Benin, formerly Dahomey

LOCALITIES ARE LISTED BELOW GENERAL INFORMATION

Officially the Republic of Benin, this country in Western Africa borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. The short coastline on the south leads to the Bight of Benin. Its capital is the Yoruba, but the seat of government is the Fon city of Cotonou. A democratic government existed between 1960 and 1972. A repressive Marxist-Leninist dictatorship took over between 1972 and 1991. Multiparty elections have taken place since 1991. About a third of the population live below the international poverty line with the income sources being subsistence agriculture and cotton. [August 2009]

THE JEWISH COMMUNITY

Jews of the Bilad al-Sudan (אַהַל יַהוּדּ בִּלַדּ אַל סוּדָּן, Judeo-Arabic) are those West African Jewish communities connected to known Jewish communities from the Middle East, North Africa, or Spain and Portugal. [August 2009]