The economy of Benin remains underdeveloped and dependent on subsistence agriculture and cotton. Cotton accounts for 40% of GDP and roughly 80% of official export receipts. There is also production of textiles, palm products, and cocoa beans. Maize (corn), beans, rice, peanuts, cashews, pineapples, cassava, yams, and other various tubers are grown for local subsistence. Benin began producing a modest quantity of offshore oil in October 1982. Production ceased in recent years but exploration of new sites is ongoing.
Cotonou is the largest city and economic centre of Benin.
Porto-Novo is the capital of Benin, and was the capital of French Dahomey. The commune covers an area of 110 square kilometres (42 sq mi) and as of 2002 had a population of 223,552 people.
Benin City is the capital of Edo State in southern Nigeria. It is situated approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of the Benin River and 320 kilometres (200 mi) by road east of Lagos. Benin City is the centre of Nigeria's rubber industry, and oil production is also a significant industry. The indigenous people of Benin City are Edo and they speak the Edo language and other Edoid languages. The people of Benin City are known as Edo or Bini. The people of the city have one of the richest dress cultures on the African continent and are known for their beads, body marks, bangles, anklets and raffia work.
Benin is divided into 12 departments, and subdivided into 77 communes. In 1999, the previous six departments were each split into two halves, forming the current 12. Each of the six new departments was assigned a capital in 2008.
The Benin national football team, nicknamed Les Écureuils , is the national football team of Benin and is controlled by the Benin Football Federation. They were known as the Dahomey national football team until 1975, when Republic of Dahomey became Benin. They have never qualified for the World Cup, but have reached three recent African Nations Cups – 2004, 2008, and 2010. On 8 February 2010 after the preliminary competition from the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, the Benin Football Federation dissolved the national team, coach Henri Dussuyer and his complete staff were fired. On May 9, 2016, Benin was suspended from FIFA.
Thomas Boni Yayi is a Beninese banker and politician who was President of Benin from 2006 to 2016. He took office after winning the March 2006 presidential election and was re-elected to a second term in March 2011. He also served as the Chairperson of the African Union from 29 January 2012 to 27 January 2013.
The Benin Football Federation is the governing body of association football in Benin. It was founded in 1960, affiliated to CAF in 1963 and to FIFA in 1964. It organizes the national football leagues, including the Benin Premier League, and the national team.
The People's Republic of Benin was a socialist state located in the Gulf of Guinea on the African continent, which would become present-day Benin. The People's Republic was established on 30 November 1975, after the 1972 coup d'état in the Republic of Dahomey. It effectively lasted until 1 March 1990, with the adoption of a new constitution, and the abolition of Marxism-Leninism in the nation in 1989.
Razak Omotoyossi is a Nigerian-born Beninese footballer who plays for Union Sportive Sèmè and also for the Benin national football team. Omotoyossi who plays as a striker, has played in Nigeria, Egypt, Sweden, Saudi Arabia and France.
The Kingdom of Benin, also known as the Benin Kingdom, was a pre-colonial kingdom in what is now southern Nigeria. Its capital was Edo, now known as Benin City in Edo state. It should not be confused with the modern-day Republic of Benin, formerly the Republic of Dahomey. The Benin Kingdom was "one of the oldest and most highly developed states in the coastal hinterland of West Africa, dating perhaps to the eleventh century CE", until it was annexed by the British Empire in 1897.
Benin–Denmark relations refers to the current and historical relations between Benin and Denmark. Benin has an embassy in Copenhagen since 2005, and Denmark has an embassy in Cotonou. In 2007, the Danish development aid to Benin amounted 236 million DKK. Denmark is one of the largest aid donors to Benin and invested 60 million dollars in Benin in 2011.
Presidential elections were held in Benin on 13 March 2011 after being postponed twice from 27 February and 6 March 2011. Incumbent President Yayi Boni ran for re-election against thirteen other candidates, including former National Assembly head and political veteran Adrien Houngbédji and Abdoulaye Bio-Tchané, president of the West African Development Bank. He won 53.18% of the vote, enough to win a second term without a run-off. It is the first time since the restoration of democracy in Benin that a candidate has won the presidency in a single round. A second round run-off would have been held on 27 March 2011 if it had been necessary.
Benin competed at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, Greece. Their delegation included two sportspeople, neither of whom medaled.
Benin competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's tenth appearance at the Olympics, except the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal because of the African boycott.
Benin competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's eleventh appearance at the Summer Olympics, with the exception of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal because of the African boycott.
Cannabis in Benin is illegal. The country is not a major drug producer or consumer, but increasingly serves as a transshipment point for drugs produced elsewhere. Cannabis is the only drug produced locally in Benin, though mostly on a small scale.
