50 Fun Facts About Benin

What is the official capital of Benin?

The larger coastal city to its west is the seat of government where most ministries and embassies actually sit.

Which city is Benin's largest and its seat of government, though not its official capital?

Its name means "by the river of death" in Fon; it has the country's only seaport and international airport.

In which year was Dahomey renamed Benin, after the Bight of Benin?

The Marxist regime chose the new name because "Dahomey" was tied only to the Fon people of the south.

Which two countries border Benin to the west and east?

Burkina Faso and Niger lie to the north; the whole country is only 121 km wide at the coast.

Benin celebrates its Independence Day on which date?

Full independence came in 1960 after two years of autonomy within the French community.

The Bight of Benin was named after a kingdom in which modern country?

The famous Benin Bronzes come from that Nigerian kingdom of the Edo people, not from the Republic of Benin.

The Kingdom of Dahomey's all-female army unit was nicknamed what by European observers?

Known locally as Mino or Agojie, they were the only female army in modern history.

What nickname did Dahomey's military obsession earn it from explorers such as Richard Burton?

Boys were apprenticed to older soldiers until old enough to join the army.

Which 2022 film starring Viola Davis dramatised Dahomey's Agojie female warriors?

It was set in the 1820s under King Ghezo and shot in South Africa.

Which king of Dahomey seized the throne in 1818 with a Brazilian slave trader's help and ended tribute to Oyo?

Francisco Félix de Sousa, the trader, became the "Chacha" of Ouidah; Ghezo was assassinated in 1858.

Béhanzin, last independent king of Dahomey, was exiled by the French to which Caribbean island?

He later died in Algeria in 1906; he had led the resistance in two Franco-Dahomean wars.

Ouidah was the chief port of which coastal kingdom, annexed by Dahomey in 1727?

Its King Haffon had received his crown as a gift from Portugal; the town has a python temple and a Brazilian slavers' mansion.

The Door of No Return in Ouidah is a memorial arch to what?

Ouidah shipped the last recorded slave cargo to the United States in 1860, long after the US banned the trade.

Vodun, the traditional religion of southern Benin, gave rise to which religion in Haiti?

Enslaved Fon, Ewe and Aja people carried it across the Atlantic; it also shaped Louisiana Voodoo and Brazilian Candomblé Jejé.

Ganvie, a village of some 20,000 people on Lake Nokoué, is built how?

The Tofinu founded it to escape Fon slave raiders, since Fon warriors would not fight on water; it is called the "Venice of Africa".

Ganvie's founders, the Tofinu, took to the lake in the 16th or 17th century to escape whom?

The name Ganvie means "I was rescued here" in Fon.

Which Beninese singer, born in Ouidah, has won five Grammy Awards?

Time named her one of the world's 100 most influential people in 2021; she sings in Fon, French, Yoruba, Mina and English.

Benin's flag has yellow and red horizontal bands beside a vertical band of which colour at the hoist?

Adopted in 1959, it was replaced by a green flag with a red star from 1975 to 1990, then restored.

Between 1975 and 1990, what did the flag of the People's Republic of Benin look like?

The old tricolour was restored when multi-party democracy returned in 1990.

Mathieu Kérékou, who ruled Benin under Marxism-Leninism from 1972, achieved what distinction in 1991?

He lost to Nicéphore Soglo, then won back the presidency at the ballot box in 1996.

In 1999, President Kérékou made a national apology for what?

Dahomey's kings had earned some £250,000 a year from selling captives by 1750.

Which crop accounts for roughly 80% of Benin's official export receipts?

The president who took office in 2016 made his fortune ginning it.

Which UNESCO World Heritage Site in Benin preserves the earthen residences of the kings of Dahomey?

Twelve kings ruled from there between 1625 and 1900; a 1984 tornado put it on the World Heritage in Danger list until 2007.

The WAP complex, including Benin's Pendjari National Park, holds West Africa's largest population of which animal?

More than 3,800 elephants roam the W-Arly-Pendjari complex shared with Burkina Faso and Niger; it also shelters rare Northwest African cheetahs.

W National Park, shared by Benin, Niger and Burkina Faso, is named after what?

The Beninese section, over 8,000 km2, has been managed by African Parks since 2020.

Benin's highest point, Mont Sokbaro, in the Atakora range, is only about how high?

The Atakora continue into Togo, where they are called the Togo Mountains.

Which people of the Atakora Mountains build two-storey fortified mud houses called tata?

Livestock sleep on the ground floor and grain dries on the rooftop terrace; the tata of Togo and Benin are a World Heritage Site.

A "zemidjan", of which the largest city has an estimated 72,000, is what?

The Fon name means "take me quickly"; drivers wear yellow shirts.

What is traditionally believed to be under the whirling costume of Benin's Zangbeto night guardians?

They act as an unofficial night police, tracking down criminals and presenting them to the community.

Which is the largest ethnic group in Benin, founders of the Dahomey kingdom?

They make up about a third of the population and speak Fongbe, one of the Gbe languages.

The People's Republic of Benin gave way to the multi-party Republic of Benin in which year?

A National Conference stripped Kérékou of his powers and a new constitution followed.

Which currency does Benin share with seven other countries in its region?

It has been pegged to the euro at 655.957 to one since 1999 and is issued by a central bank in Dakar.

Benin's national football team is nicknamed what?

They hold the odd record of reaching an Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final (2019) without ever winning a match at the tournament.

Benin reached the quarter-finals of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations despite what unusual record?

They drew their way through and beat Morocco on penalties in the last 16.

Which Beninese midfielder, formerly of PSG and Sunderland, is his country's top scorer?

He started at Requins de l'Atlantique, the "Sharks of the Atlantic".

Which businessman, who made his fortune processing the country's main export crop, was president from 2016?

Born in Ouidah, he built ginning factories and supplied farmers; a coup attempt against him failed in December 2025.

Who was Benin's first president at independence in 1960?

A former schoolmaster from Parakou, he later shared power in a rotating three-man presidential council.

Which neighbour's border closure crippled Benin's customs revenue in the 1980s and 90s?

Unpaid soldiers rioted in 1989, the banks collapsed and Kérékou was forced to abandon Marxism.

Which king of Dahomey conquered Ouidah in 1727, gaining direct access to European traders?

The conquest gave the inland kingdom its own slave port at last.

Which king of Dahomey founded the gbeto elephant hunters that became the female army?

His daughter Queen Hangbe then created a female bodyguard around 1716.

Benin's largest city is cut in two by a lagoon canal dug by the French in which year?

Its autonomous port is now one of the largest in West Africa.

Benin's official capital accepted French protection in 1863 after being bombarded by whom?

Its name is Portuguese for "New Port"; by 1900 it was capital of French Dahomey.

Which grain is the staple of southern Beninese cooking, made into dough served with sauce?

Fish and chicken are the usual meats, though bush rat is eaten too, and cheese appears in some dishes.

Félix Couchoro wrote the first Beninese novel in 1929. What was its title?

Beninese literature was oral until French became dominant.

Through the 2024 Paris Games, how many Olympic medals had Benin won?

It first competed as Dahomey at Munich 1972 and sent its first Winter Olympian in 2026.

Which sacred objects, looted in 1892, did France return to Benin in February 2022?

It came 129 years after they were taken from Abomey; the Benin Bronzes are a different Nigerian treasure.

What is the official language of Benin?

Fon, Bariba, Yoruba and Dendi are widely spoken too; local languages are used in early primary school, with French the sole language of secondary teaching.

Which two countries border Benin to the north?

Burkina Faso lies to the northwest and Niger to the northeast; the three countries share the W National Park across their borders.

Roughly how many African ethnic groups live in Benin?

They include the Yoruba who arrived from Nigeria in the 12th century, the Dendi from Mali in the 16th, and the Somba of the Atakora Mountains.

Which West African power, along with Hausa merchants, is credited with bringing Islam to Benin?

Islam is followed chiefly in the northern provinces of Alibori, Borgou and Donga, while Christianity dominates the south and centre.