Africa
West Africa

Benin

Benin is a country in . You'll find culture through a large collection of palatial ruins and temples of the once powerful Kingdom of Dahomey.
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Photo: Shubert Ciencia, CC BY 2.0.

Essential Destinations

Top destinations include Porto-Novo and Cotonou.

Photo: Babylas, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is the capital of Benin, located on the coast in the southeastern part of the country. Benin’s second largest city of approximately 250,000 people is a nice change of pace from the bustling and has many nice features.

Photo: bigberto, CC BY 2.0.
is the largest city in Benin and the country's primary port of entry for visitors. The city is in the , on the coastline.

Photo: Willem Heerbaart, CC BY 2.0.
, or Agbome, is the capital of the of Benin. The commune of covers an area of 142 square kilometres and, as of 2025, it has a population of 96,974 people.

Destinations to Discover

Explore places such as Southern Benin and Northern Benin.

Photo: jbdodane, CC BY 2.0.
is the lowland region of Benin near the Atlantic Ocean.

Photo: Wegmann, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is the upland region of Benin away from the Atlantic Ocean.

Benin

Latitude of center
9.2° or 9° 12′ north
Longitude of center
2.25° or 2° 15′ east
Population
8,970,000
Area
112,620 km² (43,483 miles²)
Elevation
334 metres (1,096 feet)
Capital
Currency
Franc (XOF)
Phone code
.bj
Internet domain
229
Open­Street­Map ID
node 424297384
Open­Street­Map feature
place=­country
Geo­Names ID
2395170
Wiki­data ID
Q962
This page is based on OpenStreetMap, GeoNames, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikivoyage.
We’d love your help improving our open data sources. Thank you for contributing.

Satellite Map

Discover Benin from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
© Stadia Maps, Airbus DS, CNES, PlanetObserver, and Copernicus

In Other Languages

From Abkhazian to Zulu—“Benin” goes by many names.
  • Abkhazian: “Бенин”
  • Achinese: “Benin”
  • Adyghe: “Бенин”
  • Afrikaans: “Benin”
  • Akan: “Bɛnin”
  • Albanian: “Benin”
  • Albanian: “Benini”
  • Amharic: “ቤኒን”
  • Amis: “Benin”
  • Angika: “बेनिन”
  • Arabic: “بنين”
  • Aragonese: “Benín”
  • Armenian: “Բենին”
  • Arpitan: “Bènin”
  • Assamese: “বেনিন”
  • Asturian: “Benín”
  • Atayal: “Benin”
  • Aymara: “Binin”
  • Azerbaijani: “Benin”
  • Balinese: “Benin”
  • Balinese: “Bénin”
  • Bambara: “Benɛn”
  • Bambara: “Benin”
  • Banjar: “Benin”
  • Bashkir: “Бенин ҡултығына сығыу юлы бар”
  • Bashkir: “Бенин”
  • Basque: “Benin”
  • Bavarian: “Benin”
  • Belarusian: “Бенін”
  • Belarusian: “Бэнін”
  • Belarusian: “Дагамэі”
  • Belarusian: “Рэспубліка Бэнін”
  • Belarusian: “Рэспубліка Бэніну”
  • Bengali: “বেনিন”
  • Betawi: “Bénin”
  • Bhojpuri: “बेनिन”
  • Bishnupriya: “বেনিন”
  • Bislama: “Benin”
  • Bosnian: “Benin”
  • Breton: “Benin”
  • Bulgarian: “Бенин”
  • Burmese: “ဘီနင်”
  • Burmese: “ဘီနင်နိုင်ငံ”
  • Catalan: “Benin”
  • Catalan: “Benín”
  • Catalan: “República de Benín”
  • Cebuano: “Benin”
  • Central Bikol: “Benin”
  • Central Kanuri: “Benin”
  • Central Kurdish: “بێنین”
  • Chavacano: “Benín”
  • Chechen: “Бенин”
  • Cherokee: “ᏆᏂᎢᏂ”
  • Chinese: “Bèiníng”
  • Chinese: “Benin”
  • Chinese: “貝南”
  • Chinese: “貝南共和國”
  • Chinese: “貝寧”
  • Chinese: “貝寧共和國”
  • Chinese: “贝宁 / 貝南”
  • Chinese: “贝宁”
  • Chinese: “贝宁共和国”
  • Chuvash: “Бенин”
  • Cornish: “Benin”
  • Corsican: “Benin”
  • Corsican: “Republica di u Benin”
  • Corsican: “Ripublica di u Benin”
  • Crimean Tatar: “Benin”
  • Croatian: “Benin”
  • Czech: “Benin”
  • Czech: “Bénin”
  • Dagbani: “Benin”
  • Danish: “Benin”
  • Dhivehi: “ބެނީން”
  • Dimli (individual language): “Benin”
  • Dotyali: “बेनिन”
  • Dutch: “BEN”
  • Dutch: “Benin”
  • Dutch: “BJ”
  • Dutch: “Republiek Benin”
  • Dzongkha: “བྷེ་ནིན”
  • Dzongkha: “བཱེ་ནིན།”
  • Dzongkha: “བཱེ་ནིན”
  • Eastern Mari: “Бенин”
  • Egyptian Arabic: “بينين”
  • Esperanto: “Benino”
  • Esperanto: “BJ”
  • Esperanto: “Respubliko Benino”
  • Estonian: “Benin”
  • Estonian: “Benini Vabariik”
  • Ewe: “Benɛ̃”
  • Ewe: “Benin nutome”
  • Ewe: “Benin”
  • Extremaduran: “Benín”
  • Farefare: “Benin”
  • Faroese: “Benin”
  • Fiji Hindi: “Benin”
  • Finnish: “Benin”
  • Finnish: “Beninin tasavalta”
  • Fon: “Benɛɛ”
  • Fon: “Benɛɛtò”
  • French: “Benin”
  • French: “Bénin”
  • French: “BJ”
  • French: “la République du Bénin”
  • French: “République du Bénin”
  • Fulah: “Benee”
  • Fulah: “Benen”
  • Gagauz: “Benin”
  • Galician: “Benin”
  • Galician: “Benín”
  • Galician: “República de Benín”
  • Ganda: “Benin”
  • Ganda: “Benini”
  • Georgian: “ბენინი”
  • German: “Benin”
  • Ghanaian Pidgin English: “BEN”
  • Ghanaian Pidgin English: “Benin”
  • Ghanaian Pidgin English: “Republic of Benin”
  • Gilaki: “بنين”
  • Greek: “Μπενίν”
  • Greek: “Μπένιν”
  • Guarani: “Mbenĩ”
  • Guianese Creole French: “Bénen”
  • Gujarati: “બેનિન”
  • Gun: “Benẹ”
  • Haitian: “Benen”
  • Hakka Chinese: “Benin”
  • Hausa: “Benin”
  • Hausa: “Binin”
  • Hebrew: “בנין”
  • Hindi: “बेनिन”
  • Hungarian: “Benin”
  • Hungarian: “Benini Köztársaság”
  • Hungarian: “Dahomania”
  • Hungarian: “Dahomey”
  • Icelandic: “Benín”
  • Ido: “Benin”
  • Igbo: “Benin”
  • Igbo: “Binin”
  • Iloko: “Benin”
  • Inari Sami: “Benin täsiväldi”
  • Inari Sami: “Benin”
  • Indonesian: “Benin”
  • Interlingua: “Benin”
  • Interlingue: “Benin”
  • Irish: “Beinin”
  • Irish: “Poblacht Bheinin”
  • Italian: “Benin”
  • Italian: “Repubblica del Benin”
  • Jamaican Creole English: “Benin”
  • Japanese: “ベナン”
  • Japanese: “ベナン共和国”
  • Japanese: “ベニン”
  • Japanese: “ベニン共和国”
  • Japanese: “貝甯”
  • Javanese: “Bénin”
  • Kabiyè: “Peenɛɛ”
  • Kabuverdianu: “Benin”
  • Kabyle: “Benin”
  • Kalaallisut: “Benin”
  • Kalmyk: “Бенинмудин Орн”
  • Kannada: “ಬೆನಿನ್”
  • Kara-Kalpak: “Benin”
  • Kashmiri: “بِنِن”
  • Kazakh: “Бенин”
  • Khmer: “បេណាំង”
  • Kikuyu: “Benin”
  • Kikuyu: “Benini”
  • Kinyarwanda: “Bene”
  • Kirghiz: “Бенин”
  • Komering: “Benin”
  • Kongo: “Benin”
  • Korean: “BEN”
  • Korean: “다호메이”
  • Korean: “베냉 공화국”
  • Korean: “베냉”
  • Korean: “베넹”
  • Korean: “베닌”
  • Kotava: “Benina”
  • Kurdish: “Bênîn”
  • Kurdish: “بنین”
  • Ladin: “Benin”
  • Ladino: “Benin”
  • Lao: “ເບນິນ”
  • Lao: “ປະເທດເບແນັງ”
  • Latin: “Beninum”
  • Latvian: “Benina”
  • Latvian: “Beninas Republika”
  • Latvian: “Dahomeja”
  • Ligurian: “Benin”
  • Limburgan: “Benin”
  • Lingala: “Benɛ”
  • Lingala: “Bénin”
  • Lingala: “Bɛnɛ́”
  • Lingua Franca Nova: “Benin”
  • Literary Chinese: “貝寧”
  • Lithuanian: “Beninas”
  • Livvi: “Benin”
  • Lojban: “benin”
  • Lojban: “la benin”
  • Lojban: “lo gugdebuju”
  • Lombard: “Benin”
  • Low German: “Benin”
  • Lower Sorbian: “Benin”
  • Luba-Katanga: “Bene”
  • Lule Sami: “Benijnna”
  • Luxembourgish: “Benin”
  • Macedo-Romanian: “Benin”
  • Macedonian: “Бенин”
  • Maithili: “बेनिन”
  • Malagasy: “Benin”
  • Malagasy: “Benina”
  • Malagasy: “Benîno”
  • Malay: “Benin”
  • Malayalam: “ബെനിന്‍”
  • Malayalam: “ബെനിൻ”
  • Maltese: “Benin”
  • Maltese: “il-Benin”
  • Maltese: “Repubblika tal-Benin”
  • Manx: “BEN”
  • Manx: “Benin”
  • Manx: “BJ”
  • Manx: “Dahomey”
  • Manx: “Venin”
  • Maori: “Pēnina”
  • Marathi: “बेनिन”
  • Mazanderani: “بنین”
  • Min Dong Chinese: “Benin”
  • Min Nan Chinese: “Benin”
  • Min Nan Chinese: “Bénin”
  • Minangkabau: “Benin”
  • Mingrelian: “ბენინი”
  • Mirandese: “Benin”
  • Moksha: “Бэнин”
  • Mongolian: “Бенин”
  • Moroccan Arabic: “بينين”
  • Mossi: “Bënìn”
  • N'Ko: “ߓߣߍ߫”
  • Nauru: “Benin”
  • Nepali: “बेनिन”
  • Newari: “बेनिन”
  • Nigerian Pidgin: “Benin”
  • North Ndebele: “Bhenini”
  • Northern Frisian: “Beniin”
  • Northern Frisian: “Dahomey”
  • Northern Luri: “بنین”
  • Northern Sami: “Benin dásseváldi”
  • Northern Sami: “Benin”
  • Northern Sami: “Benina dásseváldi”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Benin”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Republikken Benin”
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: “Benin”
  • Norwegian: “Benin”
  • Novial: “Benin”
  • Nyanja: “Benin”
  • Obolo: “Bènè”
  • Occitan (post 1500): “Benin”
  • Old English (ca. 450-1100): “Benin”
  • Oriya: “ବେନିନ”
  • Oriya: “ବେନିନ୍”
  • Oromo: “Beeniin”
  • Ossetian: “Бенин”
  • Pali: “बेनिन”
  • Pampanga: “Benin”
  • Panjabi: “ਬੇਨਿਨ”
  • Papiamento: “Benin”
  • Pedi: “Benin”
  • Pennsylvania German: “Benin”
  • Persian: “بنین”
  • Piemontese: “Benin”
  • Pitcairn-Norfolk: “Benin”
  • Polish: “Benin”
  • Portuguese: “Benim”
  • Portuguese: “Benin”
  • Portuguese: “República do Benim”
  • Portuguese: “República do Benin”
  • Pushto: “بینن”
  • Pushto: “بېنين”
  • Quechua: “Benín”
  • Quechua: “Binin”
  • Quechua: “Pinin”
  • Romanian: “Benin”
  • Romansh: “Benin”
  • Rundi: “Bene”
  • Russia Buriat: “Бенин”
  • Russian: “Бенин”
  • Russian: “Республика Бенин”
  • Rusyn: “Бенін”
  • Sakizaya: “Benin”
  • Samoan: “Benin”
  • Samogitian: “Benins”
  • Sango: “Benëen”
  • Sanskrit: “बेनिन्”
  • Santali: “ᱫᱟᱦᱳᱢᱮ”
  • Santali: “ᱵᱮᱱᱤᱱ”
  • Sardinian: “Benin”
  • Sardinian: “Benìn”
  • Saterfriesisch: “Benin”
  • Scots: “Benin”
  • Scottish Gaelic: “Beinin”
  • Serbian: “Benin”
  • Serbian: “Бенин”
  • Serbo-Croatian: “Benin”
  • Shan: “မိူင်းပႄႇၼိၼ်း”
  • Shona: “Benin”
  • Shona: “Benini”
  • Shona: “Bhenini”
  • Sicilian: “Benin”
  • Silesian: “Bynin”
  • Silesian: “Byńin”
  • Sindhi: “بينن”
  • Sinhala: “ඩහෝමි”
  • Sinhala: “බෙනින් ජනරජය”
  • Sinhala: “බෙනින්”
  • Skolt Sami: “Beniin tääʹssväʹldd”
  • Skolt Sami: “Beniin”
  • Slovak: “Benin”
  • Slovak: “Beninská republika”
  • Slovenian: “Benin”
  • Somali: “Benin”
  • Somali: “Biniin”
  • South Azerbaijani: “بنین”
  • Southern Dagaare: “Benin”
  • Southern Sotho: “Benin”
  • Spanish: “Benin”
  • Spanish: “Benín”
  • Spanish: “Dahomey”
  • Spanish: “Republica de Benin”
  • Spanish: “República de Benín”
  • Standard Moroccan Tamazight: “ⴱⵉⵏⵉⵏ”
  • Sundanese: “Bénin”
  • Swahili: “Benin”
  • Swahili: “Benini”
  • Swati: “IBhenini”
  • Swedish: “Benin”
  • Swedish: “Republiken Benin”
  • Swiss German: “Benin”
  • Tachelhit: “Benin”
  • Tachelhit: “Binin”
  • Tagalog: “Benin”
  • Tajik: “Бенин”
  • Talysh: “Benin”
  • Tamil: “பெனின்”
  • Taroko: “Benin”
  • Tatar: “Бенин”
  • Telugu: “బెనిన్”
  • Thai: “เบนิน”
  • Thai: “ประเทศเบนิน”
  • Tibetan: “བཱེ་ནིན།”
  • Tibetan: “བེ་ནིན།”
  • Tigrinya: “ቤኒን”
  • Tonga (Tonga Islands): “Penini”
  • Tornedalen Finnish: “Benin”
  • Tosk Albanian: “Benin”
  • Tsonga: “Benin”
  • Tumbuka: “Benin”
  • Tunisian Arabic: “بنين”
  • Turkish: “Benin”
  • Turkmen: “Benin”
  • Twi: “Benin”
  • Tyap: “Bene”
  • Tyap: “Bini”
  • Tyap: “Ri̱pobi̱lik Bini”
  • Udmurt: “Бенин”
  • Uighur: “بېنىن”
  • Ukrainian: “Бенін”
  • Ukrainian: “Республіка Бенін”
  • Upper Sorbian: “Benin”
  • Urdu: “بینن”
  • Uzbek: “Benin”
  • Venetian: “Benin”
  • Venetian: “Bènin”
  • Veps: “Benin”
  • Veps: “Beninan Tazovaldkund”
  • Vietnamese: “Bê-nanh (Benin)”
  • Vietnamese: “Bê-nanh”
  • Vietnamese: “Benin”
  • Vietnamese: “Bénin”
  • Vietnamese: “Cộng hòa Benin”
  • Vlax Romani: “Benin”
  • Volapük: “Beninän”
  • Võro: “Benin”
  • Waray (Philippines): “Benin”
  • Welsh: “Benin”
  • Western Armenian: “Պենին”
  • Western Balochi: “بینین”
  • Western Frisian: “Benin”
  • Western Frisian: “Benyn”
  • Western Mari: “Бенин”
  • Western Panjabi: “بنین”
  • Western Panjabi: “بینین”
  • Wolof: “Bene”
  • Wolof: “Benee”
  • Wu Chinese: “贝宁”
  • Yakut: “Бенин”
  • Yiddish: “בענין”
  • Yoruba: “Bẹ̀nẹ̀”
  • Yoruba: “Benin”
  • Yoruba: “Orílẹ́ède Bẹ̀nẹ̀”
  • Yue Chinese: “貝寧”
  • Zeeuws: “Benin”
  • Zhuang: “Benin”
  • Zulu: “i-Benin”
  • Zulu: “IBenini”
  • “Benin”
  • “Benins”
  • “ma Penen”
  • “बेनिन”

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About Mapcarta. Data © OpenStreetMap contributors and available under the Open Database License". Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, except for photos, directions, and the map. Description text is based on the Wikivoyage page “Benin”. Photo: Shubert Ciencia, CC BY 2.0.