Benin

Benin, the Francophone former West African colony of Dahomey, achieved independence in 1960, [Page 135]when it ceded from France; 13 other French African colonies became independent nations that same year. The Republic of Benin is neighbored by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, and Niger and Burkina Faso to the north. The political system in Benin is a multiparty republic. Thomas Yayi Boni was elected president in 2006 and has worked to combat problems with the national cotton industry and the electrical grid structure as well as using more than $300 million in funds from the 2006 Millennium Challenge Account. With a quickly expanding population of more than 9 million people residing on a landmass slightly smaller than Pennsylvania, Benin is a nation striving to improve agricultural technologies and tourist development, as well as health, longevity, and access to clean resources.

Benin is recognized internationally for its music; production of arts, including textiles, beads, and sculpture; and its rich bronze royal artwork dating back to the days when it was the Kingdom of Dahomey. The region has historically experienced migratory and war relationships between several ancient African kingdoms and empires (Oyo, Ouidah, and Dahomey); trading partnerships with the Portuguese beginning in the late 15th century; and ships transporting slaves en masse from West and Central Africa, and later palm oil, for three tumultuous centuries. At the height of the slave trade until 1840, the area of Dahomey was referred to by Europeans as the Slave Coast. Today, French is the official national language, though West African dialects are often spoken in homes and in trade, with citizens from a variety of ethnolinguistic backgrounds, including Ewe, Fon, Adja, Yoruba, Ottamari, Peulh, and Bariba.

Benin's population is divided by religion into three categories, with the 2002 census records showing 42.8% of adherents as Christian (27% Catholic), 24.4% Muslim, and 32.8% Vodou or other, though many place the total number of Vodou practitioners as high as 70%. With an annual Benin Vodou festival publicly commemorating powerful local divinities and historical practices, Benin is recognized across West Africa as having a large community openly practicing African traditions and indigenous beliefs. While many African converts to Christianity and Islam often eschew or denounce former religious practices and ceremonies, many Beninese proudly honor the spirit world and its inhabitants through ritual, invocation, sacrifice, and service. Religious leaders include priests, priestesses, diviners, healers, mediums, and herbalists. West African Vodou is often considered to have originated in Ile-Ife in Nigeria and has spread west through migration to Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Burkina Faso as well as to New World nations such as Haiti, Cuba, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and the United States, which were populated by enslaved West Africans via the transatlantic slave trade.