home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
/ The Guinness Encyclopedia / The Guinness Encyclopedia - Wayzata Technology (3221-1B) (Disc 2) (1995).iso / countrie / countrie.s / card_8552.xml < prev    next >
Extensible Markup Language  |  1995-06-15  |  3KB  |  19 lines
  1. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
  2. <!DOCTYPE card PUBLIC "-//Apple, Inc.//DTD card V 2.0//EN" "" >
  3. <card>
  4.     <id>8552</id>
  5.     <filler1>0</filler1>
  6.     <cantDelete> <false /> </cantDelete>
  7.     <showPict> <true /> </showPict>
  8.     <dontSearch> <false /> </dontSearch>
  9.     <owner>5472</owner>
  10.     <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stylesheet_3106.css" />
  11.     <content>
  12.         <layer>background</layer>
  13.         <id>31</id>
  14.         <text><span class="style42"></span><span class="style12">BENIN</span><span class="style14"></span><span class="style42">Official name:</span><span class="style13"> La R├⌐publique du B├⌐nin (Republic of Benin)</span><span class="style42">Member of: </span><span class="style13">UN, OAU, ECOWAS</span><span class="style42">Area: </span><span class="style13">112622 km2 (43484 sq mi)</span><span class="style42">Population: </span><span class="style13">5090000 (1993 est)</span><span class="style42">Capital: </span><span class="style13">Porto-Novo 208000 (1983 est)</span><span class="style42">Other major city:</span><span class="style13"> Cotonou 487000 (1983 est)</span><span class="style42">Languages: </span><span class="style13">French (official), Fon (47%), Adja (12%)</span><span class="style42">Religions: </span><span class="style13">Animist (61%), Sunni Islam (16%)</span><span class="style42">GOVERNMENT</span><span class="style13">A President and a 64-member National Assembly are elected by universal adult suffrage for four years.</span><span class="style42">GEOGRAPHY</span><span class="style13">In the northwest, the Atacora Massif reaches 635 m (2083 ft); in the northeast, plains slope down to the Niger Valley. The plateau of central Benin fall in the south to a low fertile region. A narrow coastal plain is backed by lagoons. </span><span class="style42">Climate: </span><span class="style13">The north is tropical; the south is equatorial.</span><span class="style42">ECONOMY</span><span class="style13">The economy is based on agriculture, which occupies the majority of the labor force. The main food crops are cassava (manioc), yams and maize; the principal cash crop is palm oil. In the late 1980s, central planning was abandoned in favor of a market economy. </span><span class="style42">Currency: </span><span class="style13">CFA franc.</span><span class="style42">HISTORY</span><span class="style13">Benin was called Dahomey until 1975. From the 17th to the 19th centuries the kingdom of Dahomey was one of the principal slave trading states of West Africa. In the 1890s, Dahomey was conquered by the French. Political turmoil followed independence in 1960, and five coups took place between 1963 and 1972, when a Marxist-Leninist government came to power. A multi-party system was restored in 1991.</span></text>
  15.     </content>
  16.     <name>Benin</name>
  17.     <script></script>
  18. </card>
  19.