Benin - Cotonou

Red Star Square and view of Cotonou, a city in Benin.

 

Sent by my good friend Taouvik of Togo who lives near the border of Togo-Benin.

Cotonou (French pronunciation: [kɔtɔnu]; Fon: Kútɔ̀nú) is the largest city and seat of government of Benin. Its official population count was 679,012 inhabitants in 2012; however, over two million people live in the larger urban area.

The urban area continues to expand, notably toward the west. The city lies in the southeast of the country, between the Atlantic Ocean and Lake Nokoué.

Cotonou is the seat of government of the Republic of Benin, where most of the government buildings are situated, government departments operate and foreign embassies are located, but the official capital, where the national legislature sits, is the smaller city of Porto-Novo.

The name "Cotonou" means "by the river of death" in the Fon language. At the beginning of the 19th century, Cotonou (then spelled "Kutonou") was a small fishing village, and is thought to have been formally founded by King Ghezo of Dahomey in 1830. It grew as a centre for the slave trade, and later palm oil and cotton. In 1851 the French Second Republic made a treaty with King Ghezo that allowed them to establish a trading post at Cotonou. During the reign of King Glele (1858–89), the territory was ceded to the Second French Empire by a treaty signed in 1878. In 1883, the French Navy occupied the city to prevent British conquest of the area (read more).