Benin Hotels

Benin officially the Republic of Benin is a country in Western Africa. Benin formerly known as Dahomey was one of the first countries in the 1990s to successfully effect the transition from dictatorship to a pluralistic political system. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north; its short coastline to the south leads to the Bight of Benin. Its size is just over 110000 km2 with a population of almost 8,500,000. Its capital is the Yoruba founded city of Porto Novo, but the seat of government is the Fon city of Cotonou.

A democratic government between 1960 and 1972 were followed by a repressive Marxist-Leninist dictatorship between 1972 and 1991. Multiparty elections have taken place since 1991. About a third of the population lives below the international poverty line of US$1.25 per day. Main income sources are subsistence agriculture and cotton.

Today, it is one of the most stable countries in Africa. Although Benin has seen economic growth over the past few years and has a high standing with the international community, it remains among the world's poorest countries though.