rdous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:

sandbanks create difficult access to a coast with no natural
harbors, river mouths, or islands

People
Benin

Population:

8,532,547
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, higher death rates, lower
population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of
population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July
2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 45.5% (male 1,978,897/female 1,901,005)
15-64 years: 51.9% (male 2,195,667/female 2,236,458)
65 years and over: 2.6% (male 91,213/female 129,307) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 17.1 years
male: 16.7 years
female: 17.6 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

3.01% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

39.8 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

9.69 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 66.2 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 69.68 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 62.55 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 58.56 years
male: 57.42 years
female: 59.76 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

5.58 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

1.9% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

68,000 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

5,800 (2003 est.)

Major infectious diseases:

degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea,
hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and yellow fever
respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis (2008)

Nationality:

noun: Beninese (singular and plural)
adjective: Beninese

Ethnic groups:

Fon and related 39.2%, Adja and related 15.2%, Yoruba and related
12.3%, Bariba and related 9.2%, Peulh and related 7%, Ottamari and
related 6.1%, Yoa-Lokpa and related 4%, Dendi and related 2.5%,
other 1.6% (includes Europeans),