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(75 mi) the country measures about 325 km (200 mi) at its widest point. It is one of the smaller countries in West Africa: eight times smaller than Nigeria, its neighbor to the east. It is, however, twice as large as Togo, its neighbor to the west. A relief map of Benin shows that it has little variation in elevation (average elevation 200 m).[3] The country can be divided into four areas from the south to the north. The low-lying, sandy, coastal plain (highest elevation 10 m) is, at most, 10 km wide. It is marshy and dotted with lakes and lagoons communicating with the ocean. The plateaus of southern Benin (altitude between 20 m and 200 m) are split by valleys running north to south along the Couffo, Zou, and Oueme Rivers. An area of flat lands dotted with rocky hills whose altitude seldom reaches 400 m extends around Nikki and Save. Finally, a range of mountains extends along the northwest border and into Togo; this is the Atacora, with the highest point, Mont Sokbaro, at 658 m. Two types of landscape predominate in the south. Benin has fields of lying fallow, mangroves, and remnants of large sacred forests. In the rest of the country, the savanna is covered with thorny scrubs and dotted with huge baobab trees. Some forests line the banks of rivers. In the north and the northwest of Benin the Reserve du W du Niger and Pendjari National Park attract tourists eager to see elephants, lions, antelopes, hippos, and monkeys.[3] Previously Benin offered habitat for the endangered Painted Hunting Dog, Lycaon pictus;[4] however, this canid is thought to have been locally extirpated at the present. Benin's climate is hot and humid. Annual rainfall in the coastal area averages 36 cm (14 in)�not particularly high for coastal West Africa. Benin has two rainy and two dry seasons per year. The principal rainy season is from April to late July, with a shorter less intense rainy period from late September to November. The main dry season is from December to April, with a short cooler dry season from late July to early September. Temperatures and humidity are high along the tropical coast. In Cotonou, the average maximum temperature is 31 �C (89 �F); the minimum is 24 �C (75 �F).[3] Variations in temperature increase when moving north through a savanna and plateau toward the Sahel. A dry wind from the Sahara called the Harmattan blows from December to March. Grass dries up, the vegetation turns reddish brown, and a veil of fine dust hangs over the country, causing the skies to be overcast. It also is the season when farmers burn brush in the fields.[3] Economy Main article: Economy of Benin The economy of Benin remains underdeveloped and dependent on subsistence agriculture, cotton production, and regional trade. Growth in real output has averaged around 5% in the past seven years, but rapid population growth has offset much of this increase. Inflation has subsided over the past several years. In order to raise growth still further, Benin plans to attract more foreign investment, place more emphasis on tourism, facilitate the development of new food processing systems and agricultural products, and encourage new information and communication technology. Projects to improve the business climate by reforms to the land tenure system, the commercial justice system, and the financial sector were included in Benin's US$307 million Millennium Challenge Account grant signed in February 2006. The 2001 privatization policy continues in telecommunications, water, electricity, and agriculture though the government annulled the privatization of Benin's state cotton company in November 2007 after the discovery of irregularities in the bidding process. The Paris Club and bilateral creditors have eased the external debt situation, with Benin benefiting from a G8 debt reduction announced in July 2005, while pressing for more rapid structural reforms. An insufficient electrical supply continues to adversely affect Benin's economic growth though the government recently has taken steps to increase domestic power production.[5] Although trade unions in Benin represent up to 75% of the formal workforce, the large informal economy has been noted by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITCU) to contain ongoing problems, including a lack of women's wage equality, the use of child labour, and the continuing issue of forced labour.[6] Benin is a member of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA).[7] Demographics Main article: Demography of Benin Classroom in Benin. The majority of Benin's population lives in the south. The population is young, with a life expectancy of 53 years. About 42 African ethnic groups live in this country; these various groups settled in Benin at different times and also migrated within the country. Ethnic groups include the Yoruba in the southeast (migrated from Nigeria in the 12th century); the Dendi in the north-central area (they came from Mali in the 16th century); the Bariba and the Fulbe (Peul) in the northeast; the Betammaribe and the Somba in the Atacora Range; the Fon in the area around Abomey in the South Central and the Mina, Xueda, and Aja (who came from Togo) on the coast.[3] Recent migrations have brought other African nationals to Benin that include Nigerians, Togolese, and Malians. The foreign community also includes many Lebanese and Indians involved in trade and commerce. The personnel of the many European embassies and foreign aid missions and of nongovernmental organizations and various missionary groups account for a large part of the 5500 European population.[3] A small part of the European population consists of Beninese citizens of French ancestry, whose ancestors ruled Benin and left after independence. Health See also: HIV/AIDS in Benin During the 1980s, less than 30% of the population had access to primary health care services. Benin had one of the highest death rates for children under the age of five in the world. Its infant mortality rate stood at 203 deaths for every 1000 live births. Only one in three mothers had access to child healthcare services. The Bamako Initiative changed that dramatically by introducing community-based healthcare reform, resulting in more efficient and equitable provision of services.[8] A comprehensive approach strategy was extended to all areas of health care, with subsequent improvement in the health care indicators and improvement in health care efficiency and cost.[9] Culture Arts See also: Literature of Benin and Music of Benin Beninese literature had a strong oral tradition long before French became the dominant language.[10] Felix Couchoro wrote the first Beninese novel, L'Esclave in 1929. Post-independence, the country was home to a vibrant and innovative music scene, where native folk music combined with Ghanaian highlife, French cabaret, American rock, funk and soul, and Congolese rumba. Singer Ang�lique Kidjo and actor Djimon Hounsou were both born in Cotonou, Benin. Customary names This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2009) Many Beninois in the south of the country have Akan-based names indicating the day of the week in which they were born. Language Local languages are used as the languages of instruction in elementary schools, with French only introduced after several years. Beninese languages are generally transcribed with a separate letter for each speech sound (phoneme), rather than using diacritics as in French or digraphs as in English. This includes Beninese Yoruba, which in Nigeria is written with both diacritics and digraphs. For instance, the mid vowels written � �, �, o in French are written e, ?, o, ? in Beninese languages, whereas the consonants written ng and sh or ch in English are written ? and c. However, digraphs are used for nasal vowels and the labial-velar consonants kp and gb, as in the name of the Fon language Fon gbe /f� g?be/, and diacritics are used as tone marks. In French-language publications, a mixture of French and Beninese orthographies may be seen. Religion Main article: Religion in Benin Celestial Church of Christ baptism in Cotonou. Five percent of Benin's population belongs to the Celestial Church of Christ, an African Initiated Church. In the 2002 census, 42.8% of the population of Benin were Christian (27.1% Roman Catholic, 5% Celestial Church of Christ, 3.2% Methodist, 7.5% other Christian denominations), 24.4% were Muslim, 17.3% practices Vodun, 6% other traditional local religious groups, 1.9% other religious groups, and 6.5% claim no religious affiliation.[11] Indigenous religions include local animistic religions in the Atakora (Atakora and Donga provinces) and Vodun and Orisha or Orisa veneration among the Yoruba and Tado peoples in the center and south of the country. The town of Ouidah on the central coast is the spiritual center of Beninese Vodun. The major introduced religions are Islam, introduced by the Songhai Empire and Hausa merchants, and now followed throughout Alibori, Borgou, and Donga provinces, as well as among the Yoruba (who also follow Christianity), and Christianity, followed throughout the south and center of Benin and in Otammari country in the Atakora. Many, however, continue to hold Vodun and Orisha beliefs and have incorporated into Christianity the pantheon of Vodun and Orisha. See also Benin portal Outline of Benin List of Benin-related topics References ^ a b c d "Benin". International Monetary Fund. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2009/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2006&ey=2009&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=638&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC%2CLP&grp=0&a=&pr.x=38&pr.y=8. Retrieved on 2009-04-22. ^ Human Development Indices, Table 3: Human and income poverty, p. 35. Retrieved on 1 June 2009 ^ a b c d e f "Background Note: Benin". U.S. Department of State (June 2008). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. ^ C. Michael Hogan. 2009. Painted Hunting Dog: Lycaon pictus, GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg ^ "Benin". World Factbook C.I.A. (23 October 2008). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. ^ "Serious violations of core labour standards in Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali". ICFTU Online. http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=991220267&Language=EN. Retrieved on 2007-07-30. ^ OHADA.com: The business law portal in Africa, http://www.ohada.com/index.php, retrieved on 2009-03-22 ^ "Bamako Initiative revitalizes primary health care in Benin". http://www.who.int/inf-new/child6.htm. Retrieved on 2006-12-28. ^ "Implementation of the Bamako Initiative: strategies in Benin and Guinea". http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10173105&dopt=Abstract. Retrieved on 2006-12-28. ^ Benin, http://aflit.arts.uwa.edu.au/CountryBeninEN.html, retrieved on 2007-09-30 ^ International Religious Freedom Report 2007: Benin. United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (September 14, 2007). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. External links Find more about Benin on Wikipedia's sister projects: Definitions from Wiktionary Textbooks from Wikibooks Quotations from Wikiquote Source texts from Wikisource Images and media from Commons News stories from Wikinews Learning resources from Wikiversity Government Global Integrity Report: Benin has details of Benin anti-corruption efforts Government of Benin (official site) Chief of State and Cabinet Members General information Country Profile from BBC News Benin entry at The World Factbook Benin from UCB Libraries GovPubs Benin at the Open Directory Project Wikimedia Atlas of Benin Benin Politics News media Directory of Benin news sources from Stanford University Education Initiatives Benin Education Fund (BEF) Provides educational support and scholarships. 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