Benin
Porto-Novo · West Africa
Benin is a country in Africa. Its capital city is Porto-Novo, the official currency is the West African CFA Franc, and the main language is French.
With a population of roughly 13.7 million people spread over 112,622 km², Benin is the 76th most populous country in the world and the 100th largest by area. That works out at about 122 people per square kilometre.
Benin shares land borders with Togo, Burkina Faso, Niger and Nigeria — 4 neighbours in all. Its largest urban centres are Cotonou, Porto-Novo and Parakou. The highest point in the country is Mont Sokbaro, at 658 metres.
For scale, it covers almost exactly the same area as Honduras, while its population is closest to that of Rwanda.
- Capital
- Porto-Novo
- Region
- West Africa
- Population
- 13,700,000
- Area
- 112,622 km²
- Currency
- West African CFA Franc
- Main language
- French
- Highest point
- Mont Sokbaro
658 m - Land borders
- 4
Benin: things worth knowing
- Porto-Novo is the official capital, but Cotonou is the seat of government and the largest city.
- The Kingdom of Dahomey, centred here, was known for its all-female military regiment.
- Vodun originated in this region and remains an officially recognised religion in Benin.
Benin in context
Africa has 54 sovereign countries in total. Benin ranks 29th among them by population.
See the full list of Africa countries, or browse all 195 countries.