Cové is a city in the

Zou Department Zou is one of the twelve departments of Benin, named for the Zou River which travels through the department before emptying into the Atlantic in the south of the country. The department of Zou was split in two in 1999, with the northern territor ...

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...

. The commune covers an area of 525 square kilometres and as of 2012 had a population of 43,554 people.

Geography

Cové is located 40 kilometres from

Abomey Abomey is the capital of the Zou Department of Benin. The commune of Abomey covers an area of 142 square kilometres and, as of 2012, had a population of 90,195 people. Abomey houses the Royal Palaces of Abomey, a collection of small traditional ...

and 159 kilometres from

Cotonou Cotonou (; fon, Kútɔ̀nú) is a city in Benin. Its official population count was 679,012 inhabitants in 2012; however, over two million people live in the larger urban area. The urban area continues to expand, notably toward the west. The ci ...

. The commune covers an area of 525 square kilometres and the Zou Ouémé river passes through it. It is bounded to the north by

Dassa-Zoumé Dassa-Zoumé, also known as Igbo Idaasha or simply Dassa, is a city in central Benin, on the Cotonou-to- Parakou railway and the main north-south highway. It is the capital of Collines Department. The commune covers an area of , and as of 2013 ...

, east by Zagnanado, south by Zogbodomey, and west by Djidja and

Za-Kpota Za-Kpota or Zakpota is a town, arrondissement, and commune in the Zou Department of south-western Benin. It is located 153 kilometres north of Cotonou and 33 kilometres east of Abomey ( Bohicon is even closer). History Za-Kpota dates back ...

. It is linked to the capital by a paved road. Cové became a sub-prefecture in 1991.

Administrative divisions

Cové is subdivided into 7 arrondissements; Adogbé, Gounli, Houin, Lainta, Naogon, Soli and Zogba. They contain 36 ''quartiers''.

Economy

The main ethnic groups are the Mahi, the Fon,

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba consti ...

, Dendi and Bariba. The occupations of the inhabitants are agriculture, fishing and hunting (42%), trade and catering (30%), transport and communication (6%) crafts (11%) etc. 53 600,00 hectares of land are devoted to agriculture, accounting for 93.38% of the total population. The main crops grown are

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn ( North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. ...

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor p ...

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated a ...

and

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly '' Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and ''Porteresia'', both wild and domestica ...

Gelede Masked Festival gallery

File:Cové4.jpg, File:Cové5.jpg,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cove Communes of Benin Arrondissements of Benin Populated places in the Zou Department