Exact population: 7,862,944 note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2006 est.)

Literacy: Total population: 33.6%; male: 46.4%; female: 22.6%

Ethnicities: African 99% (42 ethnic groups, most important being Fon, Adja, Yoruba, Bariba), Europeans 5,500

Area: Total: 112,620 sq km; land: 110,620 sq km; water: 2,000 sq km

Land boundaries: Total: 1,989 km; border countries: Burkina Faso 306 km, Niger 266 km, Nigeria 773 km, Togo 644 km

Terrain: Mostly flat to undulating plain; some hills and low mountains

Extremes: Lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m; highest point: Mont Sokbaro 658 m

Imports: China 32.2%, France 13%, Thailand 6.7%, Cote d''Ivoire 5.3% (2004)

Exports: China 29.5%, India 18.8%, Ghana 6.4%, Niger 6%, Indonesia 4.3%, Nigeria 4.3% (2004)

Industries: Textiles, food processing, construction materials, cement (2001)

Source: CIA World Factbook