Benin was the seat of one of the great medieval African kingdoms. During the 13th century, the indigenous Edo people were run by a group of local chieftains. However, by the 15th century, a single ruler, known as the oba, had asserted control. Under the dynasty established by Ewuare the Great – the most famous of the obas – Benin’s territory expanded to cover a region between the Niger river delta and what is now the Nigerian city of Lagos. The obas brought great prosperity and a highly organised state to Benin. They also established good relations and an extensive trade (which included slaves) with the Portuguese and Dutch, who arrived from the 15th century onwards.

The decline of the obas began in the 18th century, when a series of internal power struggles began, which lasted into the 19th century, paving the way for the French takeover and colonisation of the country in 1872. In 1904, the territory was incorporated into French West Africa as Dahomey. On 4 December 1958, it became the République du Dahomey, self-governing within the French community and gained full independence from France on 1 August 1960. Between 1960 and 1972, a succession of military coups brought about many changes of government; the last of these brought to power Major Mathieu Kérékou. The new ruler, who was at the head of a regime professing strict Marxist-Leninist principles, remained in power until the beginning of the 1990s, when, with French encouragement, the Kérékou government introduced a new democratic constitution and held presidential and legislative elections. Kérékou’s principal opponent at the presidential poll and the ultimate victor was Prime Minister Nicéphore Soglo. Supporters of Soglo also secured a majority in the national assembly.

Benin was thus the first country in the 1990s to successfully effect the transition from dictatorship to a pluralistic political system. In the most recent round of national assembly elections, held in March 1995, Soglo’s political vehicle, the Parti de la Renaissance du Bénin, was the largest single party but lacked an overall majority. The success of a party formed by supporters of ex-president Kérékou, who had officially retired from active politics, encouraged him to stand at both the 1996 and 2001 presidential elections, both of which were successful. On the latter occasion, however, numerous irregularities and dubious practices led to a boycott of the poll by the main opposition candidates.

The latest legislative poll, in March 2003, produced a coalition involving nine parties from across the political spectrum under the rubric of the Mouvance Présidentielle (Presidential Movement). Abroad, Benin has strengthened ties with France (the former colonial power) as well as the USA and the main international lending institutions. It has also adopted a mediating role in the political crises in Liberia and Togo and provided a contribution to the UN force in Haiti, both of which provided an indication of the country’s growing confidence in the international community. Within West Africa, Benin enjoys stable relations with Nigeria, the main regional power. The only significant problem is a long-running border dispute with Benin’s northern neighbour, Niger. In August 2003, Nigeria shut its border with Benin for one week over alleged criminal activity. In November of that year, the International Court of Justice examined the 40-year-old border dispute. Finally, in mid-2003, the two countries agreed to redraw their mutual border and these negotiations are still ongoing.

Under the 1990 constitution, legislative power is in the hands of the 64-member Assemblée Nationale (National Assembly), which is directly elected for a four-year term. The president, who wields executive power assisted by an appointed Cabinet of Ministers, is also directly elected for a five-year term.