Geography - note:
sandbanks create difficult access to a coast with no natural harbors, river mouths, or islands
People
Benin
Population:
8,532,547 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, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2008 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 45.5% (male 1,978,897/female 1,901,005) 15-64 years: 51.9% (male 2,195,667/female 2,236,458) 65 years and over: 2.6% (male 91,213/female 129,307) (2008 est.)
Median age:
total: 17.1 years male: 16.7 years female: 17.6 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate: