males: 2,847 (2001 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $17 million (FY98/99)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2.4% (FY98/99)
Belize Transnational Issues
Disputes - international: Guatemala periodically asserts claims to territory in southern Belize; to deter cross-border squatting, both states in 2000 agreed to a "line of adjacency" based on the de facto boundary, which is not recognized by Guatemala
Illicit drugs: minor transshipment point for cocaine; small-scale illicit producer of cannabis for the international drug trade; minor money-laundering center
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@Benin
Benin Introduction
Background: Dahomey gained its independence from France in 1960; the name was changed to Benin in 1975. From 1974 to 1989 the country was a socialist state; free elections were reestablished in 1991.
Benin Geography
Location: Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Nigeria and Togo
Geographic coordinates: 9 30 N, 2 15 E
Map references: Africa
Area: total: 112,620 sq km
land: 110,620 sq km
water: 2,000 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Pennsylvania
Land boundaries: total: 1,989 km
border countries: Burkina Faso 306 km, Niger 266 km, Nigeria 773 km, Togo 644 km
Coastline: 121 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea: 200 NM
Climate: tropical; hot, humid in south; semiarid in north
Terrain: mostly flat to undulating plain; some hills and low mountains
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mont Sokbaro 658 m
Natural resources: small offshore oil deposits, limestone, marble, timber
Land use: arable land: 13%
permanent crops: 4%
permanent pastures: 4%
forests and woodland: 31%
other: 48% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 100 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: hot, dry, dusty harmattan wind may affect north in winter
Environment - current issues: inadequate supplies of potable water; poaching threatens wildlife populations; deforestation; desertification
Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban,
Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: no natural harbors
Benin People
Population: 6,590,782
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2001 est.)
Age structure: 0–14 years: 47.32% (male 1,574,124; female 1,544,741)
15–64 years: 50.38% (male 1,607,900; female 1,712,360)
65 years and over: 2.3% (male 64,756; female 86,901) (2001 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.97% (2001 est.)
Birth rate: 44.23 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Death rate: 14.51 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female
total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 89.68 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 49.94 years
male: 49.02 years
female: 50.88 years (2001 est.)
Total fertility rate: 6.23 children born/woman (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 2.45% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 70,000 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 5,600 (1999 est.)
Nationality: noun: Beninese (singular and plural)
adjective: Beninese
Ethnic groups: African 99% (42 ethnic groups, most important being
Fon, Adja, Yoruba, Bariba), Europeans 5,500
Religions: indigenous beliefs 50%, Christian 30%, Muslim 20%
Languages: French (official), Fon and Yoruba (most common vernaculars in south), tribal languages (at least six major ones in north)
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 37.5%
male: 52.2%
female: 23.6% (2000)
Benin Government
Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Benin
conventional short form: Benin
local long form: Republique du Benin
local
