Facts about Bénin

Hey Everyone,

Here are some facts about Bénin; I got most from my Lonely Planet book, but some from observations.

-Captial=Porto Novo
-Exchange Rate=480 CFA for 1 US Dollar
-Cost of Gas=350 to 375 CFA a liter
-Largest City=Cotonou
-Official Languages=French
-Most common other languages=Fon, Yoruba, Dendi, Bariba, and Ge
-Bénin is known for the Dahomey Kingdom
-Dahomeyan kings became rich by selling slaves to traders who took an average of 10,000 slave a year to Brazil and the Caribbean.
-They traded with people from Portugal, France, England, and the Netherlands
-There are several villages on stilts 2 meters above water because Dahomey traders couldn't take people who were on water because of a religious custom.
-Bénin is the birthplace of voodoo
-50% of people practice traditional beliefs--voodoo or animism--, 30% are Christian, and 20% are Muslim
-There are quite a variety of denominations here, but the largest is Catholic. The Lutheran Church is very new here. There is not a Lutheran Seminary here. There are many Jehovah's Witnesses Churches.
-2 seasons=wet and dry
-the south is humid, the north is dry
-The French colonized the kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s
-Dahomey became independent in 1960
-in 1975, Kérékou took over and made the country Marxist. He changed the flag and renamed the country Bénin. They were allies with China, North Korea, and Russia for awhile. Bénin remained Marxist until 1989.
-Now, Bénin is a relatively stable democracy
-The economy here depends on subsistence farming
-Bénin's economy varies somewhat with Nigeria, where they get gas from
-Main Crops=yams, corn, and cassava
-Bénin exports a lot of cotton
-Average life expectancey=53
-AIDS rate=2%
-Most marriages are arranged by families
-Half of the population is 14 or under
-Women have an average of 5.9 children
-Benisese eat a lot of yams, cous cous, rice, pepper, fish, and chicken.
-Bénin is bordered by Togo, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, and the Gulf of Guinea--the Atlantic

Hope you enjoyed learning something!!!

We are in Cotonou doing some door to door ministry for the week. It is very humid here.


Peace,

Tiffany