LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Benin: Benin City
built 613 days ago
Benin was an agglomeration of farms enclosed by walls and a ditch. Each clan was subject to the oba (king). The “Benin style” is a court art from the palace of the oba, and has nothing in common with tribal art. The Benin oba employed a guild of artisans who all lived in the same district of the city. Bronze figures ordered by the king were kept in the palace. The empire flourished until 1897, when the palace was sacked by the English in reprisal for an ambush that had cost the British vice-consul his life.
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Cotonou, Benin, is the rapidly expanding population and economic center of Benin. The water supply system, based on groundwater resources, is quite impressive with reliable distribution of treated water throughout the city. Concerns with respect to this water supply are two-fold. First, there is concern that salt water intrusion from Lac Nokoue is threatening the water supply wells. Some of the older wells in the Cotonou well field have been shut-in due to increasing salinity. Second, land-use is changing quickly in the vicinity of Cotonou with rapid encroachment on the wellheads (above).
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The name "Benin" has no proper connection to Kingdom of Benin (or Benin City). The name Dahomey was changed in 1975 to The People's Republic of Benin, named after the body of water on which the country lies, the Bight of Benin. This name was picked due to its neutrality, since the current political boundaries of Benin encompass over fifty distinct linguistic groups and nearly as many individual ethnic groups. The name Dahomey was the name of the ancient Fon Kingdom, and was determined to be an inappropriate name.
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In December 2002, Benin held its first municipal elections since before the institution of Marxism-Leninism. The process was smooth with the significant exception of the 12th district council for Cotonou, the contest that would ultimately determine who would be selected for the mayoralty of the capital city. That vote was marred by irregularities, and the electoral commission was forced to repeat that single election. Nicephore Soglo's Renaisance du Benin (RB) party won the new vote, paving the way for the former president to be elected Mayor of Cotonou by the new city council in February 2002.
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On February 17, 1897, Benin City fell to the British.[1] On that fateful day in history, the city of Benin lost its independence, its sovereignty, its Oba (king), and its control of trade. The aptly-named "punitive expedition" profoundly damaged the cutural foundation of the city. Civic structures were looted and burned to the ground. The ivory at the palace was seized. Nearly 2500 of the famous Benin bronzes and other valuable works of art, including the magnificently carved palace doors, were carried back to Europe. Today, many European & American museums house art treasures from the conquest of Benin City.[1]
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Definition: The modern city of Benin is named after the kingdom in what is now Benin. The kingdom began during the early part of the 2nd millennium AD, reached its height in 15th century AD; and lasted from the Iron Age into the modern age. The Benin culture is known for wonderful cast bronze art work.
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Benin City