Zou is one of the twelve

departments of Benin Benin is divided into 12 departments (French: ''départements''), and subdivided into 77 communes (see Communes of Benin). In 1999, the previous six departments were each split into two halves, forming the current 12. Each of the six new depa ...

, named for the

Zou River The Zou is a river of south-western Benin. It drains into the Ouémé River. The river banks are inhabited in parts by the Mahi people near the Togo border. See also *List of rivers of Benin This is a list of rivers in Benin. This list is arra ...

which travels through the department before emptying into the Atlantic in the south of the country. The department of Zou was split in two in 1999, with the northern territory transferred to the newly created

Collines Department Collines is one of the twelve departments of Benin, located in the centre of the country; its name means "''hills''" in French. The department of Collines was created in 1999 when it was split off from Zou Department. In 2016, the city of Dassa-Z ...

. The capital of Zou is

Abomey Abomey is the capital of the Zou Department of Benin. The commune of Abomey covers an area of 142 square kilometres and, as of 2012, had a population of 90,195 people. Abomey houses the Royal Palaces of Abomey, a collection of small traditional ...

. Zou is subdivided into nine communes, each centred at one of the principal towns:

, Agbangnizoun,

Bohicon Bohicon or Gbohikon is a city in Benin, and a conurbation of Abomey lying 9 kilometres east of the city on the railway line from Cotonou to Parakou and on Benin's main highway RNIE 2 which joins the RNIE 4. The commune covers an area of 139 squ ...

Cové Cové is a city in the Zou Department of Benin. The commune covers an area of 525 square kilometres and as of 2012 had a population of 43,554 people. Geography Cové is located 40 kilometres from Abomey and 159 kilometres from Cotonou ...

Djidja Djidja is a town, arrondissement, and commune in the Zou Department of south-western Benin. The commune covers an area of 2184 square kilometres and as of 2013 had a population of 123,542 people. Geography Djidja (Djomla) is located 24 kilomet ...

Ouinhi Ouinhi is a town, arrondissement, and commune in the Zou Department of south-western Benin. The commune covers an area of 483 square kilometres and as of 2013 had a population of 59,381 people. It is bounded on the north-west by the commune of ...

Za-Kpota Za-Kpota or Zakpota is a town, arrondissement, and commune in the Zou Department of south-western Benin. It is located 153 kilometres north of Cotonou and 33 kilometres east of Abomey (Bohicon is even closer). History Za-Kpota dates back to 1 ...

, Zangnanado and

Zogbodomey Zogbodomey or Zogbodomè is a town, arrondissement, and commune in the Zou Department of south-western Benin. The commune covers an area of 600 square kilometres and as of 2002 had a population of 72,338 people. Administrative divisions Zogbodo ...

. , the total population of the department was 851,580, with 407,030 males and 444,550 females. The proportion of women was 52.20%. The total rural population was 67.00%, while the urban population was 33.00%. The total labour force in the department was 275,249, of which 50.10% were women. The proportion of households with no level of education was 60.70% and the proportion of households with children attending school was 72.90%.

Geography

Zou Department borders

to the north,

Plateau Department Plateau is one of the twelve departments of Benin. The department of Plateau was created in 1999 with an area of when it was split off from Ouémé Department. Plateau is subdivided into five communes, each centred at one of the principal towns ...

to the east,

Ouémé Department Ouémé is one of the twelve departments of Benin, containing the capital of the country Porto Novo. It is subdivided into nine communes, each centred at one of the principal towns: Adjarra, Adjohoun, Aguégués, Akpro-Missérété, Avrankou, B ...

and

Atlantique Department Atlantique is one of the twelve departments in Benin. The department is located in south-central Benin along the Atlantic coast, between Mono and Kouffo Department in the west, Zou in the north, and Ouémé in the east. The department of Atlant ...

to the south,

Kouffo Department Kouffo or Couffo is one of the twelve departments of Benin. Kouffo borders the country of Togo and the departments of Mono, Zou and Atlantique. Since 2008, the department's capital has been Aplahoué. The department of Kouffo was created in 199 ...

to the south-west, and

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

to the west. The department is characterised by plateaus, ranging from above the mean sea level, which are split by valleys running from north to south, created by the

and Kauoffo River. The southern regions of Benin receive two spells of rain from March to July and September to November, while the northern regions of the country receive one season of rainfall from May to September. The country receives an average annual rainfall of around .

Settlements

is the departmental capital; other major settlements include

and

Zagnanado Zagnanado or Zangnanado is a town, arrondissement, and commune in the Zou Department of southern-central Benin. It is located 47 kilometres from Abomey and 165 kilometres north of Cotonou. The commune covers an area of 750 square kilometres and ...

Demographics

According to Benin's 2013 census, the total population of the department was 851,580, with 407,030 males and 444,550 females. The proportion of women was 52.20%. The total rural population was 67.00%, while the urban population was 33.00%. The proportion of women of childbearing age (15 to 49 years old) was 23.90%. The foreign population was 4,615, representing 0.50% of the total population in the department. The

labour force participation rate Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the referen ...

among foreigners aged 15–64 years was 37.30%. The proportion of women among the foreign population constituted 49.60%. The number of households in the department was 178,698 and the average household size was 4.8. The intercensal growth rate of the population was 3.20%. Among women, the average age at first marriage was 21 and the average age at maternity was 28.6. The synthetic index of fertility of women was 5.1. The average number of families in a house was 1.2 and the average number of persons per room was 1.9. The total labour force in the department was 275,249, of which 50.10% were women. The proportion of households with no level of education was 60.70% and the proportion of households with children attending school was 72.90%. The crude birth rate was 37.8, the general rate of fertility was 158.50 and the gross reproduction rate was 2.50. The majority of the population are the

Fon people The Fon people, also called Fon nu, Agadja or Dahomey, are a Gbe ethnic group.Fon people
Encyclopædia Britan ...

, who comprise 91% of the population. Other groups include the

Aja people Aja or AJA may refer to: Acronyms *AJ Auxerre, a French football club *Ajaccio Napoleon Bonaparte Airport's IATA airport code *Al Jazeera America, an American news channel *American Jewish Archives *''American Journal of Archaeology'' *, a Germa ...

make up 4%;

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 ...

make up 3% of the population;

Aguna An ''agunah'' ( he, עגונה, plural: agunot (); literally "anchored" or "chained") is a Jewish woman who is stuck in her religious marriage as determined by ''halakha'' (Jewish law). The classic case of this is a man who has left on a journey ...

, and Ede.

Administrative divisions

The

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

of Zou was split in 1999, with the northern territory moved to the newly created

. The capital of Zou is

. It is subdivided into nine

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, ...

, each centered at one of the principal towns:

, Agbangnizoun,

, Zangnanado and

. Benin originally had six administrative regions (''départements''), which have now been bifurcated to make 12. Each of the deconcentrated administrative services (''directions départementales'') of the sectoral ministries takes care of two administrative regions. A law passed in 1999 transformed the ''sous-prefectures'', the lowest level of territorial administration, into local governments. Municipalities and communal councils have elected representatives who manage the administration of the regions. The latest elections of the municipal and communal councils were held in May 2020.

References

External links

{{Authority control Departments of Benin