Economy of Benin, Its People, Culture & Flag

Most of the population of Benin lives in the rural areas, only about 43 percent live in urban areas.

The flag of Benin is made up of two equal horizontal bands - yellow at the top and red with a vertical

green band on the hoist side.
Please click here to view the Flag of Benin

The economy of Benin is mainly dependent on agriculture. In the past five years, Benin had managed to bring stability in real output, but growing population soon made it instable. Most of the enterprises in Benin were nationalized in the 1970s, but worsening economic conditions forced the government to sell most of them in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Now the government of Benin plans to attract more foreign investment, place more emphasis on tourism, facilitate the development of new food processing systems and agricultural products, and encourage new information and communication technology. The national budget in 1993 anticipated $272 million in revenues and $375 million in spending. In 2001 the gross domestic product (GDP) was $2.4 billion.