Benin City
317744
224504557
2008-07-09T03:54:06Z
130.132.143.49
{{distinguish|Benin}}
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'''Benin City''', a city (2006 est. pop. 1,147,188) in [[Edo State, Nigeria|Edo State]], southern [[Nigeria]], is a city approximately twenty-five miles North of the [[Benin River]]. It is situated 200 miles by road east of [[Lagos]]. Benin is the center of Nigeria's [[rubber]] industry, but processing [[oil palm|palm nuts]] for [[Palm oil|oil]] is still an important traditional industry.<ref name="columbia encyclopedia">[http://bartleby.com/65/be/BeninNig.html ''Benin, City, Nigeria,''] The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2005 Columbia University Press. Retrieved [[February 18]], [[2007]]</ref>
==History==
[[Image:Benin.jpg|thumb|250px|Drawing of Benin City made by an English officer, 1897]]
[[Image:RingRoad-BeninCity.jpg|thumb|Statue on Ring Road in Benin City]]
Founded around the 10th century, Benin served as the capital of the [[Kingdom of Benin]], the empire of the [[Oba of Benin]], which flourished from the 14th through the 17th century. No trace remains of the structures admired by European travelers to "the Great Benin." After Benin was visited by the Portuguese in about 1485, historical Benin grew rich during the 16th and 17th centuries on the slave trade with [[Europe]], carried in [[Netherlands|Dutch]] and [[Portugal|Portuguese]] ships, as well as through the export of some tropical products.<ref name="columbia encyclopedia"/>
The [[Bight of Benin]]'s shore was part of the so-called "[[Slave Coast]]", from where many West Africans were sold (usually by local rulers) to foreign slave traders. In the early 16th century the Oba sent an ambassador to [[Lisbon]], and the [[King of Portugal]] sent [[Christian]] [[missionaries]] to Benin. Some residents of Benin could still speak a [[pidgin]] Portuguese in the late 19th century.
The city and kingdom of Benin declined after 1700, with the decline in the European slave trade, but revived in the 19th century with the development of the trade in palm products with [[Europe]]ans. To preserve Benin's independence, bit by bit the Oba banned the export of goods from Benin, until the trade was exclusively in palm oil.
On [[1 February]] [[1852]] the whole [[Bight of Benin]] became a British protectorate, where a [[Consul (representative)]] represented the protector, until on 6 August 1861 the [[Bights of Biafra and Benin]] became a united British protectorate, again under a British Consul.
On [[February 17]], [[1897]], Benin City fell to the British.<ref name="columbia encyclopedia"/> In the "[[Punitive Expedition]]", a 1200-strong British force, under the command of Admiral [[Sir Harry Rawson]], conquered and burned the city, destroying much of the country’s treasured art and dispersing nearly all that remained. The "[[Benin Bronzes]]", portrait figures, busts, and groups created in [[iron]], carved [[ivory]], and especially in [[brass]] (conventionally called "bronze"), were taken from the city by the British and are displayed in [[museum]]s around the world.<ref name="columbia encyclopedia"/>
The defeat, capture and subjugation of Benin paved the way for British military occupation and the merging of later regional British conquests into the [[Niger Coast Protectorate]], the [[Protectorate of Southern Nigeria]] and finally, into the Colony and Protectorate of [[Nigeria]]. The Benin monarchy was restored in 1914, but true power lay with the colonial administration of [[Nigeria]].
In September 1967, during the [[Nigerian Civil War]], the city was captured by [[Republic of Biafra|Biafran]] forces on their way to [[Lagos]]. It later became the capital of the short-lived [[Republic of Benin]].
==Education==
Benin City is home to two of Nigeria's premier academic instutions, namely, The [[University of Benin (Nigeria)|University of Benin]] and [[Benson Idahosa University]], the former being government owned, and the latter, a private university.
==Culture==
Attractions in the city include the [[Benin City National Museum]], the [[Oba's Palace]], and various festivals and the Benin Moats measuring about 20 to 40 Ft.
==Crime==
Young men known as "Yahoo Boys" use the city's cybercafés to Email scam letters using schemes such as 419 or [[Advance-fee fraud]].<ref>"As Yahoo Boys take over Edo Cybercafés," Nigerian Tribune, 24 March 2008</ref> Other scams use confidence schemes based on charitable donations to non-existent Christian ministries. The government is trying to end Internet fraud, but the problem persists.
==References==
<references/>
==Bibliography==
*[[Dmitri Bondarenko|Bondarenko]] D. M. A Homoarchic Alternative to the Homoarchic State: Benin Kingdom of the 13th - 19th Centuries. [[Social Evolution & History]]. 2005. Vol. 4, No 2. P. 18-88.
==External links==
*[http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Nigeria.htm#Republic%20of%20Benin WorldStatesmen- Nigeria]
*[http://www.blackhistorypages.net/pages/fallbenin.php The Fall of Benin]
{{coor title d|6.3176|N|5.6145|E|region:NG_type:city(1147188)}}
[[Category:Cities, towns and villages in Edo State]]
[[Category:Nigerian state capitals]]
[[Category:Benin City| ]]
[[ar:مدينة بنين]]
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[[pt:Cidade Benim]]
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[[zh:贝宁城]]