My country Republic of Benin

I have lived in Republic of Benin for 30 years. I am Beninese. 

Porto-Novo is the capital and Cotonou is the seat of government. 

I traveled many times by car from Cotonou to Niamey (to visit my Dad) 1034 km, 643 miles, 13 hours non-stop trip.

Bénin, slightly smaller than the US state Pennsylvania, is a french speaking west African nation, birthplace of the vodun religion, home to the former Dahomey kingdom, from north to south, a long stretched country, situated east of Togo, west of Nigeria, it is bordered to the north by Burkina Faso and Niger, in south by the Bight of Benin.

Benin’s former name until 1975 was Dahomey.

People speak Fon and Yoruba and Hausa and Dendi.

The two ethnicities that now dominate southern Benin are the Adja and Fon, originated from Tado in Togo. 

According to Beninese lore ; the fon are descendants of a mystic couple : A Tado princess named Aligbonon and a spirit in the body of a panther. Their son, Agassou, founded the Fon. Agassou left tado for political reasons in the 16th century and settled to form the kingdom of Allada, based 40 kilometres north of present-day Cotonou.

The Dahomey kingdom became the dominant power in the region and extended its territory through impressive military warfare. Dahomey flourished because of direct involvement in the growing slave trade during the 18th and 19th centuries.

One key to Dahomey’s militia success was the kingdom possession of an elite militia of women warriors known as Mino, « our mothers’ in Fon » Most of whom were recruited from the king’s hundreds of wives called Ahosi, they were also the king’s personal body guards. The Mino earned their popularized name « Amazons » from the French legionnaires whom they thought.

Benin was a French colony, gained independence the 1stof August 1960 

Ran by Kerekou with his Marxist Leninist principles, and in 1989 finally free elections (the year I got married in the oasis)

In Benin, you can find zemidjan (motorcycle taxi) similar to a scooter ; zemidjans are unionized and wear yellow shirts with a registration number on the back. 

If you are a "yovo" you must negotiate the price otherwise you will pay more than a Beninese.

Yovo is the Fon word for "white person." This term can be extended to anyone who is not black, including Beninese people with lighter skin tones. 

In Niger the word for white person is Anasara and you can also hear it in Parakou, Kandi, Malanville (border between Benin and Niger)

There is a yovo song : "Yovo, Yovo, Bonsoir, Ca va bien ? Merci!"

In Cotonou, people gather at the Buvettes, typically an open air bar that sells beer, soft drinks, and bottled water.

In Cotonou, if you hear the word "doucement" (slowly) A Beninese-French word used for a variety of expressions : including, "watch out", "be careful" , "excuse me"

If you visit Cotonou, you must try the Maquis ; a casual, open-air restaurant, with a buvette or bar, serving local cuisine by the plate from large cauldrons and coolers.

And if you are invited to a wedding, you must stop by the market to buy a pagne ; a piece of fabric used as a simple wrap or tailored into traditional outfits.

If you want to visit Ganvié, a lake village in Lake Nokoué, you will use the pirogue ; a dugout canoe commonly made from Samba, iroko, or other local trees.

The most economically important product is cotton, which generates about 40% of Benin GDP. Other exports, palm oil, cashews, shea butter, livestock, seafood.

Benin has beautiful beaches, 

laggons in the south, vast savannas, hills, waterfalls in the north, thriving markets, rural settlements along the mighty Mono River to the west, you can go hippo-spotting on Lake Doukon, enjoy the palm-fringed beaches of Grand Popo, or float through the stilt lagoon community of Ganvié, hiking on the granite hills of the Central Collines region, the north offers animal safaris in the national parks, on the plains of the upper Atakora and Alibori regions.