March
Environment - current issues:
inadequate supplies of potable water; poaching threatens wildlife
populations; deforestation; desertification
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
sandbanks create difficult access to a coast with no natural
harbors, river mouths, or islands
People Benin
Population:
7,460,025
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
2005 est.)
Age structure:
0–14 years: 46.5% (male 1,752,243/female 1,719,458)
15–64 years: 51.2% (male 1,868,630/female 1,948,610)
65 years and over: 2.3% (male 70,367/female 100,717) (2005 est.)
Median age:
total: 16.56 years
male: 16.12 years
female: 17.01 years (2005 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.82% (2005 est.)
Birth rate:
41.99 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate:
13.76 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 85 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 90 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 79.86 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 52.66 years
male: 51.53 years
female: 53.82 years (2005 est.)
Total fertility rate:
5.86 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
1.9% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
68,000 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
5,800 (2003 est.)
Major infectious diseases: degree of risk: very high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: malaria, yellow fever, and others are high risks in some locations respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis (2004)
Nationality:
noun: Beninese (singular and plural)
adjective: Beninese
Ethnic groups:
African 99% (42 ethnic groups, most important being Fon, Adja,
Yoruba, Bariba), Europeans 5,500
Religions:
indigenous beliefs 50%, Christian 30%, Muslim 20%
Languages:
French (official), Fon and Yoruba (most common vernaculars in
south), tribal languages (at least six major ones in north)
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 33.6%
male: 46.4%
female: 22.6% (2002 est.)
Government Benin
Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Benin
conventional short form: Benin
local long form: Republique du Benin
local short form: Benin
former: Dahomey
Government type:
republic under multiparty democratic rule; dropped Marxism-Leninism
December 1989
Capital:
Porto-Novo is the official capital; Cotonou is the seat of
government
Administrative divisions:
12 departments; Alibori, Atakora, Atlantique, Borgou, Collines,
Kouffo, Donga, Littoral, Mono, Oueme, Plateau, Zou
Independence:
1 August 1960 (from France)
National holiday:
National Day, 1 August (1960)
Constitution:
December 1990
Legal system:
based on French civil law and customary law; has not accepted
compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Mathieu KEREKOU (since 4 April 1996);
note - the president is both the chief of state and head of
government
head of government: President Mathieu KEREKOU (since 4 April 1996);
note - the president is both the chief of state and head of
government
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president
elections: president reelected by popular vote for a five-year term;
runoff election held 22 March 2001 (next to be held March 2006)
election results: Mathieu KEREKOU reelected president; percent of
vote - Mathieu KEREKOU 84.1%, Bruno AMOUSSOU 15.9%
note: the four top-ranking contenders following the first-round
presidential elections were: Mathieu KEREKOU (incumbent) 45.4%,
Nicephore SOGLO (former president) 27.1%, Adrien HOUNGBEDJI
(National Assembly Speaker) 12.6%, and Bruno AMOUSSOU (Minister of
State) 8.6%; the second-round balloting, originally scheduled for 18
March 2001, was postponed four days because both SOGLO and