Population:
7,041,490
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 2003 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 47% (male 1,668,817; female 1,638,291)
15-64 years: 50.7% (male 1,739,517; female 1,834,231)
65 years and over: 2.3% (male 67,504; female 93,130) (2003 est.)
Median age:
total: 16.4 years
male: 15.9 years
female: 16.9 years (2002)
Population growth rate:
2.95% (2003 est.)
Birth rate:
43.15 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Death rate:
13.65 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female
total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2003 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 86.76 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 81.58 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
male: 91.79 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 51.08 years
male: 50.35 years
female: 51.84 years (2003 est.)
Total fertility rate:
6.04 children born/woman (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
3.6% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
120,000 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
8,100 (2001 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: 40.9%
male: 56.2%
female: 26.5% (2000)
NOTE: The information regarding Benin on this page is re-published from the 2003 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Guinea Geography 2003 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Benin People 2003 should be addressed to the CIA.
