1982 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1982 (Wikisource)
Geography
Area
115,773 km2; southern third of country is most fertile; arable land 80% (actually cultivated 11%), forests and game preserves 19%, nonarable 1% Land boundaries: 1,963 km WATER
Coastline
121 km
Limits of territorial waters (claimed)
200 nm (100 nm mineral exploitation limit)
People and Society
Ethnic divisions
99% Africans (42 ethnic groups, most important being Fon, Adja, Yoruba, Bariba), 5,500 Europeans
Labor force
70% of labor force employed in agriculture; less than 2% of the labor force work in the industrial sector and the remainder are employed in transport, commerce, and public services
Language
French official; Fon and Yoruba most common vernaculars in south; at least six major tribal languages in north
Literacy
about 20%
Nationality
noun—Beninese (sing., pl.); adjective—Beninese
Organized labor
approximately 75% of wage earners, divided among two major and several minor unions
Population
3,636,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 2.6%
Religion
12% Muslim, 8% Christian, 80% animist
Government
Branches
National Revolutionary Assembly, National Executive Council, Central Committee of party
Capital
Porto-Novo (official), Cotonou (de facto)
Communists
sole party espouses Marxism-Leninism
Elections
National Assembly elections were held in November 1979; Assembly then formally elected Kerekou President in February 1980
Government leader
Col. Mathieu KEREKOU, President, Chief of State, and Minister of Defense
Legal system
based on French civil law and customary law; legal education generally obtained in France; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Member of
AFDB, CEAO, EAMA, ECA, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IFAD, ILO, IMCO, IMF, ITU, NAM, Niger River Commission, OAU, OCAM, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
National holiday
30 November
Official name
People's Republic of Benin
Political parties
People's Revolutionary Party of Benin (PRPB) established in 1975
Political subdivisions
6 provinces, 46 districts
Suffrage
universal adult
Type
party state, under military rule since 26 October 1972; the military plans to relinquish power to a 336-member National Assembly
Economy
Agriculture
major cash crop is oil palms; peanuts, cotton, coffee, sheanuts, and tobacco also produced commercially; main food crops—corn, cassava, yams, rice, sorghum and millet; livestock, fish
Budget
(1980) revenues $156.2 million, current expenditures $127.1 million, development expenditures $139.0 million
Electric power
19,500 kW capacity (1980); 8 million kWh produced (1980), 80 million kWh imported from Ghana, 2 kWh per capita
Exports
$170 million (f.o.b., 1980); palm products (34%); other agricultural products
Fiscal year
calendar year
Fishing
catch 25,452 metric tons (1979 est.); exports 600 metric tons, imports 7,365 metric tons (1979)
GNP
$1,139.5 million (1980), $286 per capita; 5.7% real growth during 1980
Imports
$410 million (c.i.f., 1980); clothing and other consumer goods, cement, lumber, fuels, foodstuffs, machinery, and transport equipment
Major industries
palm oil and palm kernel oil processing, textiles, beverages
Major trade partners
France, EC, franc zone; preferential tariffs to EC and franc zone countries
Monetary conversion rate
281.23 Communaute Financier Africaine (CFA) francs=US$1 (1981)
Communications
Airfields
9 total, 9 usable; 1 with permanent-surface runways; 4 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Civil air
3 major transport aircraft
Highways
3,303 km total; 705 km paved, 2,598 km improved earth
Inland waterways
small sections, only important locally
Ports
1 major (Cotonou), 1 minor
Railroads
579 km, all meter gauge (1.00 m)
Telecommunications
fair system of open wire and radio relay; 16,200 telephones (0.5 per 100 pop].); 2 AM stations, 1 FM station, and 1 TV station
Military and Security
Military manpower
eligible 15-49, 1,579,000; of the 778,000 males 15-49, 393,000 are fit for military service; about 37,000 males and 38,000 females reach military age (18) annually; both sexes are liable for military service