s):
4 (2002)

Internet users:
70,000 (2003)

Transportation Benin

Railways:
total: 578 km
narrow gauge: 578 km 1.000-m gauge (2004)

Highways:
total: 6,787 km
paved: 1,357 km (including 10 km of expressways)
unpaved: 5,430 km (1999 est.)

Waterways:
150 km (on River Niger along northern border) (2004)

Ports and harbors:
Cotonou

Airports:
5 (2004 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2004 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 4
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2004 est.)

Military Benin

Military branches:
Army, Navy, Air Force

Military service age and obligation:
21 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; in
practice, volunteers may be taken at the age of 18; both sexes are
eligible for military service; conscript tour of duty - 18 months
(2004)

Manpower available for military service:
males age 21-49: 1,207,071
females age 21-49: 1,216,180 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:
males age 21-49: 670,170
females age 21-49: 630,078 (2005 est.)

Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males: 72,841
females: 71,428 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$96.5 million (2004)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
2.4% (2004)

Transnational Issues Benin

Disputes - international:
two villages remain in dispute along the border with Burkina Faso;
accuses Burkina Faso of moving boundary pillars; much of Benin-Niger
boundary, including tripoint with Nigeria, remains undemarcated, and
the states expect a ruling in 2005 from the ICJ over the disputed
Niger and Mekrou River islands; a joint task force was established
in 2004 that resolved disputes over and redrew the maritime and the
870-km land boundary with Nigeria, including the sovereignty over
seven villages along the Okpara River; a joint boundary commission
continues to resurvey the boundary with Togo to verify Benin's claim
that Togo moved boundary stones

Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for narcotics associated with Nigerian
trafficking organizations and most commonly destined for Western
Europe and the US; vulnerable to money laundering due to a poorly
regulated financial infrastructure

This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005

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