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Benin is a country of six million inhabitants in West Africa,
with borders with Togo, Nigeria, and Niger. The capital is Porto-Novo,
30 km east of Cotonou, the main port and commercial center.
Many languages are spoken in Benin, including Fon and Yoruba.
School is taught in French, and many people can speak French.
More information on Benin can be found in the African Studies WWW/Benin at U. Penn. In addition to the department of mathematics at the University of Benin near Cotonou, Benin is also the host of the Institut de mathematiques et de sciences physiques (IMSP), located in Porto-Novo. This institute was created in 1988 to foster graduate research in mathematics and physics in West Africa. It receives financial support from the Center for Theoretical Physics in Trieste (Italy). I taught a 3-week graduate course at the IMSP in July 1996, and had a very pleasant stay there. Visitors are housed at the Hotel BeauRivage, located on the shore of the laguna and ten minutes by foot from the Institute.
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