Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Benin, between Nigeria and Togo.
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Fraternité, Justice, Travail (French) "Fraternity, Justice, Labour" |  | 9.1237921N 2.1533203E |
 President Yayi Boni |  |
CapitalPorto-Novo
Government
Multiparty democracy
Religion
Christian 42.8% (Catholic 27.1%, Celestial 5%, Methodist 3.2%, other Protestant 2.2%, other 5.3%), Muslim 24.4%, Vodoun 17.3%, other 15.5%.
Population
9,056,010
Ethnic group
Fon and related 39.2%, Adja and related 15.2%, Yoruba and related 12.3%, Bariba and related 9.2%, Peulh and related 7%, Ottamari and related 6.1%, Yoa-Lokpa and related 4%, Dendi and related 2.5%, other 1.6% (includes Europeans), unspecified 2.9%.
National Language
Fon
National Day
1 August 1960 (from France)
Anthem
L'Aube Nouvelle (French) The Dawn of a New Day
Currency
West African CFA franc (XOF)
Attractions
Abomey Royal Palaces, Ganvie Stilt Village
Website
Art & Cultural
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The ICON
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The Royal Palaces of Abomey
The royal palaces of Abomey are a group of earthen structures built by the Fon people between the mid-17th and late 19th Centuries. One of the most famous and historically significant traditional sites in West Africa, the palaces form one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The town was surrounded by a mud wall with a circumference estimated at six miles (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911), pierced by six gates, and protected by a ditch five feet deep, filled with a dense growth of prickly acacia, the usual defence of West African strongholds. Within the walls were villages separated by fields, several royal palaces, a market-place and a large square containing the barracks. In November 1892, Behanzin, the last independent reigning king of Dahomey, being defeated by French colonial forces, set fire to Abomey and fled northward. The French colonial administration rebuilt the town and connected it with the coast by a railroad. When UNESCO designated the royal palaces of Abomey as a World Heritage Site in 1985 it stated From 1625 to 1900 twelve kings succeeded one another at the head of the powerful Kingdom of Abomey. With the exception of King Akaba, who used a separate enclosure, they each had their palaces built within the same cob-wall area, in keeping with previous palaces as regards the use of space and materials. The royal palaces of Abomey are a unique reminder of this vanished kingdom. From 1993, 50 of the 56 bas-reliefs that formerly decorated the walls of King Glèlè (now termed the 'Salle des Bijoux') have been located and replaced on the rebuilt structure. The bas-reliefs carry an iconographic program expressing the history and power of the Fon people. Today, the city is of less importance, but is still popular with tourists and as a centre for crafts. |
1-Letter from Embassy of Benin in Denmark.
2-Reply from Zime Songbian Embassy of Benin.
Description of religion voodoo's power source, they slaughter a goat, in honour of the python spirit at the heart of the voodoo religion, the cutely named 'Dangbe', who has his own Ouidah temple housing over 400 royal pythons pampered by snake cult devotees.
link: http://www.kittivisianlife.com/articles/01-2012/benin-rue-des-esclaves.
Which is a 2 mile route that captured Africans were made to walk. The road leads to the sea where the slaves were made to board ships and were taken to their lives of bondage in the West. This walk began at Chacha Place, the site of the slave market where the captured would have been auctioned and branded. We stood in a courtyard under a large tree and read the first of many statues scattered along the path that we were about to take.
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