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People
Demography
Despite its cultural richness, Benin is also one of the smallest and most densely populated states in Africa with more than 50 people per square kilometer. The population now exceeds 8.5 million.
Ethnicity
The population of Benin is made up of more than 40 ethnic groups that can be divided into four main ethnolinguistic groups - the Fon, Voltaic, Fulani and Yoruba - that account for more than half the population. There is a considerably large and visible European population who live in Cotonou but constitute a very small fraction of the total population, among which the French are the most numerous. There are also many Europeans who have weekend homes in coastal towns between Nigeria and Togo.
Languages
Linguistically, the country is heterogeneous. While French is the official language, there are more than 50 indigenous languages that are also spoken all over Benin.
Health and Welfare
Benin suffers from a rapid population growth rate compared to its national income. Population growth at 2.9 percent exceeds average growth in the gross domestic product, or GDP, and matches average growth in the gross national product, or GNP. Average life expectancy is 59.4 years, and 63.1 of all 1,000 infants die, according to recent estimates.
Only slightly more than a third of the population is literate, with a rate of 34.7 percent for the total population. That average rate obfuscates a gender disparity as 47.9 percent of the male population is literate while only 23.3 percent of the female population can make that claim. Note that 3.5 percent of GDP is spent on educational expenditures in this country.
Communicable diseases continue to pose a threat to the population of Benin. According to the Central Intelligence Agency, HIV/AIDS infects 1.2 percent of adults. However, certain key groups give greater reason for concern. For instance, prevalence of the human immunodeficiency virus among antenatal women tested in the major urban areas increased from no evidence of infection in 1986-1987 to four percent in 1998. Similarly, HIV prevalence among sex workers increased from 5 percent in 1987 to 54 percent in 1996. As well, the number of people living with the disease numbered around 64,000 as of 2007.
The risk of infectious diseases in this country is very high. Food or waterborne diseases include bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, typhoid fever; vectorborne diseases include malaria and yellow fever; respiratory diseases include meningococcal meningitis; animal contact disease include rabies.
Note that 4.2 percent of GDP is spent on health expenditures in this country.
Human Development
One notable indicator used to measure a country's quality of life is the Human Development Index (HDI), which is compiled annually since 1990 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achievements in three main areas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as economic standard of living. In a recent ranking of 169 countries, the HDI placed Benin in the low human development category, at 134th place.
Note: Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain countries, not based solely upon traditional economic and financial indicators.
Written by Dr. Denise Youngblood Coleman, Editor in Chief, www.countrywatch.com; see Bibliography for list of research sources.
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