Geography
Cotonou is located on the coastal strip between Lake Nokoué and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is cut in two by a canal, the lagoon of Cotonou, dug by the French in 1855. Three bridges are located in this area. The Oueme River flows into the Atlantic Ocean at Cotonou.
The city has established transportation infrastructure including air, sea, river, (to Porto Novo) and land routes that facilitate trade with its neighbors Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Togo.
The erosion of the coast has noted for several decades. It worsened in 1961 following the major work undertaken in Benin with the construction of the Nangbéto dam and deep-water port of Cotonou, in Ghana with the Akossombo Dam and in Togo at the port of Lomé. Houssou Paul, a pilot project funded by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) revealed that in 40 years, the coast to the east of Cotonou fell by 400 meters. This erosion has led many people to leave their homes built along the coast. The Beninese state has decided to prohibit the pumping of sea and sand for the construction of protective dikes.
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