Country · Africa
Benin
Republic of Benin
Benin is a country in Western Africa. Its capital city is Porto-Novo. About 11.5 million people live there, in an area of 112 622 square kilometres.
Porto-Novo is Benin's official capital, but the government works in Cotonou, the country's largest city.
Picture credit: GBETONGNINOUGBO JOSEPH HERVE AHISSOU (CC BY-SA 4.0) · AGIR au Benin (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Frejus .E (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Saliousoft (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Benin?
Benin lies in Western Africa, on the continent of Africa.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 1 058 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 121 km long.
It shares a border with 4 countries: Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria and Togo.
How big is Benin?
Benin covers 112 622 square kilometres.
That is about 2.7 times the size of Switzerland.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 100th largest.
Spread out evenly, that is roughly 102 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Benin?
About 11.5 million people live in Benin.
That is the 77th biggest population in the world.
People here speak French.
They pay with the West African CFA franc (Fr).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 50 years.
The land of Benin
The land in Benin sits on average 273 metres above sea level.
Its coast runs for about 121 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 6 days.
It lies inside the tropics, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Benin different?
Websites from here often end in .bj.
Benin and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about 2 live in Benin.
It takes up about 0.08 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Africa it is the 38th largest of 54 countries, and the 30th most populated.
That is busier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Benin and its neighbours
Niger, its largest neighbour, is about 11.3 times bigger.
Niger has more people: 22.4 million against 11.5 million.
Nature and animals
The longest river is the Niger, running 4 200 km from source to mouth.
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Benin?
The capital of Benin is Porto-Novo. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Benin?
About 11.5 million people live in Benin, which makes it the 77th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border Benin?
Benin borders Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria and Togo — 4 neighbours in total.
How big is Benin?
Benin covers 112 622 square kilometres, making it the 100th largest country in the world. That is about 2.7 times the size of Switzerland.
Which continent is Benin in?
Benin is in Africa, in the part called Western Africa.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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