Benin

Official name: Republic of Benin

Capital city: Porto-Novo is official capital city; Cotonou is the seat of government

Internet country code: .bj

Flag description: Two equal horizontal bands of yellow (top) and red (bottom) with a vertical green band on the hoist side

National anthem: “L’Aube Nouvelle” (The New Dawn)

National motto: “Fraternité - Justice - Travail”

Geographical description: Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Benin, between Nigeria and Togo

Total area: 43,483 sq. mi. (116,622 sq. km.)

Climate: Tropical; hot, humid in south; semiarid in north

Nationality: noun: Beninese (singular and plural); adjective: Beninese

Population: 8,078,314 (July 2007 CIA est.)

Ethnic groups: Fon and related groups 39.2%, Adja and related groups 15.2%, Yoruba and related groups 12.3%, Bariba and related groups 9.2%, Peulh and related groups 7%, Ottamari and related groups 6.1%, Yoa-Lokpa and related groups 4%, Dendi and related groups 2.5%, other (including Europeans) 1.6%, unspecified 2.9%

Languages spoken: French (official), Fon and Yoruba pre­dominant in the south, Nagot, Bariba, Dendi and other tribal languages in the north

Religions: Roman Catholic 27.1%, Muslim 24.4%, Vodun (Voodoo) 17.3%, Celestial Christian 5%, Methodist 3.2 %, other Christian 7.5%, other traditional local religious groups 6%, other religious groups 1.9%, and none 6.5%

(local name Edo), a state that existed until the end of the 19th century in the southern part of Nigeria. The name “Benin” was given by the Portuguese, who first arrived there in the last third of the 15th century. The name is evidently associated with the name of the local population, the Bini (Edo language group).

The Benin state flourished in the 13th to 15th centuries; it later declined as a result of internecine warfare. Slavery was significantly developed. In governing the country, the ruler shared power with his mother and the most important high officials. The history of Benin is closely associated with the history of the Yoruba states. It is assumed that originally (before the 13th century and perhaps later) Benin was dependent on Ife, the main Yoruba state. In the course of the British subjugation of Nigeria, which began in the mid-19th century, the British colonizers bombed, looted, and burned the capital of Benin (1897). The territory of Benin was included in the English colony of Nigeria (since 1960, the independent Federation of Nigeria; since 1963, the Federal Republic of Nigeria).

Great monuments of the artistic culture of ancient Benin have been preserved; this culture represents a branch of the even more ancient Yoruba culture. The flowering of Benin art took place in the 15th to 17th centuries, when bronze casting from wax models reached a high level. Earlier specimens (until the end of the 16th century)—including busts of the king and his retinue, statues of nobles, hunters, and warriors, and figures of animals and birds—were executed in a realistic or somewhat stylized (but convincing) manner. They are distinguished by their subtle execution and soft texture, which leads some investigators to consider these works influenced by Ife art. The sculpture of later times (including the bronze relief plaques depicting court ceremonies, hunting scenes, and sacrificial rites on a background of flowered ornamentation) has characteristics of sketchiness and stylization. Hanging masks and goblets and reliefs on elephant tusks are graceful and masterfully carved in ivory. The capital of Benin (Benin City), with the royal palace and houses made of red earth with open galleries and roofs of palm leaves, is known from descriptions.

a city in southern Nigeria; administrative center of the Mid-Western State. Population, 100,700 (1963). Benin is a trade and transport center and highway junction. There is trade in palm kernels and palm oil, cocoa, kola nuts, and precious woods and production of handcrafted goods. Ancient Benin (Great Benin) was the capital of the state of Benin.