km, Niger 266 km, Nigeria 773
km, Togo 644 km

Coastline: 121 km

Maritime claims: territorial sea: 200 NM

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

Terrain: mostly flat to undulating plain; some hills and low
mountains

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m

highest point: Mont Sokbaro 658 m

Natural resources: small offshore oil deposits, limestone, marble,
timber

Land use: arable land: 13%

permanent crops: 4%

permanent pastures: 4%

forests and woodland: 31%

other: 48% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 100 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: hot, dry, dusty harmattan wind may affect north in
winter

Environment - current issues: inadequate supplies of potable water;
poaching threatens wildlife populations; deforestation;
desertification

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban,
Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note: no natural harbors

Benin People

Population: 6,590,782

note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the
effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower
life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower
population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of
population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July
2001 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 47.32% (male 1,574,124; female 1,544,741)

15-64 years: 50.38% (male 1,607,900; female 1,712,360)

65 years and over: 2.3% (male 64,756; female 86,901) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.97% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 44.23 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 14.51 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female

total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 89.68 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 49.94 years

male: 49.02 years

female: 50.88 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.23 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence ra