Benin

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Images, Videos & Interactives

Map of Benin and its surrounding countries in West Africa, showing Benin's national boundaries, major cities such as Porto-Novo, Cotonou, Parakou, and Natitingou, as well as neighboring countries Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Togo, and Ghana. The map includes a small locator inset highlighting Benin's position on the continent along the Bight of Benin.

Map of West Africa highlighting Benin in light brown, with surrounding countries labeled, including Nigeria to the east, Togo to the west, Burkina Faso and Niger to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. Major neighboring countries such as Ghana, Mali, and Cameroon are also shown.

Map of Benin highlighting its physical features, including major rivers such as the Oueme and Alibori, mountain areas like the Atakora Mountains, and national parks in the north. Neighboring countries Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Togo, and Ghana are shown, with Benin stretching from the Atlantic coast at the Bight of Benin inland. An inset locator map shows Benin's position in West Africa.

An adult African elephant and a baby elephant walk side by side through dry grassland in Pendjari National Park, Benin.

Groups of people, including children and adults, relax and play along the shoreline at Obama Beach in Cotonou, Benin, under a partly cloudy sky.

Benin: Ethnic composition

Benin: Fulani Women

At a Glance

default image

Benin: Media

republic, Africa

Videos

Take a visual tour of the city of Cotonou, Benin

Take a visual tour of the city of Cotonou, Benin

Time-lapse and stop-motion video of Cotonou, Benin, by filmmaker Mayeul Akpovi.

Video: © Mayeul Akpovi (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Images

Benin

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Map of Benin and its surrounding countries in West Africa, showing Benin's national boundaries, major cities such as Porto-Novo, Cotonou, Parakou, and Natitingou, as well as neighboring countries Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Togo, and Ghana. The map includes a small locator inset highlighting Benin's position on the continent along the Bight of Benin.

Benin

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Map of West Africa highlighting Benin in light brown, with surrounding countries labeled, including Nigeria to the east, Togo to the west, Burkina Faso and Niger to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. Major neighboring countries such as Ghana, Mali, and Cameroon are also shown.

Benin

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Map of Benin highlighting its physical features, including major rivers such as the Oueme and Alibori, mountain areas like the Atakora Mountains, and national parks in the north. Neighboring countries Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Togo, and Ghana are shown, with Benin stretching from the Atlantic coast at the Bight of Benin inland. An inset locator map shows Benin's position in West Africa.

Physical features of Benin

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

An adult African elephant and a baby elephant walk side by side through dry grassland in Pendjari National Park, Benin.

Pendjari National Park

Adult and young African elephants, Pendjari National Park, Benin.

© Fabian Plock/Dreamstime.com

Groups of people, including children and adults, relax and play along the shoreline at Obama Beach in Cotonou, Benin, under a partly cloudy sky.

Cotonou

Residents of Cotonou relaxing at Obama Beach, Cotonou, Benin.

© Dereje/Shutterstock.com

Abomey

Abomey

Buildings line a street in Abomey, Benin.

Dominik Schwarz

Benin: Fulani Women

Benin: Fulani Women

Three Fulani women carrying bowls on their heads, northern Benin.

© Novarc Images/Nicolás Marino—mauritius images GmbH/Alamy

Porto-Novo: Cathedral

Porto-Novo: Cathedral

Cathedral in Porto-Novo, Benin.

Art Resource, New York

A Ninssouhoue dancer in colorful traditional clothing performs a dynamic move at a Voodoo ceremony in Ouidah, Benin, with a seated audience watching in the background.

Vodun Ceremony

Dancers perform at a Vodun ceremony, Ouidah, Benin, January 11, 2012.

© Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Large pile of harvested cotton stacked on bare ground, surrounded by green plants and traditional reed fencing in Benin.

Cotton

A pile of harvested cotton, Benin.

© Fabian Plock/Dreamstime.com

A man throws a fishing net into the water while a boy stands and steers a small wooden boat with a pole on a calm lake in Benin.

Fishing

A Beninese man casts a fishing net into the water.

© Anton_Ivanov/Shutterstock.com

A woman rides as a passenger on a motorcycle taxi driven by a man in a yellow shirt, traveling down a street in Cotonou, Benin, with market stalls in the background.

City transportation

A woman in Cotonou rides a hired motorcycle taxi, a common means of hired transportation...

© Dereje/Shutterstock.com

Porto-Novo: Marketplace

Porto-Novo: Marketplace

Marketplace in Porto-Novo, Benin.

Babylas

Benin bronze sculpture

Benin bronze sculpture

Benin bronze sculpture of horse and rider; in the British Museum, London.

© Photos.com/Jupiterimages

Long, low buildings with rust-colored metal roofs and ochre walls form a courtyard at the Royal Palaces of Abomey in Benin, with carved reliefs visible on the walls.

Abomey

The Royal Palaces of Abomey, designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985, also...

© Sergey Mayorov/Dreamstime.com

The Gate of No Return monument in Ouidah, Benin, features an arched gateway with red and white columns, relief figures above, and black sculptures on either side, set by the beach.

Gate of No Return, Ouidah, Benin

The Gate of No Return, a monument commemorating the lives of enslaved people, on...

© homocosmicos/stock.adobe.com

King Glélé

King Glélé

Schoolchildren pose by a monument of King Glélé of Dahomey near the Royal Palaces...

Danita Delimont/Alamy

Dahomey women warriors

Dahomey women warriors

Portrait of Dahomeans, including two dozen of the kingdom's women warriors, taken...

Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam (CC0 1.0 Public domain)

Large bronze statue of a Dahomey Amazon warrior, standing with a staff and looking forward, surrounded by people at its base in Cotonou, Benin.

Amazon monument

The Benin Amazone, a 98-foot- (30-meter-) tall statue honoring the Dahomey women...

© Yanick Folly—AFP/Getty Images

Antique map showing the northwest region of Africa as published in the 1902 Encyclopaedia Britannica. The map details colonial territories and countries such as Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, the Sahara, Senegal, Portuguese Guinea, French Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Togo, and Nigeria, with borders, cities, rivers, and geographic features labeled in fine print.

Northwest Africa, c. 1902

Map of northwest Africa, from the 10th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica,...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Benin

Benin

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Audio

National anthem of Benin

The instrumental version of the national anthem of Benin.

Interactives

Benin: Ethnic composition

Benin: Ethnic composition

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Benin: Religious affiliation

Benin: Religious affiliation

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Benin: Age breakdown

Benin: Age breakdown

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Benin: Urban-rural population

Benin: Urban-rural population

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Benin: Major export destinations

Benin: Major export destinations

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Benin: Major import sources

Benin: Major import sources

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Colonization of Africa: Maps, Timeline, Decolonization, & Independence

Colonization of Africa: Maps, Timeline, Decolonization, & Independence

Learn about the colonization of Africa, the process of decolonization that led to...

© Encyclopaedia Britannica

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