- published: 09 Mar 2016
- views: 8
Benin elects on national level a head of state - the president - and a legislature. The president is elected for a five year term by the people. The National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) has 83 members, elected for a four year term by proportional representation. Benin has a multi-party system, which means that there several political parties or coalitions.
On March 5, 2006, voters went to the polls to decide who would succeed Mathieu Kérékou as President. Results were expected to be announced by March 8. As no single candidate of the 26 won an outright majority, a runoff election took place two weeks later, won by Yayi Boni with three-quarters of the vote. [1], [2], [3]
Benin i/bɨˈniːn/ (formerly, Dahomey), officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, by Nigeria to the east and by Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. A majority of the population live on its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin. The capital of Benin is Porto-Novo, but the seat of government is in Cotonou, the country's largest city. Benin covers an area of approximately 110,000 square kilometers (42,000 sq mi), with a population of approximately 9.05 million. Benin is a tropical, sub-Saharan nation, highly dependent on agriculture, with substantial employment and income arising from subsistence farming.
The official language of Benin is French, however, indigenous languages such as Fon and Yoruba are commonly spoken. The largest religious group in Benin is Roman Catholicism, followed closely by Islam, Vodun and Protestantism. Benin is a member of the United Nations, the African Union, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone, La Francophonie, the Community of Sahel-Saharan States, the African Petroleum Producers Association and the Niger Basin Authority.