Benin

About this destination

Benin, officially the Republic of Benin (French: République du Bénin), is a country in Africa with an area of 114,763 km² and a population of approximately 10.7 million inhabitants (2016). The official capital is Porto-Novo, but the economic capital and also the largest city of Benin is Cotonou. Benin borders Togo to the west, Burkina Faso to the northwest, the Republic of Niger to the northeast, and Nigeria to the east. Benin stretches from the Niger River in the north to the Bight of Benin, part of the Gulf of Guinea, in the south. Until 1975, the country was known by the name Dahomey.