Key Demographic Features of Benin *
Location: Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic
Ocean, between Nigeria and Togo
Map references: Africa
People
Population: 5,709,529 (July 1996 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 48% (male 1,376,531; female 1,367,394)
15-64 years: 50% (male 1,349,386; female 1,480,251)
65 years and over: 2% (male 60,030; female 75,937) (July
1996 est.)
Population growth rate: 3.32% (1996 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 105.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1996
est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 52.69 years
male: 50.74 years
female: 54.7 years (1996 est.)
Ethnic divisions: African 99% (42 ethnic groups, most
important being Fon, Adja, Yoruba, Bariba), Europeans 5,500
Religions: indigenous beliefs 70%, Muslim 15%, Christian
15%
Languages: French (official), Fon and Yoruba (most common
vernaculars in south), tribal languages (at least six major ones
in north)
Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1995 est.)
total population: 37%
male: 48.7%
female: 25.8%
Government
Country Abbreviation: BN
Type of government: republic under multiparty democratic
rule dropped Marxism-Leninism December 1989; democratic reforms
adopted February 1990; transition to multiparty system completed 4
April 1991
Independence: 1 August 1960 (from France)
National holiday: National Day, 1 August (1990)
Constitution: 2 December 1990
Legal system: based on French civil law and customary law;
has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Economy
Economic overview:
GDP: purchasing power parity - $7.6 billion (1995 est.)
GDP real growth rate: 6% (1995 est.)
GDP per capita: $1,380 (1995 est.)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Communications
Telephones: 16,200 (1986 est.)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 2, shortwave 0
Radios: NA
Television broadcast stations: 2
Televisions: 20,000 (1993 est.)
*Source: World Factbook 1996, U.S.
Central Intelligence Agency
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