Benin
Republic of Benin
Benin sits in Western Africa and uses XOF - West African CFA franc (Fr). This profile combines identifiers, formats, map links, memberships, and the largest city records in one structured reference.
Capital
Porto-Novo
Population
13.8M
Area
112.6K km2
Population
13.8M
13,754,688 people
Area
112.6K km2
112,622 square kilometers
Density
122/km2
Population divided by land area
Capital
Porto-Novo
6.48, 2.62
Detailed Country Guide
Overview and identity
Benin, officially listed here as Republic of Benin, is structured as a practical country reference guide for users searching country facts, maps, flags, codes, and daily-use data. The page should make Benin, BJ, BEN, the flag, the official name, and the country slug easy to confirm because users often land on country pages while checking identifiers for forms, travel, education, or data products. Benin is grouped under Africa, more specifically Western Africa, with Africa shown as the continent context.
Geography and population scale
The country dataset records a population of 13,754,688 people and a land area of 112,622 square kilometers, which gives an approximate density of 122 people per square kilometer. The main coordinate reference is 9.5, 2.25, while the capital coordinate reference is 6.48, 2.62. Benin shares listed land borders with BFA, NER, NGA, TGO, and the landlocked value is recorded as no. These details help the page answer common searches around location, area, borders, map position, and population comparison.
Capital and urban network
The capital information is recorded as Porto-Novo (primary). The largest city entries shown for this country are Banikoara, Cotonou, Godomè, Djougou and Porto-Novo. Including cities alongside country-level facts helps the guide answer searches such as largest cities in Benin, capital of Benin, and major urban areas in Benin. This is useful because many users compare the official capital with the largest business, transport, or population centers.
Government, classification, and memberships
The government type is listed as Unitary presidential republic. The classification fields mark sovereignty as yes, United Nations membership as yes, observer status as no, and disputed status as no. International memberships shown for this page include African Union and United Nations. These fields support search intent around political status, country classification, and international organization membership.
Administrative formats and daily-use data
Benin uses calling code +229, postal format not listed, and time zone data listed as UTC+01:00. The number format uses . as the thousands separator and , as the decimal separator. The week starts on monday; the academic year starts around Sep 1; the government fiscal year starts around Jan 1; and the personal fiscal year starts around Jan 1.
Currency, language, transport, and references
Currency data lists XOF - West African CFA franc (Fr), while language records include French. Vehicle data records the driving side as right and vehicle sign codes as DY. Reference links should keep official, Wikipedia, Google Maps, and OpenStreetMap sources together when available so users can move from the structured country guide to map or source pages quickly. The latest Gini entry in the dataset is 34.4 for 2021.
How to use this profile
This Benin profile is designed to be scanned in layers: first the name, official name, flag, capital, population, area, and density; then identity, geography, cities, governance, memberships, formats, connectivity, currency, languages, transport, and references. That structure supports both human readers and product workflows where users need to verify a phone code, compare cities, inspect fiscal dates, check postal formats, review memberships, or open a map reference without searching across multiple pages.
Country Snapshot
ISO codes
BJ / BEN
Top-level domains
.bj
Continents
Africa
Border countries
BFA, NER, NGA, TGO
Driving side
right
Vehicle signs
DY
Flag And Identity
The flag entry for Benin is represented by the BJ country flag asset.
Largest Cities
#1
Banikoara
Alibori
867,463
City
#2
Cotonou
Littoral
780,000
primary
#3
Godomè
Atlantique
253,262
City
#4
Djougou
Donga
237,040
admin
#5
Porto-Novo
Ouémé
234,168
primary
Governance
Government type
Unitary presidential republic
Sovereign
Yes
UN member
Yes
Landlocked
No
Formats
Week starts
monday
Academic year
Sep 1
Government fiscal year
Jan 1
Number separators
. thousands, , decimal
Connectivity
Calling codes
+229
Postal format
Not listed
Timezones
UTC+01:00
Languages
French
International Memberships
Economy And References
Latest Gini entry
34.4
2021