Benin 
Facts
Population:
6,590,782
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 2001 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years:
47.32% (male 1,574,124; female 1,544,741)
15-64 years:
50.38% (male 1,607,900; female 1,712,360)
65 years and over:
2.3% (male 64,756; female 86,901) (2001 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.97% (2001 est.)
Birth rate:
44.23 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Death rate:
14.51 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years:
1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years:
0.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.75 male(s)/female
total population:
0.97 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
89.68 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
49.94 years
male:
49.02 years
female:
50.88 years (2001 est.)
Total fertility rate:
6.23 children born/woman (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
2.45% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
70,000 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
5,600 (1999 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Beninese (singular and plural)
adjective:
Beninese
Ethnic groups:
African 99% (42 ethnic groups, most important being Fon, Adja, Yoruba, Bariba), Europeans 5,500
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:
37.5%
male:
52.2%
female:
23.6% (2000)
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $6.6 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
5% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $1,030 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture:
37.9%
industry:
13.5%
services:
48.6% (1999)
Population below poverty line:
37.2% (1999 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%:
NA%
highest 10%:
NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3% (2000 est.)
Labor force:
NA
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Budget:
revenues:
$299 million
expenditures:
$445 million, including capital expenditures of $14 million (1995 est.)
Industries:
textiles, cigarettes; beverages, food; construction materials, petroleum
Industrial production growth rate:
6.9% (2000 est.)
Electricity - production:
226 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel:
24.78%
hydro:
75.22%
nuclear:
0%
other:
0% (1999)
Electricity - consumption:
510.2 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports:
300 million kWh (1999)
Agriculture - products:
corn, sorghum, cassava (tapioca), yams, beans, rice, cotton, palm oil, peanuts; poultry, livestock
Exports:
$396 million (f.o.b., 1999)
Exports - commodities:
cotton, crude oil, palm products, cocoa
Exports - partners:
Brazil 14%, Libya 5%, Indonesia 4%, Italy 4% (1999)
Imports:
$566 million (c.i.f., 1999)
Imports - commodities:
foodstuffs, tobacco, petroleum products, capital goods
Imports - partners:
France 38%, China 16%, UK 9%, Cote d'Ivoire 5% (1999)
Debt - external:
$1.6 billion (1998 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$274.6 million (1997)
Currency:
Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States
Currency code:
XOF
Exchange rates:
Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 699.21 (January 2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997), 511.55 (1996); note - from 1 January 1999, the XOF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF per euro
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Statistics: CIA World Factbook.
Press
(Weekly), Cotonou
http://www.eit.bj/gazettedugolfe.htm
La Matinal
Cotonou
Benin in the News
The drug trade is fast turning large parts of West Africa into areas that are all but ungovernable, with major implications for international security.
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