|
Cotonou
Cotonou (; fon, Kútɔ̀nú) is a city in Benin. Its official population count was 679,012 inhabitants in 2012; however, over two million people live in the larger urban area. The urban area continues to expand, notably toward the west. The city lies in the southeast of the country, between the Atlantic Ocean and Lake Nokoué. In addition to being Benin's largest city, it is the seat of government, although Porto-Novo is the official capital. History The name "Cotonou" means "by the river of death" in the Fon language.Butler, Stuart (2019) ''Bradt Travel Guide - Benin'', pgs. 74-91 At the beginning of the 19th century, Cotonou (then spelled "Kutonou") was a small fishing village, and is thought to have been formally founded by King Ghezo of Dahomey in 1830. It grew as a centre for the slave trade, and later palm oil and cotton. In 1851 the French Second Republic made a treaty with King Ghezo that allowed them to establish a trading post at Cotonou. During the reign of King ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its population lives on the southern coastline of the Bight of Benin, part of the Gulf of Guinea in the northernmost tropical portion of the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Porto-Novo, and the seat of government is in Cotonou, the most populous city and economic capital. Benin covers an area of and its population in was estimated to be approximately million. It is a tropical nation, dependent on agriculture, and is an exporter of palm oil and cotton. Some employment and income arise from subsistence farming. The official language of Benin is French, with indigenous languages such as Fon, Bariba, Yoruba and Dendi also spoken. The largest religious group in Benin is Sunni Islam (27 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Littoral Department
Littoral is one of the twelve departments of Benin. At , Littoral is the smallest department in the country. Its capital is Cotonou, Benin's largest city. The department was created in 1999 with the splitting up of territories of Atlantique Department. As per 2013 census, the total population of the department was 679,012 with 325,872 males and 353,140 females. The entire population was urban while the total labour force in the department numbered 253,892. The proportion of households with no level of attained formal education was 21.1%, by far the lowest of any department in the country. Geography Littoral Department borders Ouémé Department and Atlantique Department and is situated in a coastal area that has interconnected lakes and lagoons and elongated coastlines with wide marshes. Freshwater and seawater fishing is the major profession in the region. Petroleum was discovered in the 1960s in offshore areas, while titanium, low-quality iron ore, ilmenite and chromite are t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ouémé River
The Ouémé River, also known as the Weme River, is a river in Benin. It rises in the Atakora Mountains, and is about long. It flows past the towns of Carnotville and Ouémé to a large delta on the Gulf of Guinea near the seaport city of Cotonou. The largest tributaries are the Okpara River The Okpara River is a river of Benin.Rand McNally, ''The New International Atlas'', 1993. Originating in Borgou Department, it flows south and becomes the border between Nigeria and Benin before re-entering Benin and flowing into the Ouémé Rive ... and the Alpouro River. Description Ouémé River is the largest river of the Benin Republic. It is located between 6° 30° and 10° north latitude and 0° 52 'and 3° 05' east longitude(Oba S. Alain 2018). It crosses several agro-ecological zones and feeds downstream, the lagoon system ‘'Lake Nokoué-lagoon of Porto-Novo'’ through a Delta zone. The lower Delta of Ouémé, is located between latitude 6° 33'N and 8° 15 'and the merid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Béhanzin
Béhanzin ( – 10 December 1906) is considered the eleventh (if Adandozan is not counted) King of Dahomey, modern-day Republic of Benin. Upon taking the throne, he changed his name from Kondo. Biography He succeeded his father, Glele, and ruled from 1889 to 1894. Béhanzin was Dahomey's last independent ruler established through traditional power structures. He led the resistance to French colonization of his kingdom, during the Dahomey Wars. Each of Dahomey's kings was represented in sculpture with images that referred to the proverbs, associations, and wordplay attached to his royal name. The images that symbolize Behanzin (or Gbehanzin) include an egg held by a hand, as the words for these in the Fon language form a rebus, or pun, of the royal name. As may be seen in the large wooden statue once displayed in the royal palace at Abomey (and now in the Musee Quai Branly in Paris), the shark is a metaphor for Behanzin; as does the shark, the king guards the coast of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Porto-Novo
Porto-Novo (Portuguese: "New Port", , ; yo, Àjàṣẹ́, ), also known as Hogbonu and Ajashe, is the capital of Benin. The commune covers an area of and as of 2002 had a population of 223,552 people. Situated on an inlet of the Gulf of Guinea, in the southeastern portion of the country, the city was originally developed as a port for the transatlantic slave trade led by the Portuguese Empire. It is Benin's second-largest city, and although it is the official capital, where the national legislature sits, the larger city of Cotonou is the seat of government, where most of the government buildings are situated and government departments operate. Etymology The name ''Porto-Novo'' is of Portuguese origin, literally meaning "New Port". It remains untranslated in French, the national language of Benin. History Porto-Novo was once a tributary of the Yoruba kingdom of Oyo, which had offered it protection from the neighbouring Fon, who were expanding their influence and power in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Porto Novo
Porto-Novo (Portuguese: "New Port", , ; yo, Àjàṣẹ́, ), also known as Hogbonu and Ajashe, is the capital of Benin. The commune covers an area of and as of 2002 had a population of 223,552 people. Situated on an inlet of the Gulf of Guinea, in the southeastern portion of the country, the city was originally developed as a port for the transatlantic slave trade led by the Portuguese Empire. It is Benin's second-largest city, and although it is the official capital, where the national legislature sits, the larger city of Cotonou is the seat of government, where most of the government buildings are situated and government departments operate. Etymology The name ''Porto-Novo'' is of Portuguese origin, literally meaning "New Port". It remains untranslated in French, the national language of Benin. History Porto-Novo was once a tributary of the Yoruba kingdom of Oyo, which had offered it protection from the neighbouring Fon, who were expanding their influence and power in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glele
Glele, or Badohou (died December 29, 1889), was the tenth King of Dahomey, ruling from 1858 until his suicide in 1889. Life Badohou, who took the throne name Glele, is considered (if Adandozan is not counted) to be the tenth King of the Aja kingdom of Dahomey (part of modern-day Benin). He succeeded his father, Ghezo, and ruled from 1858 to 1889. Glele continued his father's successful war campaigns, in part to avenge his father's death, in part to capture slaves. During his rule he sustained Dahomey's renaissance as a center of palm oil sales and slave trade. Glele also signed treaties with the French, who had previously acquired a concession in Porto-Novo from its king. The French were successful in negotiating with Glele and receiving a grant for a customs and commerce concession in Cotonou during his reign. Glele resisted British diplomatic overtures, however, distrusting their manners and noting that they were much more activist in their opposition to the slave trade: th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Nokoué
Lake Nokoué is a lake in the southern part of Benin. It is wide and long and covers an area of . The lake is partly fed by the Ouémé River and the Sô River, both of which deposit sediments from throughout the region in the lake. The city of Cotonou sits on the southern border of the lake. Sections of the population of Cotonou have been displaced by coastal and lake flooding. On the northern edge of the lake is the town of Ganvié. Economy Because of its diverse wildlife, the lake provides an important source of food and economic activity for these towns. Fishing is best when water is low between November and June. Fishing is typically of 30 species of fish, with fish from the Cichlid, Clupeidae and Penaeidae families making 85% of the catch. The fishery became more stressed during the 1990s, as more people began fishing on the lake. Fishing is typically artisanal, with small crew dugout canoes catching small batches of fish. The estimated fish production of the lake is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fon Language
Fon (, ) is spoken in Benin, Nigeria, Togo, Ghana and Gabon by approximately 1.7 million speakers, and is the language of the Fon people. Like the other Gbe languages, Fon is an isolating language with an SVO basic word order. Cultural and legal status In Benin, French is the official language, while Fon and other indigenous languages, including the Yom and Yoruba languages, are classified as national languages. Grammar Dialects The standardized Fon language is part of the Fon cluster of languages inside the Eastern Gbe languages. Hounkpati B Christophe Capo groups Agbome, Kpase, Gun, Maxi and Weme (Ouémé) in the Fon dialect cluster, although other clusterings are suggested. Standard Fon is the primary target of language planning efforts in Benin, although separate efforts exists for Gun, Gen, and other languages of the country. To date, there are about 53 different dialects of the Fon language spoken throughout Benin. Phonology Vowels Fon has seven oral vowel phone ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dahomey
The Kingdom of Dahomey () was a West African kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. Dahomey developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in the early 17th century and became a regional power in the 18th century by expanding south to conquer key cities like Whydah belonging to the Kingdom of Whydah on the Atlantic coast which granted it unhindered access to the tricontinental triangular trade. For much of the middle 19th century, the Kingdom of Dahomey became a key regional state, after eventually ending tributary status to the Oyo Empire. European visitors extensively documented the kingdom, and it became one of the most familiar African nations to Europeans. The Kingdom of Dahomey was an important regional power that had an organized domestic economy built on conquest and slave labor, significant international trade and diplomatic relations with Europeans, a centralized administration, taxation systems, and an organ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ghezo
Ghezo, also spelled Gezo, was King of Dahomey (present-day Republic of Benin) from 1818 until 1859. Ghezo replaced his brother Adandozan (who ruled from 1797 to 1818) as king through a coup with the assistance of the Brazilian slave trader Francisco Félix de Sousa. He ruled over the kingdom during a tumultuous period, punctuated by the British blockade of the ports of Dahomey in order to stop the Atlantic slave trade. Ghezo ended Dahomey's tributary status to the Oyo Empire. Afterwards, he dealt with significant domestic dissent, as well as pressure from the British Empire, to end the slave trade. He promised to end the slave trade in 1852, but resumed slave efforts in 1857. Ghezo was assassinated in 1859, and his son Glele became the new king. Rise to power Ghezo was a son born with the name Gakpe to King Agonglo and was a younger brother to Adandozan. When Agonglo died, there was a succession struggle between his sons before Adandozan was enthroned. An oral tradition ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Köppen Climate Classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notably in 1918 and 1936. Later, the climatologist Rudolf Geiger (1894–1981) introduced some changes to the classification system, which is thus sometimes called the Köppen–Geiger climate classification system. The Köppen climate classification divides climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on seasonal precipitation and temperature patterns. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (temperate), ''D'' (continental), and ''E'' (polar). Each group and subgroup is represented by a letter. All climates are assigned a main group (the first letter). All climates except for those in the ''E'' group are assigned a seasonal precipitation subgroup (the second letter). For example, ''Af'' indi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Cotonou")
.jpg "Click for more on -> Porto-Novo")
