Location:

Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Benin, between Nigeria and Togo

Area:

total: 112,620 sq km
land: 110,620 sq km
water: 2,000 sq km

Land boundaries:

total: 1,989 km
border countries: Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, and Togo.

Climate:

tropical; hot, humid in south; semiarid in north

Natural resources:

small offshore oil deposits, limestone, marble, timber

Land use:

arable land: 23.53%
permanent crops: 2.37%
other: 74.1% (2005)

Population:

7,862,944
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2006 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 44.1% (male 1,751,709/female 1,719,138)
15-64 years: 53.5% (male 2,067,248/female 2,138,957)
65 years and over: 2.4% (male 75,694/female 110,198) (2006 est.)

Median age:

total: 17.6 years
male: 17.2 years
female: 18 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate:

2.73% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:

38.85 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:

12.22 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 79.56 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 84.09 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 74.88 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 53.04 years
male: 51.9 years
female: 54.22 years (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

68,000 (2003 est.)

Major infectious diseases:

degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria, yellow fever, and others are high risks in some locations
respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis (2007)

Nationality:

noun: Beninese (singular and plural)
adjective: Beninese

Ethnic groups:

African 99% (42 ethnic groups, most important being Fon, Adja, Yoruba, Bariba), other 1% (includes 5,500 Europeans)

Religions:

indigenous beliefs 50%, Christian 30%, Muslim 20%

Languages:

French (official), Fon and Yoruba (most common vernaculars in south), tribal languages (at least six major ones in north)

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 33.6%
male: 46.4%
female: 22.6% (2002 est.)