Country Profile: Benin

Country Resources

Topographic
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
Togo Regional Series 1:200,000 Scale Topographic MapsDirection de la Cartographie Nationale et du Cadastre1:200,0001984 – 19842
Togo 1:200,000 Scale Topographic Maps (IGN)Institut Geographique National1:200,0001955 – 19897

Geoscientific
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
Benin 1:1,000,000 Scale Geological MapBureau de Recherches Geologiques et Minieres1:1,000,0001960 – 19601
Burkina Faso 1:1,000,000 Scale Geological Map (2003 Edition)Bureau de Recherches Geologiques et Minieres1:1,000,0002003 – 20031
Mali 1:1,500,000 Scale Geological MapsBureau de Recherches Geologiques et Minieres1:1,500,0001980 – 19802
Burkina Faso 1:1,000,000 Scale Mineral Resources MapBureau des Mines et de la Geologie du Burkina Faso (former BUVOGMI)1:1,000,0002012 – 20121
Burkina Faso 1:1,000,000 Scale Mining Concessions MapBureau des Mines et de la Geologie du Burkina Faso (former BUVOGMI)1:1,000,0002012 – 20121
Burkina Faso 1:1,000,000 Scale Geological MapDirection de la Géologie et des Mines, Burkina Faso1:1,000,0001976 – 19761
Niger 1:1,000,000 Scale Geological MapsDirection Generale des Mines et de la Geologie1:1,000,0001961 – 19613
Niger 1:2,000,000 Scale Geological MapsDirection Generale des Mines et de la Geologie1:2,000,0001965 – 19651
Togo 1:200,000 Scale Geological MapsDirection Generale des Mines, de la Geologie et du Bureau National de Recherches Minieres1:200,0001986 – 19865
Togo 1:500,000 Scale Geological MapDirection Generale des Mines, de la Geologie et du Bureau National de Recherches Minieres1:500,0001986 – 19861
Nigeria 1:3,000,000 Scale Geology and Mineral Deposits MapFederal Surveys, Nigeria1:3,000,0001967 – 19671
Ghana 1:1,000,000 Scale Geological MapGhana Geological Survey1:1,000,0002009 – 20091
Ghana 1:1,000,000 Scale Geology and Mineral Resources MapMinerals Commission1:1,000,0002002 – 20021
Nigeria 1:1,000,000 Scale Geological Maps by ZoneNigerian Geological Survey Agency1:1,000,0002006 – 20066
Benin 1:200,000 Scale Geological MapsOffice Béninois des Mines1:200,0001972 – 198911

Thematic
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
The World 1:30,000,000 Scale Topographic Map Series 1145 (NGA)DMA1:30,000,0002

Global Census Archive: GIS Census Data

East View Geospatial has an ongoing effort to add GIS census data to our Global Census Archive program. Please contact us for the status and availability of Benin census resources.


Global Resources

Topographic
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
Soviet Military City PlansVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)Varies1944 – 20033017
Soviet Military 1:100,000 Scale Topographic MapsVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)1:100,0001947 – 199924897
Soviet Military 1:200,000 Scale Topographic MapsVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)1:200,0001949 – 200917799
Soviet Military 1:500,000 Scale Topographic MapsVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)1:500,0001953 – 19983093

Nautical
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
NGA Nautical Charts POD Certified (All Scales)National Geospatial-Intelligence AgencyVaries1943 – 20134517

Aeronautical
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
Joint Operations Graphic (JOG) 1:250,000 – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:250,0001958 – 20074204
Tactical Pilotage Chart (TPC) 1:500,000 Scale – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:500,0001967 – 2006598
Operational Navigation Chart (ONC) 1:1,000,000 Scale – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:1,000,0001969 – 2001243
Jet Navigation Chart (JNC) 1:2,000,000 Scale – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:2,000,0001971 – 1999117
Global Navigation and Planning Chart (GNC) 1:5,000,000 Scale – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:5,000,0001981 – 199927

Geoscientific
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
Soviet Military 1:1,000,000 Scale Topographic MapsVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)1:1,000,0001948 – 19941089

Note: East View Geospatial is continuously sourcing new resources that may not yet be listed in Global Explorer. Please contact us if you have geodata needs beyond what is listed above and we will be happy to discuss available off-the-shelf and custom solutions.


Historical Country Mapping Information

Jump to: Topographic | Geological/Scientific | Soil | Vegetation/Forestry | Cadaster | Tourist/Reference | Census/Demography/Statistics

Topographic

The Republic of Benin (formerly Dahomey) was mapped by the French Institut Géographique National (IGN) in three West African series in the 1950s and 1960s.  The sheets in these series are all graticule-based with International map of the World (IMW) sheet numbering, and the projection is UTM, Clarke 1880 ellipsoid.  The 1:200,000 scale series was compiled from aerial photography flown during the period 1949-1963, and all 19 sheets had been issued by 1972.  The map is in four colours, with 40 m interval contours.  The sheets are now very out-of-date, and a new series was planned in the 1980s on rationalized sheet lines which reduced the number of sheets to nine.  Only one sheet, Abomey, has so far been published. 1:500,000 scale cover was completed in 1969.

The 1:50,000 scale map requires over 160 sheets for complete coverage, but only 77 have been published, mostly before 1980.  These sheets are also in four colours, and the contours are at 20 m intervals.

Although Benin became fully independent in 1960, mapping continued to be carried out by the IGN from Paris and from its center at Dakar.  In 1978, however, Institut National de Cartographie was created in Benin, and assumed responsibility for geodetic, topographic and cadastral survey and cartography.  The organization is now called the Institut Géographique National du Bénin (IGNB), Cotonou.  All recent mapping activity has been substantially dependent on overseas aid, principally from France, but there has also been technical assistance from Nigeria and World Bank support for large scale urban mapping.

A 48 sheet series of 1:25,000 scale maps of the coastal zone was initiated in 1991 as a joint project with IGN, Paris.  The maps are in six colours with 5 m interval contours, and are on a UTM projection.

Soviet military topographic mapping for Benin exists at the the following scales; 1:1,000,000 (3 sheets, complete coverage, published in 1986); 1:500,000 (7 sheets, complete coverage, published in 1985) and 1:200,000 (27 sheets, complete coverage, published 1981-1982).  These products are available in print, digital raster and digital vector GIS formats from East View Geospatial.

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Geological/Scientific

The Office Beninois des Mines (OBEMINES), Cotonou, has been undertaking production of a 1:200,000 series of geological maps to cover the country, to which the former USSR, France and Italy have all contributed.  The first sheet, published in 1984, covered the breadth of the country between 9° and 10° N. In 1989, four further sheets were published, covering the north of the country.  It is also intended to map the sedimentary basin (between 6° and 7°N) at 1:50,000 scale.  A summary map of the whole country at 1:500,000 is also planned. The best available complete coverage remains the 1:2,000,000 Carte géologique de l’Afrique Occidental, published by the French Bureau de Recherche Géologiques et Minières (BRGM) in the 1960s.

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Soil

Soil mapping of Benin has been carried out by the Institut Français de Recherche Scientifique pour le Développement en Coopération (ORSTOM), and includes complete coverage with explanatory texts at 1:200,000 scale, some larger scale mapping of villages, and a single-sheet map of the country at 1:1,000,000 scale.  ORSTOM has also compiled a bathymetric map of the continental shelf adjacent to Benin and Togo.

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Vegetation/Forestry

An important series of environmental maps is the Carte de végétation du Benin 1:100,000.  This programme was initiated in 1993 and by 1997 was almost complete.  It has been produced by the Centre National de Télédétection et de Surveillance du Couvert Forestier (CENATEL) using satellite image processing software and GIS.

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Cadaster

The urban areas of Benin have grown enormously over recent decades, and French aid facilitated the production of urban plans at scales of 1:5,000 and 1:10,000 in the 1980s.  In 1986, the Societé d’Etudes Regionales d’Habitat et d’Aménagement Urbain, Cotonou, was founded with technical and financial support from France.  Its remit includes thematic atlas mapping for the Région Sud and the Région Nord, and the production of maps and development plans for towns and cities. Urban cadastral registers are being established for Parakou, Cotonou and Porto Novo, and an urban reconstruction and development project is being undertaken.  In 1993, the organization became SERHAU-SEM (Société d’Economie Mixte), and the following year acquired MapInfo software.  Since then, the organization has created a multi-thematic digital atlas as part of its Registre Foncicer Urbain de Cotonou.  Similar digital atlases are in preparation for Parakou and Porto Novo.

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Tourist/Reference

A street map of Cotonou was published in 1995 by the Institut Géographique National (IGN), France in association with IGNB.  It includes a grid-referenced index to numbered buildings and to communes, roads and quartiers. For the whole country, there is a general map published by IGN in its Pays et villes d’outre mer series.

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Census/Demography/Statistics

The Institut National de la Statistique et de l’Analyse Economique (INSAE) was created in 1973 in preparation for the first population census, held in 1979.  INSAE has produced census tract maps of the six provinces at scales of 1:100,000 and 1:200,000.

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