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Porto-Novo, population 179,138 (1992), is the official capital of
Benin. It is a port on Porto-Novo Lagoon, an arm of the Gulf of Guinea. Porto-Novo is Benin's second largest city, but it is less important commercially and
industrially than Cotonou. The city is the center of an agricultural region whose
chief product is palm oil. It also exports cotton and kapok.
Porto-Novo was probably founded in the late 16th century. It got its
name from the Portuguese, meaning "New Port", who built a trading post there in the
17th century in order to ship African slaves to the Americas. The Kingdom
of Porto-Novo accepted French "protection" in 1863 in order to fend off British encroachment. However, the
neighboring Kingdom of Abomey resented the French presence, and war broke out. In
1883 the French navy landed at Porto-Novo and Cotonou, and Porto-Novo was incorporated into
the French colony of Dahomey. In 1900 it was
made Dahomey's capital.
The Institute of Higher Studies of Benin is located in the city.
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