An Up-to-Date Geographical, Historical, Political and Economic Summary of the African Countries

Geography: 2.1. Situation: Benin is situated between 0"40 'E and 3"40'E, 6"N and 12"30'N, in the Gulf of Guinea, West-Africa. 2.2. Total area: 112 622 km 2 2.3. Natural regions: a 5 km wide sandy coastal strip is sepa-rated from the rest of the country by lagoons. North of these lagoons there are plains, reaching up to 10N, where the Dassa plateaux divide the country into two hydrographic zones. North of the Dassa plateaux is the Atacara Mountain range with rivers streaming NE to the Niger, while the rivers of the plain discharge in the lagoons or in the sea. 2.4. Climate: hot and moist in the south with two rainy seasons and two dry seasons. Rainfall decreases towards the north. The northern region has one dry season, during which the Harmattan blows, and one rainy season

Cartography · Dry season · Geography · Hydrography · Physical geography · Wet season · Agriculture and Rural Development Research · Geology · Oceanography