Country information: Benin
| Name of country | Republic of Benin (République du Bénin) |
|---|---|
| Capital | Political capital: Porto Novo (250,000 inhabitants), seat of government: Cotonou (approximately 1 million inhabitants, official figure: 800,000) |
| Form of government | Presidential democracy (one-chamber parliament) |
| Volume of German development cooperation per annum | 24 million euros (2009) |
| Population | 9.0 million |
| Population growth rate | 3% (2007) |
| Age structure | 44.2% under the age of 15, 2.7% aged 65 and above (2005) |
| Life expectancy | 56 years (2006) |
| Area | 112,620 km² |
| Climate | Dry, sub-Saharan climate in the north, tropical, humid in the south with annual rainfall of 1,000 to 1,500 mm |
| Religions | Approximately 35% Christian, majority Catholic, approximately 25% Muslim, Voodoo officially approximately 17%, presumably between 60 and 70% |
| Languages | French, plus many local languages |
| Gross national income | 5.120 billion US dollar (2007) |
| External debt, total | 0.824 billion US dollar (2006) |
| Debt service as percentage of exports of goods and services and net income from abroad | 7% (2005) |
| Country category* | LDC = least developed country |
| Proportion of the population living on less than 1 US dollar a day |
30.9% (1990-2005) |
|---|---|
| Under-nutrition | 14% (2004) |
| Public spending on education as a percentage of gross domestic product |
3.5% (2002-2005) |
| Proportion of school age children attending primary school |
80% (2007) |
| Literacy rate | 34,7% (1995-2005) |
| Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament |
8% (2007) |
| Under-five mortality rate (per 1,000 live births) |
148 (2007) |
| Number of mothers who die during pregnancy or childbirth (per 100,000 live births) |
840 (2007) |
| HIV/AIDS prevalence among the 15-49 age group |
1,2% (2007) |
| Public health spending as a percentage of gross domestic product |
2.5% (2004) |
| Percentage of the population with sustainable access to safe drinking water |
65% (2007) |
| Carbon dioxide emissions per capita (in tons) |
0.3 (2003) |
| Number of internet users (per 1,000 inhabitants) |
17 (2007) |
last changed: March 2009
* The United Nations have defined categories to reflect the development status of countries. Since 1971 the term "Least developed countries" (LDC) has been used to designate the countries with the lowest development status. The criteria used to class a country as an LDC include the per capita income and other major statistics, such as the rate of literacy, economic productivity, vulnerability to swings in the economy and the number of inhabitants.
The category "Developing countries" (DC) covers all developing countries.
The category "CIS states" embraces the transition countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Sources for the data in the table: World Bank, German Federal Foreign Office, Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), BMZ
Information
External links
Information by the Foreign Office about bilateral relations between Germany and Benin
The World Bank Group:
World Development Indicators
Data Query
Human Development Reports of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Millennium Development
Goals Indicators
Official United Nations
web site for the
MDG Indicators
