Study, Work or Volunteer in Benin

The Republic of Benin, formerly known as Dahomey until 1975, is a country in the Western Africa with a population of about 8.5 million as of 2005. The capital city is Porto Novo but the seat of government is the Fon city of Cotonou. Benin is made up of 12 departments and 77 communes. It is generally considered as the model democracy in Africa.

On August 1, 1960 Benin received full independence from France through the headship of Hubert Maga. The Beninese government is represented by a multi-party democracy whereby the President (Yayi Boni) is the head of state and head of government. The economy of Benin is still underdeveloped with great dependency on agriculture particularly in cotton production that accounts for almost 40% of the nation’s GDP. Benin is presently facing economic issues on child labour, force labor, and discrimination on women’s salaries.

Majority of the Benin population live in the south region. There are about 42 African ethnic groups in the country including the Yoruba, Dendi, Bariba, Fulbe, BEtammaribe, Somba, Fon, Mina, Xueda, and Aja. Almost 43% of the Beninese practices Christianity, about 25% belong to the Muslim faith, and 17% in Vodun. French is the main language spoken but other local languages also exist. Benin music is considered to have contributed significantly in African music trend. Native folk music are commonly mixed with American rock, Ghanaian highlife, French cabaret and Congolese rumba producing vibrant and very modern music fashion.