Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its population lives on the southern coastline of the Bight of Benin, part of the Gulf of Guinea in the northernmost tropical portion of the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Porto-Novo, and the seat of government is in Cotonou, the most populous city and economic capital. Benin covers an area of 114,763 km2 (44,310 sq mi), and its population in 2021 was estimated to be approximately 13 million. It is a tropical country with an economy heavily dependent on agriculture, and is an exporter of palm oil and cotton.
Cotonou is the largest city in Benin. Its official population count was 679,012 inhabitants in 2012; however, over two million people live in the larger urban area.
Bernardin Gantin was a Beninese prelate of the Catholic Church who held senior positions in the Roman Curia for twenty years and the highest position in the College of Cardinals for nine years. His prominence in the hierarchy of the Church was unprecedented for an African and has been equaled by few non-Italians. He began his career in his native country first as an auxiliary bishop and then as archbishop of Cotonou. In 1971 he began his thirty-year career in the Curia. After he had spent several years in the role of senior assistant, he held a series of senior positions as president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, and prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Bishops
The Catholic Church in Benin is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.
Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) is an international airport located in Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria, and is the major airport serving the entire state. The airport was initially built during World War II and is named after Murtala Muhammed (1938–1976), the fourth military ruler of Nigeria.
Air Sénégal International was an airline with its head office in Dakar, Senegal. It was a regional carrier operating a scheduled domestic network and regional flights to neighbouring countries. It also operated charter and air taxi flights. Its main base was Dakar-Yoff-Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport.
The Archdiocese of Cotonou is the Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Cotonou in Benin. It is the metropolitan see of the ecclesiastical province of Cotonou.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Benin:
Archbishop Marcel Honorat Léon Agboton was a Beninese Roman Catholic archbishop, the Archbishop Emeritus of Cotonou.
Félix-Houphouët-Boigny International Airport, also known as Port Bouët Airport, is located 16 km south east of Abidjan, Ivory Coast. It is the largest airport in the country for air traffic. The airport is the main hub of the national airline Air Côte d'Ivoire. Named after the first president of Ivory Coast, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, this international airport is directly connected currently to airports in Europe and to many destinations within the rest of Africa and the Middle East. The airport is served by 21 airlines, covering more than 30 destinations.
Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in Western Africa. 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 8500000. Its capital is the Yoruba founded city of Porto Novo, but the seat of government is the Fon city of Cotonou. About half the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 per day.
Cameroon Airlines Flight 3701 was an air accident that occurred on 3 December 1995. The Boeing 737-200, registration TJ-CBE, crashed after it lost control near Douala, Cameroon. On its second approach to Douala International Airport power was lost to one engine. The accident killed 71 passengers and crew and five people were injured but survived.
COTAIR - an acronym for Côte Atlantique Inter Régional - was an airline based in Cotonou, Benin. It was established in 2008 and operated scheduled domestic flights in Benin and non-scheduled regional charter flights in West Africa. Its main base was Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport (COO). COTAIR ceased operations on 31 December 2009
Atlantic Bank Group, commonly known by its French name Groupe Banque Atlantique, is a West African financial services conglomerate, headquartered in Lomé, Togo. The Group consisting of banks and other financial services companies in Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo, Senegal and Cameroon.
Toumaï Air Chad was the national flag carrier airline of Chad. It operated domestic services within Chad as well as scheduled international services to other African nations from its main base at N'Djamena International Airport. International flights appeared to have been operated by primarily South African crews, but there is no recent confirmation of this, and flights were grounded in July 2012 because of safety concerns. Scheduled flights appear to be suspended, but recent reports indicate that Toumaï Air Tchad had resumed limited operations on Hajj charter flights.
Union de Transports Aériens, was a private independent airline in France that operated from 1963 until it merged with Air France in 1992. UTA was formed by the merger of Union Aéromaritime de Transport (UAT) and Transports Aériens Intercontinentaux (TAI). UTA was the largest wholly privately owned, independent airline in France. It was also the second-largest international, as well as the second principal intercontinental, French airline and a full member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) since its inception.
Benin Marina is a four-star hotel in Cotonou, Benin. It is located at Boulevard De La Marina, B.P. 1901 in the Haie Vive neighborhood, near the Cardinal Bernardin Gantin International Airport and the Supercenter Erevan. It is the largest hotel in the country. It is located in a large building which was formerly a Sheraton hotel, west of the old port of Cotonou. Set in landscaped gardens, the hotel contains two swimming pools, three tennis courts and small 9-hole golf course. The building is only four storeys high but covers a significant area of land. The swimming pool is located next to the beach. The hotel has 200 rooms, 1 Royal Suite, 8 Junior Suites and 12 bungalows. The hotel contains the 'Le Popo' Coffeeshop Restaurant, 'Les Tanekas' Grill Bar by the pool, 'Le Nokoué' Pianobar and the 'Le Tèkè' Night Club / Karaoke Bar. The hotel is occasionally used for important diplomatic meetings in Cotonou and contains 1 conference room and 6 meeting rooms.
Air Côte d'Ivoire is the flag carrier of Ivory Coast, based in Abidjan. The company succeeded the country's former flag carrier Air Ivoire, which went bankrupt in 2011. It started operations on 12 November 2012.
Westair Benin is an airline based in Cotonou, Benin. It was established and started operations in November 2002 and operated regional flights in West Africa. Its main base is Cadjehoun Airport. The airline ceased operations in 2015 but was said to be restarting operations as of mid-2016.
There is currently one railway in Niger, built between 2014 and 2016 between Niamey and Dosso by the French Bolloré conglomerate. The objective was to connect Niamey to the rail network in Benin and thus to the coast. But competing commercial interests by several parties resulted in endless litigation and the connection to Benin never materialized. So the 145 km Niamey-Dosso stretch now lies orphaned and unused, with the tracks ending in the middle of nowhere some 6 km south of Dosso. After several years of neglect the tracks are already damaged to such an extent in some places, that they have become unusable. At the Niamey Terminus Station, the rails are kinked to such an extent by the summer heat that the train would not be able to leave the station.
