1985 Edition

Agriculture

major cash crop is oil palms; peanuts, cotton, coffee, sheanuts, and tobacco also produced commercially; main food crops — corn, cassava, yams, rice, sorghum, millet; livestock, fish

main products — bananas, vegetables, Easter lilies, dairy products, citrus fruits

Aid

economic — bilateral commitments, including Ex-lm (FY70-81), from US $34 million; from Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF (1970-82), $252 million; no military aid

Airfields

9 total, 8 usable; 1 with permanentsurface runways; 4 with runways 1 ,220-2,439

1 with permanent-surface runways 2,440-3,659 m

Area

112,622 km2; slightly smaller than Pennsylvania; southern third of country is most fertile; 80% arable land (11% actually cultivated); 19% forest and game preserves; 1% nonarable

Branches

Revolutionary National Assembly, National Executive Council

Army, Navy, Air Force

Executive Council (cabinet) appointed by governor, led by government leader; bicameral legislature with an appointed Senate and a 40-member directly elected House of Assembly; Supreme Court

Budget

(1982) revenues $168.2 million; current expenditures, $103.3 million; development expenditures, $83.7 million

revenues, $159 million; expenditures, $143 million (FY82/83)

Capital

Porto-Novo (official), Cotonou (de facto)

Hamilton

Civil air

3 major transport aircraft

16 major transport aircraft

CJVP

$810 million (FY81/82), $12,400 per capita (FY81/82); real growth rate 4.4% (FY81/82)

Coastline

121 km People

103 km People

Communists

PRPB espouses MarxismLeninism

negligible

Elections

National Assembly elections were held in November 1979; Assembly then formally elected Kerekou President in February

at least once every five years; last general election February 1983 Political parties and leaders: United Bermuda Party (UBP), John W. D. Swan; Progressive Labor Party (PLP), Lois BrowneEvans

Electric power

21,000 kW capacity (1984); 27 million kWh produced (1984), 7 kWh per capita

110,000 kW capacity (1984); 350 million kWh produced (1984), 6,034 kWh per capita

Ethnic divisions

99% African (42 ethnic groups, most important being Fon, Adja, Yoruba, Bariba); 5,500 Europeans

61% black, 39% white and other

Exports

$304.3 million (f.o.b., 1982); palm products, cotton, other agricultural products

$17 million (1982); semitropical produce, light manufactures

Fiscal year

calendar year Communications

1 April-31 March Communications

Fishing

catch 24,000 metric tons (1982 est.)

GNP

$1.1 billion (1982), $310 per capita (1982); 4.2% nominal growth during 1982

Government leader

Brig. Gen. Mathieu KEREKOU, President and Chief of State (since 1972)

Government leaders

John W. DUNROSSIL, Governor (since 1983); John William David SWAN, Premier (since 1982)

Highways

8,550 km total; 828 km paved, 5,722 km improved earth Benin (continued) Bermuda

209 km public roads, all paved (approximately 400 km of private roads)

Imports

$590.3 million (f.o.b. 1982); thread, cloth, clothing and other consumer goods, construction materials, iron, steel, fuels, foodstuffs, machinery, and transport equipment

$348 million ( 1 982); fuel, foodstuffs, machinery

Inland waterways

small sections, only important locally

Labor force

1.5 million (1982); 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

29,669 employed (1980); 25% clerical, 22% services, 22% laborers, 13% professional and technical, 9% administrative and managerial, 7% sales, 2% agriculture and fishing Government

Land boundaries

1,963 km Water

Language

French (official); Fon and Yoruba most common vernaculars in south; at least six major tribal languages in north

English

Legal system

based on French civil law and customary law; legal education generally obtained in France; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

English law

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

200 nm (100 nm mineral exploitation limit)

3 nm (fishing 200 nm)

Literacy

20%

98%

Major industries

palm oil and palm kernel oil processing, textiles, beverages

tourism, finance, structural concrete products, paints, perfumes, furniture Bhutan

Major trade partners

France, EC, franc zone; preferential tariffs to EC and franc zone countries

54% US, 16% Caribbean countries, 10% UK, 6% Canada, 14% other; tourists, 90% US

Member of

Af DB, CEAO, EAMA, ECA, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IFAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, Niger River Commission, OAU, OCAM, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO Economy

INTERPOL, WHO Economy

Military manpower

eligible 15-49, 1,759,000; of the 867,000 males 15-49, 439,000 are fit for military service; of the 892,000 females 15-49, 451,000 are fit for military service; about 40,000 males and 41,000 females reach military age (18) annually; both sexes are liable for military service North Atlantic Ocean North At/antic Ocean Land 53.3 km2; about one-third the size of Washington, D.C.; consists of about 360 small coral islands; 60% forest; 21% built on, waste land, and other; 1 1 % leased for air and naval bases; 8% arable Water

Monetary conversion rate

397.45 Communaute Financiere Africaine (CFA) francs=US$l (October 1983)

1 Bermuda dollar=US$l (February 1984)

National holiday

30 November

Nationality

noun — Beninese (sing., pi.); adjective— Beninese

noun — Bermudian(s); adjective—Bermudian

Official name

People's Republic of Benin

Bermuda

Organized labor

approximately 75% of wage earners, divided among two major and several minor unions Government

Other political or pressure groups

Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU), headed by Ottiwell Simmons

Political parties

People's Revolutionary Party of Benin (PRPB) is sole party

Political subdivisions

6 provinces, 46 districts

9 parishes

Population

4,015,000 (July 1985), average annual growth rate 3.1%

58,000 (July 1985), average annual growth rate 0.5%

Ports

1 major (Cotonou)

3 major (Hamilton, St. George, Freeport)

Railroads

580 km, all 1.000-meter gauge

none

Religion

70% animist, 15% Muslim, 15% Christian

37% Anglican, 21% other Protestant, 28% Catholic, 28% Black Muslim and other

Suffrage

universal adult

universal adult over age 21

Telecommunications

fair system of open wire and radio relay; 16,200 telephones (0.5 per 100 popl.); 2 AM, 2 FM stations; 1 TV station; 1 Atlantic Ocean satellite ground station under construction Defense Forces

modern telecom system, includes fully automatic telephone system with 46,290 sets (84.6 per 100 popl.); 4 AM, 2 FM, 2 TV stations; 3 submarine cables; 1 Atlantic Ocean satellite station Defense Forces External defense is the responsibility of

Type

Soviet-modeled civilian government

British dependent territory

Voting strength

1983 elections— UBP 65.1%, PLP 35%; UBP holds 26 House of Assembly seats; PLP, 14