December 25

¹	Culmination of the Haj or Holy Pilgrimage.
²	Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.
³	The feast of Ascension takes place 40 days after Easter in both the Christian and Orthodox faiths and celebrates the ascent of Christ into Heaven.
*¹	The Christian feast of Pentecost, Whit Sunday or Whit Monday takes place 50 days after Easter, in observation of the day God came to the disciples through the Holy Ghost.
*²	The Birthday of the Prophet Mohammad is celebrated on the twelfth day in the month of Rabi'l of the Islamic calendar.
*³	Feasting that officially marks the end of Ramadan, and commonly lasts for three days.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press