Grand-Popo is a town,

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements ...

, and commune in the

Mono Department Mono is one of the twelve departments of Benin, with its capital at Lokossa. It is named for the Mono River which forms much of the border with Togo. The northern areas of the department were split off to create the newly formed Kouffo Departm ...

of south-western

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 nort ...

. The commune covers an area of 289 square kilometres and as at the 2013 Census had a population of 57,636 people. The term "Grand-Popo" is a European exonym for the ancient town and kingdom of "Hulagan" (Great Hula). The Hula/Xwla/Phla people that once dominated the Togo-Benin coast traditionally regarded Great Hula as their ancestral town of common origin. It is unclear why Europeans began calling it Popo rather than Hula. It may come from a generic

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

term "popo" for peoples to their "west", which was subsequently borrowed by the Portuguese to refer to the Hula/Phla specifically. An alternative theory connects the "Popo" term to an ancient ruler called Kpokpo of Tado (an Aja town in the interior), which the Europeans may have confused with Hulagan. The town grew around the

slave trade Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

, but

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landwar ...

has now destroyed most of the old town.Butler, Stuart (2019) ''Bradt Travel Guide - Benin'', pgs. 115-120 The town is now a centre for voodoo and home to a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

- African

cultural centre A cultural center or cultural centre is an organization, building or complex that promotes culture and arts. Cultural centers can be neighborhood community arts organizations, private facilities, government-sponsored, or activist-run. Asia * Ce ...

, Villa Karo. The town's main industry is

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from fish stocking, stocked bodies of water such as fish pond, ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. ...

. The town inspired the name of the French electronic music duo Grand Popo Football Club, as well as the name of the iPad application creator Grand Popo LLC.

History

References

External links

* * {{Mono Department Communes of Benin Arrondissements of Benin Populated places in the Mono Department