Country Details

Benin is one of the smallest countries in Africa. It is a long stretch of land perpendicular to the coast of the Gulf of Guinea. Benin has borders with Burkina Faso and the Niger in the North, Nigeria in the East and Togo in the West. The coast is a straight sandbar to the South along the Atlantic Ocean. The country is divided into five natural regions: a coastal area, two plateaus with wooded savanna, a hilly region in the North-west and the fertile Niger plains in the North-east. In the South, cultivated land including immense palm groves and coconut plantations line the coast. The terrain is mostly flat to undulating plains including some hills and low mountains. There is a small area of arable land. More than one third of the land is made up of forests and woodlands. The country has two rainy and two dry seasons. The climate is tropical and hot.