Cotonou

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Cotonou

(kōtōno͞o`), city (1992 pop. 536,827), capital of Atlantique prov., S Benin, on the Gulf of Guinea. It is Benin's chief seaport and commercial center. Cotonou's airport and road and rail connections also make it the transportation and communications hub of Benin. The city has small-scale industries; manufactures include palm oil and cake, brewing, textiles, cement and other construction materials, aluminum sheet, beverages, and processed seafood. Motor vehicles and bicycles are assembled, and there are sawmills in the city. Cotonou is a distribution center for petroleum products, and bauxite and iron are exported (primarily to Guinea) from there. Drilling for offshore oil is carried on nearby. Cotonou has research institutes concerned with textiles, tropical agriculture, and geology.

Cotonou was originally a small state that was dominated by the kingdom of Dahomey (see BeninBenin
, officially Republic of Benin, republic (2015 est. pop. 10,576,000), 43,483 sq mi (112,622 sq km), W Africa, bordering on Togo in the west, on Burkina Faso and Niger in the north, on Nigeria in the east, and on the Bight of Benin (an arm of the Gulf of Guinea) in the
..... Click the link for more information. ) from the 18th cent. In 1851 the French made a treaty with the Dahomean king Gezo that allowed them to establish a trading post at Cotonou. In 1883 the French navy forcibly occupied the city to forestall British ambitions in the area. The port was enlarged and modernized in the 1960s.

Cotonou

a city and port in southern Dahomey, on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea. Population, 120,000 (1967). A railroad station. The city exports oil-palm kernels and oil, copra, coffee, and cotton. Beer, oil, and soap are produced in Cotonou. A sawmill is located in the city. Cotonou’s inhabitants engage in wood carving, basket weaving, and other cottage industries.

Cotonou

the chief port and official capital of Benin, on the Bight of Benin. Pop.: 891 000 (2005 est.)

Cotonou

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Words related to Cotonou

noun chief port of Benin on the Bight of Benin

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